Yogyakarta

Getting to Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, started with another early morning wakeup.  5:15 am.    It took 20 minutes to get to the airport, 10 minutes to walk to the domestic terminal (it was off to the left far far away from the international terminal), and other 5 minutes to get through security (it was a joke).  Also, there was a 40,000 rupiah departure tax for domestic flights.

The flight was pretty “entertaining”.  The pilot told the flight attendants to get ready for takeoff.  Pretty standard except that the plane took off 10 seconds after that warning.  The meal was nice surprise.  I’ve been flying AirAsia so I’ve been flying without meals.  Lastly, there was this kid 1 row up to the right.  Kids are usually annoying enough on a plane but this one had a rubber ducky,--- a ducky that squeaks.  OMFG.  These should be outlawed on planes.  Weapons, smoking, and rubber duckys.

F'in duckie

Getting to my hotel (could’ve probably stayed somewhere cheaper) was pretty easy.  There was a fixed price taxi to my hotel for 50,000 rupiah.  The trip through the city was very different and very much the same as Bali.  First, it seemed more city like and less beach-y.  There were a still a ton of scooters.   It didn’t seem as touristy.  The buildings seemed very run down.  I didn’t see any of the offerings that I saw in Bali (they must have their own religion).

Taxi Rates

Flip flops and Scooters

couple use a face lift

hallway in my hotel

my room

my bathroom

my bathroom

hotel pool

view of the volcano from the hotel

view of the volcano from the hotel

After getting some directions from the concierge, I made the trek out to Prambanan.  Before getting there, I ate at Ayam Goreng Suharti.  I ended up ordering the fried chicken set (set seems to be word people use outside of the united states for combo).  The chicken was good and the rest of the food was decent.  I ordered some bean curd as an addition and didn’t really like it.

Found the place after talking to my hotel concierge and 2 bus stop attendants

yummy in the tummy - fried chicken set - the chicken had a layer of  the crispy flaky coating

ginger drink - tasted like shi kae

wasn't a fan of the fried tofu

Getting to Prambanan was an adventure.  The bus stations are on elevated platforms and you have to step over into bus as they come by.  The bus ride was short around 30 minutes and it was easy because Prambana was the last stop for the 1A bus.  The attendants were also very nice and helped me quite a bit.

their garbage cans

their bus stops

tourist map - how I survived

mind the gap into the bus

Once at the Prambanan stop, getting to the temple was another adventure.  Communication comes down to me pointing at my map, them giving me a confused look, and them pointing in a seemingly random direction.  I usually asked about 3 people and took the average direction that they pointed at and asked 3 more people a quarter mile down.  Even when I found the place 2km or 30 minutes later, the ticket booth confused me enough to make me think that I was at another temple.  After 30 minutes of wandering, I found a definitive sign that made me realize I was at the correct temple the first time.

if only I saw this sign sooner

The temple was nice.  I didn’t really have a chance to do much research because of the whirlwind of travel and activities.  I didn’t really know the significance of what I was looking at except that it was a world heritage sight and people bother to visit it.  I took pictures of the temple and the surrounding area and headed back to town.

Yay finally - got student pricing

map of the area

Candi means temple

Prambanan

This critter landed right next to me

stones

Prambanan

lovebirds

I see a booger

bats inside

surrounding area

surrounding area

surrounding area

another temple further down in the complex

On the way back, the main street, Marlboro St, was blocked.  The bus had to stop and I had to walk back to the hotel.  This was actually a good thing because I got to the see the far side of the market and found an internet café for 50 cents an hour (my hotel wanted $20 USD a day for internet –a negative for picking a nice hotel).

Marlboro Street markets

internet cafe booth

dentist?

I did my laundry, got dinner at my usual place and went to bed for my usual 4 am wake up.

laundry

how i control all the lights in the room

laundry

 

talent show or something

packaged rice

I think that's shredded pork over a bun

Another city another sunrise tour.  This time it was to see it at Borobudur.  The car service was $45 USD for 4 hours and the sunrise ticket was $35 USD.  I believe if you stay at the Manohar hotel, you can access the temple for free. 

My very expensive ticket

The climb up the temple steps were steep but manageable.  Nothing like the climb up the volcano 2 days before.  Well, one thing was the same about this sunrise tour.  No sunrise.  Damn this rainy season.  I really need to do more research before coming to these countries.  Considering I planned this 6 day trip in 3 hours in Bangkok after 3 hours of sleep, I didn’t beat myself up too much.  Besides, another benefit to getting here for the sunrise is that you have access to the temple before the mass horde of tourists show up when the temple opens its doors at 8am.

Borobudur

Borobudur

Hornets at Borobudur

After finishing my tour, I decided to take advantage of the 4+ star hotel I was staying at.  I tried every item at the breakfast buffet, went to the pool, and worked on my Burma blog post.

Asian breakfast

Fried stuff

Omelet and other american food

Miso soup and rice wrapped in seaweed

Porridge with stuff 

Pool

Pool - I occupied the middle 3 seats

After relaxing for a bit, I headed out back to Marlboro Street to see if I could look at Sultan Palace.  On the way to the palace, I saw some sort of night fair and tried a bunch of street food.

Guy getting harassed by the driver

sesame balls with stuff

egg rolls?

at the fair

fish balls?

Teletubbies!

Bumper Cars

Fish balls with some sauce - tasted like diluted dduk bok ee

It was not very good

When I got to Sultan Palace, it was closed.  However, I met this really nice gentleman that said he was a security guard for the palace and a lead actor in the performance at the palace.  He also mentioned that there was a museum just down the street that was open that I should check out.  I asked for directions and tried to head off on my own but it seemed like he wanted to be a personal guide.  I assumed he wanted a tip.  I tried to get rid of him a few times but was unsuccessful.  When we finally got there, I could see that I would have never found the place on my own and it wasn’t really a museum.

If a very nice person wants you to go down this road to see a museum - do not go down it

The museum

After my little adventure, I headed back to my hotel to get ready for my 5am wakeup for my next flight.  The taxi to the airport was only 35,000 rupiah but the international departure tax from the airport was 100,000 rupiah.  Exhausted, I plopped in my AirAsia seat and passed out waiting to arrive in Singapore.