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Published: April 1st 2015
On the train to Surabaya, East Java March 30,2015
Yogyakarta is very pleasant compact city in Central Java. We have had a very enjoyable five days here. It would have been four but one was a Sunday! So what is special about Sundays?
Well first it must be appreciated that Indonesia is a country on the move in many ways. It is the third most populous country in the world after India and China and it had seen substantial economic growth over the last twenty five years. Indonesians are mobile and they appreciate that Yogyakarta is the cultural hub of Java. We have met local tourists from Sumartra, Jakarta and Bali at the city's sights. So, when I went to buy tickets on Saturday for the train to Surabaya in East Java on Sunday morning I found them all sold out. That is all day trains over all classes were sold out and had been since the previous Thursday! It turns out it happens every Sunday as visiting Indonesians head home for work. There were plenty of tickets for the Monday morning (we declined the 1am and 2.50am options) so we have ended up staying an extra day.
Traditional Javanese Dancers
Their movements are slow and elegantWe came up with an impromptu plan to rent bicycles to get around the city. At 9.30am we discovered we were too late. We went to various guesthouses and rental places and they had already rented out all their bikes. There was high demand by locals because it was a Sunday! We opted for a scooter instead. This is an easy, fun (from my perspective) and cost effective way of getting around.
We had arrived in Yogyakarta at 4am by train from Jakarta. It had been an efficient journey. We had flown from Padang to Jakarta the previous day to skip Eastern Sumatra and went straight for the night train. The Executive class on Javanese trains whilst spacious do not have sleepers so our rest was limited. We had booked into the Setia Kawan hotel (www.bedhots.com) who knew of our early arrival and let us have a room to sleep off the journey free of charge. Another added bonus was that it was only 100 metres from the station. The hotel had standard rooms @ 200,000INR which were tight and we opted for a deluxe with much more space (300,000INR including breakfast) because we were going to have an
The remaining bathing pools at the Water Palace
The use of this area was originally confined to the Sultan and his Concubines extended stay. All the walls are artfully painted. The artist in residence offers Batik classes like many guesthouses and on our first day two westerners were producing some stylish creations. The staff were very helpful and we even got breakfast 'to go' this morning at 6.20am before we walked to the train.
Yogyakarta is in fact its own state as well as a city. It is ruled by a Sultan. At one stage in the battle for independence from the Dutch the previous sultan had locked himself away in his palace and let rebels use the palace grounds as a safe haven. The Dutch did not dare touch him or his palace because he was so revered by the local population. As a result when independence came the Sultan's city was rewarded with special status. Ironically now Yogyakarta state is the only one without a democratically elected leader. It is run by the current Sultan. A guide described him as modern mainly because he only has one wife. His father had had four wives and twenty children. There is a constitutional dilemma approaching because the current Sultan has five daughters (one is in LA and another in Perth) and
no sons. There is talk of a brother taking over or maybe a grandson. A daughter as heir is clearly out of the question!
In Yogyakarta in late March it is best to plan your day around the weather. Luckily you can set your watch by it. Each day we woke to bright clear sunshine with temperatures in the high 20's. Very soon some clouds appear and the temperatures continues to rise into the thirties. By midday it is getting very muggy. On a scooter it is like driving with a hair drier in front of your face. In the afternoon the temperature starts to drop as the sky completely clouds over. The humidity continues to rise and the rain starts around 2.30 to 3pm. Heavy showers typically persisted until 6.30pm. Evenings were dry and pleasant although it was wet underfoot. It did rain occasionally at night and was always clear by the morning.
So we tended to sightsee in the morning and then try and sit out the showers back at the guesthouse planning next steps. It didn't alway work out that way.
We had a excellent day scootering to the Merapi volcano museum in Kaliurang
(it had an excellent film and display about the recent major 2010 eruption). We then cut across country to see the famous Hindu temples on the city outskirts. The main ninth century Prambanan temples has been well restored. They stand in a large park. There is one each for the big three, Bramha, Shiva and Vishnu. Shiva, the balancer of Nature, has the largest central temple. Notably the deity statues in the temple interiors are on lotus leaves showing a connection with Buddhism. There was an informative if pedantic film which helped explain the ancient tales of Rama and Krishna that adorn the walls of the main temples. Many of the minor temples are still being restored.
We came back via the isolated Candi (temple) Sambisari. It was located in a quaint suburb of the same name and was only discovered by a local farmer in 1966. Since the tenth century it had been covered like everything else in six metres of volcanic ash. Hence,now it is restored, 95% is below grown level and in remarkably good condition.
As we rode back into the city at 3pm it started to rain. As I got lost in a suburb
confused by the one way system it started to pour. We dived for cover under a mini market awning. We saw a fish street stall opposite and took shelter there. Two fried fish and two plates of plain rice and, as the locals expect, no utensils cost 25,000INR (£1.25). When we had finished the rain had abated. The mini market cashier had also drawn us a lovely map of how to get back to our guesthouse. It was a very sweet gesture we had not requested and exemplified the nature of many locals we have met.
When we got home we were still wet from the original downpour. The hostel staff had kindly put our drying washing undercover before the heavens had opened.
The star attraction in the area is undoubtedly Borobudur. It is a multilayered Buddhist temple build on a small hill top in the late 800's (think Alfred the Great). It is a single large structure with lots of different elements; stupas enclosing Buddha statues and stone carved friezes around the walls. When you consider its age its state of preservation is amazing. We went by tour bus at 5am because the best time to get
Borobudur sits on the top of a small hill
It was 'rediscovered' during the brief period of British rule in the early 19th century. Raffles the Governor sent a Dutch engineer to uncover it from the jungle there is 6am when the park opens. For a start it is clear and we had nice views of Merapi volcano smoking in the distance before it was swallowed by cloud. As with the Taj in Agra the majority of visitors have not arrived yet. Finally the early start means you get back before it starts raining (if you are going at this time of year).
One of the museums in the park grounds contains a replica of a boat built by Javanese craftsmen to copy one carved in a wall of the temple. In 2003 it was sailed to Madagascar to duplicate the spice trade route opened by the Javanese a thousand years ago. Some settled and prospered on the East African island which explains why a major Madagascan language shares its roots with those found in Indonesia, Polynesia and New Zealand. Like with other major monuments we have seen Borobudur invariably lived up to its billing.
The sultan's palace in the centre of Yogyakarta is a ramshackle affair. The sultan still lives there. We hired a guide which was helpful. The traditional dancing was very elegant accompanied by a gamelan orchestra, lots of brass gongs with
The volcano Merapi in the distance from Borobudur
Merapi is the most active volcano in the world over the last 250 years. It last went up in 2010 and still killed three to four hundred people even though they knew it was going to blow and had planned evacuations. a fairly minimalist score structure (did it inspire Steve Reich?). There are many men hanging around in traditional Javan dress, a small turban and serong. There are as many as a thousand of these attendants who get a small stipend from the Sultan and pass on the right from father to son. What their actual duties are was not clear.
We wandered from there to the so called 'Water Castle' or Taman Sari. This had originally been the Sultan's private garden with many pools and lakes. An eruption damaged the water supply and it got taken over as a shanty town and then suburb where many of the palace attendants now live. Some of the area was sunken where lakes had been previously. We passed several batik workshops with half finished work on display. There were narrow lanes cooled by trees and plants. We easily lost ourselves and only extricated ourselves with the help of GPS.
After a roadside lunch we took a bicycle rickshaw to the bird market. This is not a place for the Westerner animal lover. You could find almost any sort of small bird here presumably to be sold as a pet (we have
Restored stupas at Borobudur
There is a seated Buddha in each one seen a lot of caged birds in houses in Asia). We did not know what to make of the chicks dyed the colours of the rainbow. There were dogs, cats, guinea pigs and rabbits. None would have messed with the fighting cocks (legal in Indonesia).
Again we left it too late in the afternoon and the rain poured down. This time we sat cocooned in a bicycle rickshaw surrounded in plastic sheets which kept us reasonably dry. The cyclist/driver/pedaller (delete as you see appropriate) had a plastic mac and was still soaked when we got to our guest house.
On Friday after our best dinner in Yogyakarta at ViaVia cafe, a Belgian chain with a cool vibe helped by the free live jazz, we called into the alun-alun kidul. This a square just South of the Sultan's Palace. We were immediately confronted with lurid LED strune pedal cars circulating the perimeter road of the square interspersed with the pride and joy of the Yogyakarta VW van owners club. The locals clearly loved the pedal cars. Jane luckily understood that I had a street credibility to maintain!
In the centre of the square are two large Banyan trees
maybe 15 metres apart. They sit is a shallow puddle of water where afternoon rains have failed to disperse. Young Yogyakartans were taking it in turns try and walk between the two trees from 40 metres away while blindfolded. It brings you ever lasting luck and babies etc if you succeed. Amazingly while we watched none did. It was clearly harder than it looks.
Even after five days in this entertaining city there was much more to see. (I have not mentioned the Belgian chocolate, silver filigree and cinema.) We heartily recommend Yogyakarta. Just remember that if you come in the wet season wake early and get back for 2.30pm and if you want to leave on a Sunday book early.
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littlewing
Cindy
Thanks for the sunday tip!
Indonesians are certainly getting mobile arent they? The water palace looks beautiful - thank you!