TRAVEL - Yogyakarta Day 1

Finally...another destination crossed out from my bucket list.

Borobodur Temple has always been a target destination of mine ever since I first went to Indonesia 5 years ago.  Time and company (I just don't want to be a lone traveller) has always been an issue so when the opportunity came, I didn't dare pass it up.

Our adventure started when we rode a Kereta Api train from Jakarta to Yogyakara (IDR 335,000 for the Exclusive seat).  My local companion, Robby, was actually surprised that I opted this mean of transportation when we can simply board a plane paying just 30% more.  I countered that I want to authenticate our adventure so here we go...

I am a bad traveller in a way that I don't get much sleep while on the road

View of our train carriage

We left Jakarta 2030 and arrived in Yogyakarta 0830...3 freaking hours OFF our ETA of 0530!  I was told that since it was raining hard in Yogyakarta the past couple of days, some railways were damaged. The delayed travel time I can live with...but RAINING!?

As it was too late to go to Borobodur, we went around Yogyakarata.  First stop is the hotspot Malioboro street...

Myself strolling around the busy...though not at this time...street of Malioboro

Travel in style with Jogja's local tricycle Becak

Something to cool the nerves...a bowl of sugar cane like juice with jellies and scraped melon for a measly IDR 6,000

While we're at it, had some traditional meals as well

I opted for this mixed green veggies smothered in sweet peanut sauce...and it ain't bad at all!  And it only cost IDR 6,000

Along the way, we saw a bulding calleded Vredeburg.  We entered it for the sake of curiosity and was surprised that it was a museum of some sort.  This is where I got to appreciate more of Yogyakarta and its relevance in the history of Indonesia's independence (not sure if the photo below has a relevance to it...but I consider it a shout for joy).

With more time to spare, we rented a becak to go around Yogyakarta...

All I can say is riding this is a lot harder than it looks...specially maneuvering the bike.

First stop was a spot wherein you have to cross in between two huge trees...BLINDFOLDED!  The gap between the trees was huge (probably 10 meters or more) but surprsisingly, the success rate of doing so was really low...even despite directions from the locals or your friends.

It is said that when you're successful in accomplishing this task, you have a good spirit and you can make a wish.  The former was the one that made me really confident...OR NOT ;)

View from my start point

I'm well on my way!!!

I actually failed in my first attempt but managed to do it in my second :)  While finding your way is a challenge, the toughest part for me was ignoring the smell of the blind fold they used.

Second stop was a couple of mosques/ temples.  It was a good "teaser" for our trip to Borobodur the next day.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera but thank goodness there's alway my iPhone.

Ain't no larger than life structure but still impressive nonetheless

After passing through a couple of awnings we were greeted with this view

View from atop...had to insert my hands and phone out the window bars to take this shot

Some local handicrafts...hammer head at the bottom is from a bull's horn

Another mosque we visited...I swear I will clone that arm at the right with Photoshop

As to my friend Robby, a similar setting from the Immortals movie...unfortunately I was not able to get photos without tourists as it was jampacked

So that's it.  Day 1 is a wrap.  It was still quite early but had to catch up with WORK so we called it a day.

Stay tuned for Day 2 :)