Jetting around Java - Yogyakarta

Yogya (Yogyakarta) 15-19 November

Yogya ranks as one of the best-preserved and most culturally attractive sities in Java and our first impressions were good – bigger, busier, and way more vibrant than Solo. We run around the nearby gangs (alleys) and find “Bedhot” – a funky café that does good food and delicious ginseng coffee, with cruisy reggae tunes reverberating around us. Drinking Big Bintang beers on the deck is the perfect way to unwind! The main street is packed with clothing/souvenir stalls on one side, the other side lined with lots of warung stalls that pop up for night time feeding – we enjoy tasty Nasi Gudek Telor (local specialty of jackfruit drenched in coconut milk with egg on rice, sauces, chilli). and become big fans of the streetstall lumpia (spring rolls) and fresh donuts (1000R). Tempted to try the local burung (fwhole fried pigeon) as well but it really doesn't hold that much meat so no go unfortunately (it cost a whopping $2 anyway). The horse and carriage/becak drivers hassling us for transport is unrelenting… sigh

We enter the maze of the Sultan’s Palace (grounds covering a mere 200 hectares) and a guide – lets call him Pepe. he shows us the Princesses quarters (usually closed to the public). Another downpour when we’re at the pool area (torrential rain every day now around lunchtime for an hour – monsoon to blame!). Alana felt sick (since Bromo) so drifted off to sleep while Guido talked to good ol' Pepe, a royal palace gamelan player by day, who proceeds to explain that the palace servants are passed down by generation and his son is next in line (7th Generation). Somehow he also slips into the conversation that the local Javanese rice wine is a particularly good aphrodisiac and that he consumes plentiful to please his wife (and of course if we want any). Meanwhilst I stare into the heavy monsoon rain which blocks any foreseeable escape from this conversation which further unravels the palace servants sex life in full detail. When the rain eases we go to the gallery to see batik clothing being made, then onto the Wayang Kulit puppets being carved from buffalo hide (that ithey specifically import from Sulawesi for this purpose). Such intricate designs and detail - no wonder it takes weeks to make one. We leave the palace grounds and check out the bird market and water palace on our way back.

We watch a Wayang Kulit performance (shadow puppet show) where one man works all the leather puppets and speaks for them, playing the drums with his feet, while the gamelan plays in the back. Being the only ones in the audience we couldn’t understand a word but it was entertaining for sure!

Head off to see Java’s number 1 tourist attraction “Borodudur” – the largest Buddhist Temple in the world built in the 9th Century. We arrive at the silent hours of dawn, shrouded in mist – very enchanting (until the hords of language students try to interview us to practice their English - “excuse me, what are your hobbies?”). They are amazingly organized though – donned in full suit with corresponding name tags and ear to ear smiles. They must get up at like 5am to intercept us. We ascend the multiple tiers in a clockwise direction – following the Buddhist pilgrims' journey through the stories delicately carved into the walls. The base represents the real world, the summit is Nirvana, so as you ascend the tiers you are symbolically following the path to enlightenment.

On to Prambanan complex – the largest Hindu Complex in Java, to look at the main temple area – 3 giant rocket-shaped andesite temples, all covered in intricate narrative carvings, dedicated to the 3 main Hindu deities – Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Facing these are 3 smaller temples housing the animal statues or “chariots” that accompany the gods. The structure suffered greatly from the 2006 earthquake – reconstruction is incredibly tedious as each granite block is once again intricately hand carved by local labourers. Many of the minor temples still lie in ruins.