I thought Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta (from local dialect) will be boring since i only heard about their temples before and nothing more. Nevertheless, i was still excited to go on vacation.
It was afternoon when we arrived in Jogja, after check in at The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta we decided just to stay in and rest before heading out for dinner later. We wasn't care about expensive hotels before but lately, we cannot resist hotels with swimming pool and good location. Its feel so good to get into the pool after being outside all day in the heat.
(The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta)
(Nicely decor swimming pool)
After recharging our body we head out to find transport for trip the next day. We didn't booked any driver online and we seriously didn't know where to find there. Unlike Bali, it was so easy to find driver and usually this is the first question people asked you at the airport. We try to get help from hotel reception but it was painfully expensive. So we just walk to Malioboro to get dinner and hope we will see tour agent along the way.
It was obviously nothing to worry about because the tour agent was everywhere along Malioboro street. We get Toyota Avanza with driver for IDR 650, 000 for 12 hours. Expensive? This is the price they gave us on the price list and since we wanted to go to Dieng Plateau which is 4 hours away from Jogjakarta we think the price is pretty reasonable. We also booked driver for the day after for another trip to the temples which cos us IDR 400,000.
After get everything booked its time to fill in our tummy which didn't eat much since afternoon. We saw few stall along the street and we stop at the third one to check what they have. Behind every stall, there's a lot of people sitting on the carpet and having their dinner. This seems to be their style of eating out in Jogjakarta which is pretty unique to me but will seems to be unhygienic to the tourist. Thank god that my husband have been living in Malaysia for 2 years and this view doesn't shocked him and he willing to try and didn't make a fuss about it.
There's a lot of choice for the food. Mostly fried and rice which they already pack in a small quantity. You can take anything you want, put it in a plate and they will charge you according to what you take.
(We didn't sit on the carpet, it was full)
(I tried sambal belado....was so good)
(seeeeeeeeeeeee that)
I really like food in Jogja because it was spicy, make me feel like home and it was so tasty. Majority population in Jogja are muslim and javanese, so i didn't have to worry about halal or not.
After dinner, we take a walk through Malioboro to Sono Budoyo Museum to see shadow puppet or wayang kulit. Malioboro was busy with tourist since the street are famous for shopping.
(its 2 hours long and in javanese)
We start as early as 7am in the morning heading to Dieng Plateau which is highland and famous for its volcano crater and colorful lake. The scenery along the way was beautiful and we really enjoyed seeing beautiful rice field every where. Our first stop was Candi Arjuna. Its nothing much to do here but this is where i first discover carica, Wonosobo specialty and so tasty.
(IDR10k to take picture with them, which only RM3.50)
The highlight on this trip was Sikidang Crater. I never see any volcano or crater before and didnt know what to expect. When we arrived we have been greeted by foul smell, sulfur. There's a lot of people selling mask here, but we already brought it from KL and you dont need one actually.
(It has lot of smoke which make it difficult to see what actually happen inside crater)
(We are lucky that wind flew the other direction and voila.......bubbling mud)
(Scary no?)
After Sikidang Crater, we went to colorful lake. It was so refreshing here. The area was big and nice for a walk. They even have few small caves to see here.
Together with this trip we combined trip to Borobudur on the way back to Yogyakarta. The whole idea of this trip is to see their temple. Entrance fee to Borobudur & Prambanan are really expensive. But thank god that i speak malay and copied their accent. We also get a help from our driver who bought ticket for us. So my husband paid foreigner entrance fee and i paid same as local.
(Borobudur Temple)
Third day in Yogya, we start our day with Merapi Adventure, which is a trip by jeep to the foot of Merapi Volcano to see the ruin and bunkers after the volcano irrupted in 2010.
(little adventure)
We then went to see Plaosan temple before proceed to Prambanan temple. When we were there, there's people doing work reconstruct the temple which destroyed because of earth quake. Even though this temple wasnt big, it has its own charm.
Compare to Borobudur, i love Prambanan temple more. The park was big and the temple itself looks amazing. The details in every single stone simply beautiful and full with stories.
Its hard to say goodbye to Yogyakarta, we spend our last day exploring the city which we didn't have much time to see. We went to Kraton aka sultan palace to see the life of royal people of java.
I was also excited to see Taman Sari which is bathing complex for the princess. Unfortunately, they clean the pool when we were there and there's no water inside to show how beautiful the place can be.
I really hope that one day we can go back to java, take that becak ride and eat that tasty food again. My mom will definitely love the food and shopping here.
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