Yogyakarta and its surroundings

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My flight to Yogyakarta arrived at 8.30am and it wasn't long before I had collected my bag and cleared customs. I decided to take a taxi because it was less than $6, and it was only a 20 minute drive to the tourist area of Sosrowijayan Rd where I found a nice hotel with a very inviting swimming pool for $10 a night. The first thing that I noticed in Indonesia was that it was not nearly as hot and humid as Malaysia which was a great relief to me. That afternoon I went for a walk down Malioboro Rd which is the main road in the city. It didn't take too long before I started getting pissed off with what seemed like every fifth person in the street asking where I come from and wanting me to have a look at a batik shop or take a ride on a becak. I guess I must have been in Malaysia too long where I was used to being left alone with nobody trying to push me into buying something. I didn't really think much of Malioboro Rd with its tourist shops and dozens of becaks and horse drawn carriages. Later that night I went to a tourist restaurant and had satay chicken with rice, banana shake, and a very delicious banana and chocolate pancake.

The next day I decided to get up early and head for the Kraton, which is a large area containing the sultans palaces, an underground mosque, the water palace, and hundreds of houses. At the entrance of the sultans palace I noticed they were filming The Amazing Race, so I tried to get my head on camera. I will have to get someone to tape the show so I can see if I was successful. The ticket price of $1.50 included a simple 30 minute guided tour which was a bit of a bonus and I also witnessed some traditional music and dancing. After this I hired a becak driver to take me to the bird market and the water palace. Although I am not a big fan of animals or birds in cages I quite enjoyed the market. As well as birds there were squirrels, dogs, cats, rats, mice, rabbits, fish, eels, bats, lizards, and a large python. After having a fruit shake with my driver we headed over to the water palace and underground mosque which were okay but not great. Although all the sites were okay I had more pleasure just wandering down the pretty, quiet streets which were convincing me into liking this city.

Very early friday morning I went on a tour to see the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. We got to Borobudur just after sunrise and spent an hour and a half taking photos and wandering around the large structure. I must admit I was a little disappointed due to the fact that the top level with the famous conical shapes were closed off due to restoration, and having seen the temples of Angkor before I can't help comparing them. After a quick breakfast and a stop at a small temple we headed across town to Prambanan, which has about half a dozen temples. Again we wandered around for an hour and a half and then got back in the minibus and were taken back to our guesthouse.

Saturday I did very little except go to the cinema to watch a movie because that night I had booked a tour to walk up Mt Merapi, an active volcano an hour and a half from Yogyakarta. At 10pm a large group of 12 of us were driven to a village just below the mountain. At 1pm we started the 4 hour walk with our 4 guides towards the plateau not that far from the summit. Unfortunately the plateau is about as far as you can go because of the dangerous conditions to the summit. It was a pretty hard slog but we eventually made it to the tea stop about 20 minutes before the plateau. The wind was pretty chilly and there was a little rain as the mountain was shrouded in cloud. Here we stayed for a couple of hours huddled around a fire until the guides told us there was no use going to the plateau because of the visibility so we all headed back down for the 2 hour walk. This walk was pretty tough with a lot of us falling or sliding down at various times, so I recommend only people of a reasonable fitness level attempt this. We were all very tired and dirty by the time we got back to the village about 8am and welcomed the simple breakfast of tea and pancakes prepared for us. We were back in Yogyakarta at 11am and I was told that I had to possibly wait until 2pm until somebody checked out before I had a room. I had not slept for over a day so I decided to find a room somewhere else and have a shower and a sleep.

Although I have been a little disappointed and unlucky with the attractions that Yogyakarta has to offer, I still like the place and would come back again if I was in the region. Tomorrow I am off on an 11 hour drive to Bromo for more volcanoes, hopefully I will have more luck.

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