Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta (Yogya) is a hot and busy city famous for its Batik artists and Sultan palaces.  We have spent three days in the city and try to get up as early as possible to beat the heat that arrives as early as ten transforming us from enthusiastic sightseers to blobs of useless flesh.  We have no pool at our hotel but splurged for some air-com which is just what we need to cool off for a few hours every day.

The city has a lot to offer and we have seen most by foot, Batik artists, an old water castle used by the Sultan and Yogya’s elite, street food stalls galore and many markets.  We went to visit the Sultan’s palaces and having visited two already in Solo we went in with the intention of turning down anyone who offered to be our guide and just have a quick look around.  After paying for our tickets and entering the palace we heard a voice “I am your guide” we weren’t sure who had said it and then a petite 5’0”, 79 year old Indonesian lady walked between us and gave us stern jesters to follow, needless to say we did get a guide.  She walked very slow and introduced each hand railing to us as her best friend as we waited for her to slowly get up and down any stairs. Half the tour we learned about the palace and the other half we were brought up to speed about all that was happening with her children and about her husband’s passing several years ago.  She cracked several jokes most with a punch line that involved Colin falling in love with her and leaving me to stay in Yogya with her forever. Ended up being a great tour!

This morning was another early one as we headed out at 5am for the Buddhist temple of Borobudur.  Worn down by the heat Colin and I did little research into the temple before going and signed up on a whim so when we got to the temple and the morning mist lifted we were floored by what we saw.  At huge 1200 year old temple situated on a hill with each and every last inch of it covered in detailed stone carvings.  We walked around wide-eyed (suddenly very awake at 6am), the temple can see up to 90,000 visitor/day in the high season but we estimate that today there was no more than 80 people - making it that much more special.  Still in awe we hopped back in our van and headed to another temple, Prambanan, which is a mix of a Buddhist and Hindu temple.  While it was equally impressive our enthusiasm waned as the heat set in and once back in the city we retreated to our little oasis of cool air.