Exploration of Cultural Marvels and Terrifying form of Nature
Our Yogyakarta adventure unfolded through rich history, cultural splendor, and the fiery embrace of Mt. Merapi, leaving us with cherished memories of a lifetime.
This is from a few years back budget trip. Both I and my husband were working in Singapore. We had a provision of spending the left amount of health insurance of the current year at the year end. With that money, we planned a trip to a city of Indonesia having rich history, cultural heritage, abundant nature and fierce volcano. But this place is not as expensive as other tourist destinations like Bali. I am talking about the place where the most active Volcano of Indonesia erupted this year (in 2023) again after 2010. Yes, Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is located in the south of Java Island. It has an international airport which makes the place convenient to travel for foreign tourists.
We started our journey for Yogyakarta from Changi international airport in the afternoon. It was 2hrs flight time. The travel plan was for 3 nights and 4 days. After reaching Yogyakarta, we took a cab from the airport and reached hotel in the late afternoon. It took a bit time to complete all the check in formalities after reaching the hotel. We were welcomed in the hotel with a 'welcome drink'.
We were so hungry that we didn't even waste time to freshen up. We just kept our luggage in the hotel room and went outside to have some evening snacks. After walking more than half a kilometre we found a snack bar, and a juice and ice cream shop in a courtyard. It was felt like walking in an Indian road. We saw roadside trash, stray dogs etc. It was evening time during Ramadan month. So, the food courtyard was crowded as in Yogyakarta majority religion is Islamic. We had fried chicken and a fresh fruit juice.
After freshen up at the hotel, my husband called a driver and booked a car for two days. I got the number of the driver from one of my lab mate. As we were a bit tired, we had our dinner from the hotel and finished the day as early as possible.
I began day 2 in Yogyakarta with the view of the active volcano Mt. Merapi from our hotel balcony. We had heavy breakfast from the massive complimentary breakfast spread. By the time we finished our breakfast, the car arrived at the hotel. We started our 2nd day tour with the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prambanan. This is the second largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia after Angkor Wat. The temple is dedicated to the three great Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Prambanan was built during Hindu Sanjaya dynasty once they established their reign in central Java after Buddhist Shailendra dynasty. This was the period when Shaivite Hinduism started gaining patronage more than Mahayana Buddhism in central Java. According to historian, Prambanan was the response to the world's largest Buddhist temple Borobudur, built during Shailendra dynasty. Javanese literature was also flourished during Sanjaya dynasty. Hindu literature like Sanskrit Ramayana was translated into Javanese during that period.
There are 240 structures in the temple compound and the three main temple structures of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are in the central compound. Among these three structures, the Shiva temple is the largest and tallest. This signifies that the principal deity of Sanjaya dynasty was lord Shiva.
Important information regarding the entry fee is Prambanan and Borobudur entry fees are considerably high for foreign travellers. We got into difficult situation because of this as we forgot to include these entry fees in our tour budget.
The second destination of day 2 trip was Kembang Soka waterfall. It is located in the river valley of the Menoreh hills. Once we reached the site, driver asked us to hike down few hundred meters from the parking area to ride a boat which would take us to the waterfall.
We started walking and the driver went to a Mosque for the afternoon namaz. There were small food stalls running by local residents. Those food stalls were selling biscuits, chips and soft drinks. We reached the dock and saw only local tourists came to visit the falls. We rode the boat and the boat was taking us through a bright yellowish colour river to a shady forest surrounded by lush green mountain. We were enjoying the fresh breeze of the mountain. After few minutes, we could hear the sound of the waterfall. It was felt like enjoying relaxing music in 'Jal-tarang' amidst pristine nature.
We got down from the boat and sat on a stone next to the waterfall. I was enjoying the sprinkle of crystal clear water coming from the waterfall and allowing nature's peace to rejuvenate my mind and soul.
We then headed towards our next destination Kiskendo cave. It is about 4kms from Kembang soka waterfall. We thought of skipping lunch and have some dry fruits, biscuits and juice. So, we went to a shop in the Jatimulyo village where the waterfall is located. It was a multipurpose store in the village. The store, in front of a house, looked like a godown from outside. The house construction was like Assam-type house. The shopkeeper was a teenage girl. She was not being able to communicate properly, somehow understood the price of the food and beverage we bought. But her behaviour was so nice that it left a long lasting impression in my mind.
We reached the cave and saw beautiful formation of stalactites and stalagmites at the entrance of the cave just like other limestone cave. Local people come to this cave for practising meditation. I am not a connoisseur of cave. So, I am not the correct person to talk about cave.
We then went to Kukup beach. It is a very beautiful beach with amazing view of rocks and white sands. The beach had a nice ambience as it was less crowded. This beach is also called coral beach as coral is formed in the small island near the sea shore. You can go to the island via a bridge to see the coral rocks. We spent half an hour only at the beach and took some photo.
The last place of day 2 itinerary was Ratu Boko. It is situated on the top of a hill which is the branch of Sewu Mountain. Ratu Boko is the ruins of a palace named after the king Boko and was built in 8th century during Buddhist Shailendra dynasty. But after that Hindu kings took over the palace. So, you'll get to see both Hindu and Buddhist statues and temples in the palace. The main gate of the palace is about 100 meters from the car parking area. There are two gates; inner gate is bigger than the outer gate. We were moved to see the stunning sunset from inside the inner gate on the top of the hill. You can see the ruins of the royal court, place of royal princess, temples, and cave in the palace complex.
We were extremely tired with the hectic schedule and also hungry. So, we ordered our dinner after reaching the hotel and had early dinner. We were shocked with the entry fee and had no money left at the end of the day. So, we took more money and arranged everything for the next day before going to bed.
Due to the hectic tour of day 2, we kept only Borobudur and Mt. Merapi in the 3rd day itinerary. After having heavy breakfast like we had on day 2, we started for Borobudur. We took tourist guide at Borobudur. Borobudur, an architectural marvel, was built during 8th to 9th century under Shailendra dynasty. It was constructed on the top of a small hill having the shape of a pyramid. It has three layers, a square base, five square terraces in the middle level, three circular terraces in the upper level and a large stupa at the centre. The architecture depicts the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The lower level illustrates the relief from earthly desire, middle level illustrates being in the physical body, series of relief from extreme pleasure or pain and the upper level illustrates detachment from the physical world. Guide went with us and explained till the middle layer. We went at the top to see the architecture of each level and also enjoyed the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. It took almost 2hrs to see the monument and take some photographs.
Finally, the time for the most awaited tour to the active volcano having history of regular eruption had arrived. The tranquillity felt on the way to the Mt. Merapi through paddies of the Pentingsari village was unforgettable. The driver dropped us to a jeep stand from where the tour starts. We booked Mt. Merapi lava tour that takes around 2hrs and they cover Sisa Hartaku museum, bunker, villages affected by the eruption, and alien stone.
The tour started and the jeep was going through a jungle, rough terrains and river. Driver was showing the damages occurred during 2010 eruption. The jeep ride through the bumpy road was a fun filled adventure for me till I reached the Sisa Hartaku museum. It was established by a local resident in a small house affected during 2010 eruption. He collected various items like, clock which was stuck exactly at the time of eruption, guitar, bicycle, television, utensils, and even skeleton of two cattle from other houses of the village. Tourists were taking photo with those skeletons. I just had a feeling that all the desire, aspiration, and passion stuck for the residents of the village at a single moment of a dark night in 2010. Just like the clock. I cannot share any photo of the museum with you as I don't have it.
We then went to see the bunker where two people tried to save themselves during 2006 eruption, but found dead inside 6 feet of debris. We saw alien stone which could save itself during eruption and then went to a cliff from where we could see volcanic ash and massive river around Merapi. We bought banana and biscuit from a food stall near the view point as we skipped lunch that day too.
We came back to the hotel a bit early and took rest. We didn't book car for the next day. So, we planned to go to Taman Sari and kraton/palace by local taxi. We tasted the most popular dish of Yogyakarta 'Gudeg tugu' at the dinner. Gudeg tugu is nothing but unripe jackfruit curry.
On day 4, after finishing breakfast at the hotel we took cab and went to Taman Sari, royal garden of the Yogyakarta Sultanate. It has a defence area, mosque, meditation area, resting place, lake, bathing complex. There is a batik workshop run by a community, called Kampung Taman, inside Taman Sari. Batik print, originated in Indonesia, is used by Indonesians in various occasions. But some patterns are used only by royal family. We bought two batik art for our parents and in-laws.
We went to kraton/palace from Taman Sari by Becok (rickshaw). Kraton is the palace of the Sultan of Yogyakarta and his family. It is also used for different cultural functions and ceremonials of Yogyakarta court. You can see regalia museum, painting museum, and royal carriage museum. These royal carriages are used during royal wedding.
We had mid night flight to Singapore. So, thought of going to a nearby shopping mall, called Ambarrukmo Plaza, to have lunch. Cultural function for Eid was going on in the shopping mall. We enjoyed song performances while having lunch. After having lunch, we came back to the hotel. We reached airport on a happy note as we enjoyed the tour more than we expected.
Wonder at the history that I read in book, admire the architecture of monuments, appreciate incredible nature, immerse in the culture, tradition, people and food gave me enduring memory to ruminate and contentment that could not have been experienced with material possession.