Adventures in Yogyakarta

Our first few weeks in Indonesia have consisted mostly of a grand tour around the office buildings of Jakarta and Medan. Not terribly exciting I’m afraid. Fortunately, we have been able to sneak in a few cheeky adventures along the way!

Whilst we were waiting for some forms to process in the home affairs office in Jakarta, we decided to have a couple days in Yogyakarta. Yogja is just a short one hour flight from Jakarta, but there is an enormous difference between the two cities. For one thing, Yogja is nowhere near as enormous as the gargantuan Jakarta; it is also a much more popular destination for backpackers, as well as being a big student city, meaning that you don’t feel like the odd one out quite as much. There are many sights to see there,  the most impressive being the Prambanan temple and surrounding complex. As you approach the complex, you’re hit by the sight of the temples rising up out of the surrounding gardens, and it really is striking. Prambanan is Indonesia’s largest Hindu temple, and the carvings throughout tell the story of the Ramayana, one of the Hindu epics telling the story of Rama and Sita. This story is also told through the Ramayana ballet at Prambanan, which I’ll talk about a bit later. The temple itself is rampacked with tourists and locals alike, although most of the locals appear to be much more interested in the tourists than anything else! We were approached by several groups of giggling school kids wanting to take our photos and practice English with us. As soon as we said yes to one group, we were suddenly surrounded and being pulled into photos with whole families, all vying to get their picture taken next to us! They were all very sweet, but after a while it becomes a bit relentless, and your face starts to ache from all the smiling! Eventually we managed to escape the main temple, and find some peace and quiet in the surrounding grounds.

 

Prambanan is the largest and most famous of the temples in the complex, but there are in fact several more within the same park. Among these is Candi Sewu, which is, in my opinion, more impressive than Prambanan. Perhaps this is because the enormous crowds don’t seem to make it this far out of the main temple, so it feels a bit more authentic. Here, you get more a of an ‘ancient temple vibe’ and you feel more like Lara Croft, running around and exploring deserted ruins, rather than a goofy tourist taking beaming selfies (not that there weren’t plenty of those as well!). We actually spent most of our day in this area, rather than in the main temple.

 

We also made friends with our taxi driver. As he drove us out to Prambanan he offered to wait for us, we declined, but as we exited the complex we found him waving and grinning happily at us. Although we all felt guilty having made him wait, he didn’t seem to mind. We’ve since learned that most taxi drivers here are happy to just nap in their car and wait for you, something very different from England! We asked him for a restaurant recommendation and he drove us up into the mountains to a beautiful resort. We all enjoyed a delicious Nasi Goreng with an incredible panoramic view of the temples emerging from the mist and the volcanoes in the background. Afterwards, we went back to Prambanan to watch the Ramayana ballet, which tells of the kidnapping of Sita by the evil king Ravana and her rescue by her husband Rama. It’s quite an enthralling performance, despite being nearly three hours long!

The next day we went to visit the Sultan’s Kraton. Although the Sultan’s don’t really have powers in Indonesia anymore, the Sultan in Yogja is of special significance due to the role of the previous Sultan in Indonesia’s fight for independence. We were given a tour of the palace and grounds and learned a fair amount about the history and culture of Indonesia. The influence of Chinese culture is quite apparent here, as well as the influence of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, all of which have been the main religion at one point or another. Fun fact: the previous sultan was a big Boy Scouts enthusiast and set up the Scouts in Indonesia!

Our next stop was a shopping trip to Malioboro. Here, we visited the Yogyakarta Batik Art Group, where you can learn all about the art of Batik and pick up some authentic artwork! I’d never appreciated just how much work goes into creating some of the pieces. The more intricate patterns, especially those which contain many colours can take days to create, and it’s all done by hand! We then wondered along the markets which line the main street of Malioboro. Here, you are constantly haled by stall owners peddling their wares, as well as locals wanting to practice their English. It was quite an experience!

Our brief interlude ended all too quickly, and we were jetting back to Jakarta before we knew it. Our final piece of paperwork was ready for collection when we returned and we had finished our rounds of Jakarta. Next step: Medan, North Sumatra and then the forest!!