Indonesia hopes to develop more tourist destinations

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - Hundreds of tourists, many of them young Westerners, sat on gray stone steps atop the world's largest Buddhist temple, occasionally checking cellphones or whispering to each other as they waited for daylight.

Sunrise wasn't spectacular on that recent summer day. But even an ordinary dawn at Borobudur Temple - nine stone tiers stacked like a wedding cake and adorned with hundreds of Buddha statues and relief panels - provided a memorable experience.

The ninth-century temple is in the center of Indonesia's Java island, a densely populated region with stunning vistas. Other highlights include the towering Hindu temple complex of Prambanan - a UNESCO World Heritage site, like Borobudur - and Mount Merapi, the country's most active volcano, whose lava-covered slopes are accessible by jeep.