The final trip for 2016 had to be a good one. I had been banging on about wanting to visit the heritage temples in Indonesia, so when our friends from the UK decided to come out to us, wanting an ongoing trip to Bali, I found it the perfect excuse for a mini diversion to Yogyakarta.
We had done several holidays with Nik & Nish (NN) before (see my post on Istanbul for the last) and as Neil had spent his uni days with them both, we all knew each other pretty well. Our previous holidays have been shorter in nature and tended to be more resort based. However with the luxury of more time, we had designed to do a lot more on this trip. Christmas was to be spent in Singapore then we were heading over to Yogyakarta for the temples and finally seeing in the New Year in Bali. Of course we were excited.
I won't go into too much detail on the Singapore portion as I'll likely post a "things to do in Singa" blog later in time - but let's just say, I got the pleasure of experiencing a different version of my new home country through the eyes of #NikNish (Singapore #1 in Light Shows).
After a few days of food and festivity, we jumped on a cheeky 3 hour flight to Yogyakarta. The only daily direct flight from Singapore is Air Asia's 11.10am flight, which meant we arrived at our hotel (Neo Maliboro) by midday - this was after getting royally bumped by the airport taxi in paying IDR 200,000 (SG$20) when really it should have been closer to IDR 100,000. It seems that no matter how often this happens, we still do not seem to learn our lesson - however, shockingly, our fall back option of Uber wasn't available here, unless we wanted to jump on a moped with our suitcases (as hilarious as that may have been, it was probably safest not to!)
Hotel Neo, I couldn't recommend more highly, whilst the rooms were average, the location and service of the staff was second to none. Throughout our trip they went out of their way to help us and whilst unable to give us both our rooms straight away, they managed to organise one so we could drop off our bags, freshen up and head out.
We agreed on checking out a restaurant called Roaster & Bear which was under a 10minute walk from us. The food selection was wide and all pretty tasty, somehow after 5 days together we had become pros in ordering the perfect amount of food. The tacos (essentially quesadillas), were yum, chicken and egg club, yum, after eight milkshake, delish. Not only was the food good quality, it was also super cheap- four mains, two starters and drinks, all for IDR 460,000 ($50 SGD, £30 GBP).
We had arrived in Yogyakarta (otherwise referred to as Jogja) with a rough plan of what it was we wanted to see and do, so the next step was to find a means of booking it. As we walked back to our hotel, we passed several tour companies, and it soon became clear that the norm was to hire a car and driver for the day, rather than book onto an activity or tour. Having got several quotes, we decided on going with the hotel driver who matched our lowest quote of IDR 1,200,000 ($130 SGD/ £76 GBP) to take four of us around for two days. There are options to go in shared transport which is cheaper slightly, but means you are tied into set travelling times and durations, and with our limited time, and boys who had the attention span of 5year olds (ok maybe that’s a little harsh, let’s go with 8 year olds), it was better to go private.
That evening we thought best to stay in house as we had an early start the next day, and ate at the rooftop restaurant and bar at Neo. The evening entertainment was live music, which (given we’re old fogeys now) was ever so slightly loud, so we requested (as the fun spoilers we are) if they could turn it down slightly. They happily did so with no fuss and we enjoyed our round the world in four dishes here. Neil opted for the Nasi Goreng (a traditional dish), Nik had Ramen Noodles (due to his soup obsession), Nish opted for a Pad Thai with seafood and I went complete tourist and ordered Penne Arrabiata – and we all walked away happy with our dinner choices.
So day one of our private taxi started bright and early at 3.30am. We, well I at least (thanks for the buy in guys!) wanted to see the sunrise over the Borobodur temples, so we had to be at Setumbu Hill to see the sun come up for 5am.
There was a very mini climb (we all know how I feel about climbing after my Kinabalu rant) up to the hill, and there we waited for what I expected to be a glorious vision of the Borobodur Temple being lit up by the morning sun. The sunrise in itself was very pretty, and regardless of the number of people around us, quite serene (although there was this super creepy baby who would not stop staring at me and Nish, and not in a cute cooey way either) - and the sky filled up with shades of pink and yellow. But it didn't take too long to figure out that as the morning was quite misty, we wouldn't be getting the view of Borobudur that we hoped. Thankfully there was a guy with a drone, that the boys got excited and distracted by, which prevented them hurling a ton of abuse at me.
Around 5.45am with the sun fully risen, we head to the temple itself, around a 10minute drive away from Setumbu hill. Combined tickets can be purchased for Borobodur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) Temples for $32 USD (separate foreigner pricing) - the ticket price included entry to both temples and a hot drink, although given the quality of the tea, I could probably have gone without. Interestingly and also quite oddly, there was a separate entrance for us foreigners.
To be fair it felt like the VIP entrance, but seemed strange they'd choose to differentiate against their own.
Borobudur seemed a little hidden, and as we walked up, you could see nothing but greenery and then all of a sudden it came into view. I had seen enough pictures to know what to expect and whilst pleased to finally be there, I wasn't immediately wowed by the sight. By this point, and mind well it was only around 6am, it was beginning to get really warm. We thought it best to climb to the top and then make our way down for each layer (yes there's more than one). As it was holiday season, a lot of Indonesians used the opportunity to explore their own country and we found ourselves surrounded by people wanting to take our photograph with their selfie sticks. To be honest I'm not sure why they wanted our picture, although we're convinced it was because Nik looked like a Bollywood star and by default we fell into his entourage and therefore needed to be in these photos. Given I wasn't allowed to take my own selfie stick this holiday (accidentally dropped my phone and cracked the screen on one before, now not allowed the privilege) I fully embraced the use of others, and am sure there's about 20 people with random pictures of us on their phones.
As we worked our way up the temple I became more and more impressed with the structure of the temple. Each bell shaped tower had a Buddha hidden within it, and was actually really beautiful to see. Whilst we had a lot of fun taking photos and boomerangs, we also sat and had a real moment of serenity where we just took in the incredible view. That moment ended when we saw a woman taking a selfie, pretending to be on the phone and someone started singing "you use to call me on my cell phone".
We made our way down, and whilst the temple itself was beautiful, the method of exit just reminded us how commercialised everything has become. We had to loop around 5 aisles of market stalls selling EVERYTHING imaginable before we could actually leave the perimeters.
Our next stop was Prambanan.
About an hour away from Borobodur, we all caught some Z's and arrived feeling a little fresher, but with fear of rain. Prambanan as a temple was initially more impressive that Borobodur, from afar it looked stunning and from closer up the intricate detail for each stone carving was beautiful. The land actually fell into three yards, with the first being a large open space, the middle yard consisted of four identical lines of 224 shrines, most of which were in ruins, and the last holding the most significant and holiest temples - the three main shrines dedicated to Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Keeper and Shiva the Destroyer.
We didn't last as long at Prambanan, mainly due to the excessive number of people and the fact the day had reached peak heat. As we made our way out, we came across a bow and arrow place and the competitive sides in us came out and we decided to each have a couple of go's. Let's just say, we could do with some more practice, but Nik definitely found his Olympic sport!
Hot and admittedly grumpy, we decided we needed to get some decent food in our stomachs, so we head to a restaurant called Mediterranea.
First having been sat outside, and then moved into air conditioning, you could see the noticeable mood improvement and as the food arrived bit by bit, we returned back to our normal (loud and lively) selves. The food here was good, with a lot of choice, and we ordered a variety among us. The falafel salad was particularly good and I also really liked the Cigara Borek made of spinach and ricotta. The humus however was a bit of a letdown and the service left something to be desired.
Having eaten well, it was time to head back to the hotel and freshen up. At this point we'd already been up 12 hours and were looking forward to a cheeky nap (some more than others). Our driver - Woo Doo Doo (yes, seriously) barely spoke any English and was an absolutely insane driver. On the way back, he managed to almost knock someone off their bike on his right hand side, swerve and manage to clip his wing mirror on the left. Thankfully, we got back to the hotel in one piece, and had turnaround time of 2 hours before we had to head back out for our evening entertainment.
We had bought tickets to see the Ramayana ballet and were not 100% sure what to expect from it. We opted for the second tier seats at IDR 275,000 per person, which included a drink and padded seats (which are much needed).
The ballet told a snippet of the story of Rama and Sita (from the Hindu religion) through dance. For those not familiar with the story a leaflet was handed out to explain what was happening – but we were all so enchanted by the dance itself there was no time to read. The production was phenomenally put together, and not only were the dancers incredibly talented (Hanuman was AMAZING) but the scenes were so well thought out – especially one particular one with the fire. This may have been the one and only time in the trip that collectively we all fell silent and watched the show intently. Having said that, I had my own reservations about the way in which it ended and the lesson it left behind (without wanting to ruin it, it just seemed very old school about a woman’s value). As we stepped away, we had a conversation about the lessons it left us:
Nik & Neil – Women never listen to what they’re told (Sita left the golden circle, despite being told not to by Lakshman)
Nish - Women are more emotionally caring (Sita left to help an old disabled man, little was she to know he was evil); Men shouldn’t run off and leave their wives (Rama left Sita on her own to begin with)
Needless to say, I totally agree with Nish #girlpower
Its worth noting that the play was conducted with the Prambanan Temple as a backdrop, which honestly was the best way we could have seen it. In fact I would go as far as saying, it would be better not to see it during the day if you were opting to go to the Ramayana, as the view for me was far more impressive from a distance!
The next morning we had had intentions to go to Goa Pindul and the Oya River for some cave tubing, however the weather was against us and with non-stop rain we had to make adjustments to our plans. This was our last day in Jogja, so we decided to treat ourselves with a bit of a spa day, and hide away from the rain. Having read various reviews we opted to go to Saarah Spa. The Spa offered a free collection and drop off service, as well as several package options – we all decided to go for the “after work treatment” which included a 90 minute full body massage, a mini-facial and a full body scrub all for IDR 340,000 (absolute bargain) - 36 SGD or 21 GBP. The spa itself was lovely, the staff were very attentive and all in all we had a good experience. They even gave us little personalised notes at the end, to say thank you for our business! The treatments lasted three hours in total, and after feeling thoroughly relaxed we asked to be dropped off to Nanamia Pizzeria (say that out loud 5 times). We had some delicious pizza (although the wait was excruciating) and some of the finest dessert (blueberry cheesecake, oreo milkshakes and chocolate roll with ice cream – YUM!).
As our last meal in Jojya, we couldn’t have asked for anything more delicious and with content tummies, we head back to the hotel, to collect our luggage and make our way to the airport. Now one thing I seem to have glazed over about Indonesia in general, is the level of traffic and the lack of taxi availability. Thankfully, at the start of our trip, the boys had been assisted crossing the road by the traffic warden - for his help, they used some initiative and gave him a tip. From then on he was the master of all our road issues – even at the last minute when we were struggling to get a taxi to take us to the airport, he ran himself ragged attempting to find us one. It seems tipping road workers the a done thing across Indonesia and often helps in getting on to a less traffic heavy route. Needless to say, we managed to get to the airport with more than enough time to spare before the flight. Note: the airport at Jojya is bang average – I would avoid going there too early as there is little to do – unless you have the entertainment of playing Shithead (ask me if you want to know) against other competitive people. With this part of our trip at an end, we set our sights on New Years Eve in Bali.
