The Singapore Forum

No I wouldnt recommend the Manohara at all.

Granted, it is the hotel on the grounds of the borobudur temple and it has extensive grounds/gardens which is nice but TBH the rooms I saw were low-end backpacker quality at best. I ended up staying at the Saraswati for one night which was good value, a nice colonial type building with pool (but not as luxurious as they make it out to be online), and walking distance to the Manohara and entrance to the temple at dawn. Basically you can tootle along from the Sara (5mins walk) round the corner at about 4am and pay the entrance fee along with everyone else staying at the Mano but stay somewhere much nicer.

The following night I went to the Amanjiwo which was utterly gorgois in every way and just beautiful. Ummm the price was a bit of a jaw-dropper though... If budget is an issue, then stay elsewhere and they can collect for dinner at any hotel around the temple, and its well worth it even if you go just for a cocktail (the signature lemongrass and soursop martini is divine) on the terrace over looking the temple in the distance.

If I were to go back, I would probably stay at another of the smaller boutique like Plataran Resort or I heard very very good things about Villa Hannis, even if it is a bit further away.

Did you like Borobudur, JJ? How does it compare to Angkor Wat?

When I first went to AW it was a quiet sleepy village-y type place with the most ah-maze-ing temples. I loved just going from temple to temple and hanging out taking photos, and I went back quite frequently. There were very few hotels of any note (apart from the well-known Strand in the centre and a couple of boutique options & guesthouses). Outside one busy street (pub st), it was all very rural and family village life. Thats definitely not the case now in Angkor from what I hear (I was last there in 2007 and was shocked by how over-run it all was, so it must be much worse now).

However in Borob I found that kind of rural atmosphere again which was nice (note I did go in low season and there was hardly anyone there) and I got some great shots even if it was pouring rain for most of the time. I think I might go back and spend more time exploring around the area, there seems to be quite alot of unexplored temples and actually it reminded me of Macchu Picchu for some reason - I know thats bizarre because the actual temple is nothing like it.. but there you have it, who knows....

So anyway, its a good place to visit... as for me, these days I really have to be in the mood for temples (i guess this long in SEA means you do get quite temple-d out ... with one recent exception - Bagan which was the best of all so far and thats where I would recommend anyone to go for the "temple" experience, even over and above AW.

Yes it is many people already get the benefits of those.