November 15-16, 2007
Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
November 15-16, 2007
Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
We had to wake up at 4:00 am to make our plane to Yogyakarta which is pronounced Jogjakarta (affectionately called just Yogya). Our taxi (same guy that drove us yesterday on our trip to the north side of Bali).came at 5 am and we were at the airport by 6:00 for our 7:30 a.m flight. Our flight was on Wing Air and the cost was just $33 US. and saved us a 16 hour bus then boat then train ride to Yogya. The plane was old and when we were asked to put our seats in the upright position for takeoff we found that they would not lock. As we climbed into the sky we slowly recined into our neighbour behind us laps… but so did the folks in front of us! We landed and got a taxi to a place that was where all the budget hotel were located. The one we had hope for was full but just down the lane was another called the Mercury Hotel. It didn’t have a pool but did have nice grounds and the place was filled with old family photos and antiques. We headed out for a bite to eat and a look around. The market was just surreal on the corner down the lane with tons of interesting smells and things that I would never buy to eat. Flys were everywhere and we quickly left wondering if the restaurant we had just eaten at next door shopped here! We were hounded by a bejek (tricycle rickshaw) driver from the moment we arrived in the morning and any minute we poked our noses out the hotel grounds. We finally relented and hired him for the afternoon for about $2.00! I felt guilty at he had to pedal our heavy butts all over the place but he was thrilled because he hadn’t had a customer in several days. We first went to the internet to check messages and check in flights. It became apparent that we had put our lives in a precarious position as we were transported throught busy traffic in a flimsy contraption! I asked the driver if he had ever been hit and he answered, ‘Sure, MANY times!” Not too comforting. We then went to a batik workshop and Ted was dazzled by one particular artist and so he bought a few pieces. We then went to a silver showroom and I bought my charm for my braclet. It was at this time that I didn’t feel too bad for our driver as I was sure he was getting a kickback from our purchases. We wanted to see the Sultans Palace but it happen to be closed. We were also going to see the bird market but we were too tired decided to do it tomorrow after our trip to Borobudur and Prambanan Temples. We woke up again early for our 8 hour tour that left at 4:30 for sunrise at Borobudur (not really as the place doesn’t open until 6:00 but they advertise it that way!) We picked up a Swiss couple and an Italian girl from neighboring hotels and we were off. We enjoyed both sights but probably Prambanan more. It is just a shame that the earthquake that they had in the area last year caused so much damage. This restricted what we could see. We were to be there two hours, but were done in about 1/2 hour. We rounded up our group who felt the same way and got home an hour early. We also had two smaller temples that were to be added to our trip. We stopped at one but declined to pay the entry fee and chose to photograph it from the fence as did most everyone else we say there. We did find that right next door was a Buddist Monastary next door which was absolutely beautiful and we took lost of picture of the beautiful flowers and grounds. We did get to the bird market and it was more that just birds but, cockroaches, mealy worms, rabbits, bats, snakes, spiders, cats and kittens, dogs and puppies, baby chicks painted vivid colors and stink! Sad and quite inhuman how there animal were kept. We found we were close to the ‘Water Palace’ so we stopped for a look. No water – just a ruin of an old palace and an old lake bed filled with a ghetto of houses. We decided to call it an evening as we again have an early wake up call for our flight to Jakarta and then on to Singapore. We’d have to say we were glad we saw these temples (that’s why we came) but we will not have to return to this big city again.
posted Monday November 2007