Yogyakarta didn't have much of a chance, coming on the heels of a perfect surf break. It's the cultural center of Java, which should be interesting, but our brains were still at the beach. But we did enjoy two things during our stay: Wayang Kulit and Borobudur.

Wayang Kulit, performed in both Bali and Java, is shadow puppetry, though that name does not do it justice . The puppets are incredibly intricate figures cut into buffalo hide and painted with colorful designs. They're gorgeous, and it's interesting that they're painted, since Wayang Kulit is performed against a screen so that you only see their shadow.

The performances depict well-known stories, basically Javanese myths. An orchestra playing traditional instruments sits behind the screen and accompanies the performance. The puppet master chants, sings, and tells the story while manipulating the puppets. The performances are in Javanese, so we couldn't understand it, but we still really enjoyed it. There's no sense of the "front" - you can watch the story unfold on the screen, but seats are set up on both sides and people walk around the whole time. So you can also watch the orchestra, or you can watch the puppet master while he sways and chants and moves the puppets. It would be easy to skip, since it's not necessarily well advertised in Yogya, but it's really worth seeing.

Borobudur was another highlight . We spent the night in the hotel on the grounds ofthis 1200-year-old Buddhist monument. Little is known about its early history, but it appears to be a giant mandala, an opportunity for Buddhist pilgrims to practice circular walking meditation. The route is meant to mimic the path to enlightenment. On the lowest levels, carvings depict cautionary tales about man's greed and attachment to the material world. The next levels depict the life story of the Buddha. Throughout the monument, small Buddha statues sit in shrines, staring out over the path. At the highest levels, the path becomes circular, perhaps representing infinity. The feel of the upper levels is completely different from below. On the lower levels, you're surrounded by high walls carved with scenes for meditation. Walking into the highest levels, you're out in the open and you can see for miles. On these levels the Buddha statues are encased in crosshatched stone bells called stupa. On the top level sits the largest stupa, the only one that is empty .

It's very easy to understand how the patterning of the mandala would aid a seeker in deepening his or her spirituality. Unfortunately, enlightenment was not in the cards for us. As we stepped from the lower levels onto the bright open vista of the eigth level, here is what we saw: Groups of Indonesian students corralling the tourists and enlisting them in English language practice. No sooner had we set foot on the eigth level than we were corralled, too. "Where are you from?" "How long you here?" "Can we practice English with you?" Not a single tourist was without three or four eager students. I wish they had accosted us down in the material world, but they were so cheerful, nervous and enthusiastic that we could not be irritated. They asked us about American traditions, the education system, and our thoughts on Indonesia. We slipped away after awhile, but as soon as we were alone, another group spotted us and charged toward us. Solitude was not to be in the highest levels of Borobudur. I suppose there's a spiritual lesson in that, too.