Friday, July 15, 2011

YOGYAKARTA IN PHOTOS

We arrived in Jakarta from Manila at 12 midnight,  checked-in at a hotel near the Soekharno-Hatta Airport at around 1 in the morning,  slept for 2 hours, woke up, took a shower, got ready, and went back to the airport to catch our early morning flight to Yogyakarta.  With only 2 hours of sleep, this is how we spent 24 hours in Yogya.

We landed in Adisutjipto Airport at 8 in the morning.  This is the time we discovered that squat toilets, which they call closet jongkok, are still widely-used in Indonesia.  No worries though, because they always have closet duduks (ftw!) too. 

We arranged an airport pick-up with the hotel, but instead of checking-in right away, we decided to go straight to Borobudur so we can maximize our day.

Borobudur Temple
From the airport, it took us more or less 1 hour to get to Borobudur.

We bought our entrance tickets for  Rp125,000 or around $15.  They charge a much lower rate for locals-- around 1/10 of what they charge to foreign visitors.  Those paying the higher fee get to enjoy unlimited welcome drinks (bottled water, juice, coffee or tea) in an air-conditioned room.  In this same room, they also provide you with a sarong.  All the other local guests get their sarongs from a separate stall.

It's kind of a long walk from the entrance before you get a glimpse of the temple.

The Borobudur Temple, or Candi Borobudur as they call it,  is a Buddhist temple listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Site.  It is considered to be the largest Buddhist structure in the world.

It took our lazy asses forever before we reached the top.  The steps are narrow and steep, so we had to take a rest like... every platform. HAHA.

There were some restorations going on so we were not able to go beyond these circular platforms on top of Borobudur.  Sob.

We spent some time taking silly photos, chatting, and appreciating the magnificent view before we decided to go back down.

It was almost 11 in the morning when we had to say bye to Borobudur!  Now, time to return our sarongs!

Pawon Temple
Just a short drive from Borobudur Temple, still within the Borobudur complex, is a much smaller Buddhist temple called the Pawon Temple, or Candi Pawon.

An entrance ticket to the temple costs Rp10,000.  We spent just a few minutes here, enough to take a few photos. 

Mendut Temple
Another temple not too far from Borobudur is the Mendut Temple.  It is interesting to know that Borobudur, Pawon, and Mendut temples all form one straight line.  We didn't go inside anymore, as we didn't have the luxury of time.  Remember, we only have a day in Jogja!  Our driver just double-parked the car on one side of the road and we made a short stop to take photos from there.

Sekar Kedhaton Restaurant
We haven't had any decent meal since we left Jakarta, and it was such a treat to be brought to this Javanese Restaurant for lunch.  It was our driver who recommended this place, and we loved it! 
 

Silly photos, as usual.
 

Yogyakarta is famous for its silver handicrafts, so we also checked out this silver gallery beside the restaurant before heading to our next destination.

Prambanan Temples
From Borobudur area, it took us around 2 hours to get to Prambanan.  Unlike Borobudur which is a Buddhist temple, Prambanan is a Hindu temple compound.

It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
and is said to be the most beautiful Hindu temple in the world.  Isn't it? =)

The compound consists of different temples, all showcasing the very distinct Hindu architecture.

Of course, our visit to Prambanan wouldn't be complete without the photo session!  Seriously, this part takes most of our time.  If you don't take as much photos as we do, you would've probably done everything we did in half a day.  

Yogyakarta Market
After leaving Prambanan, we stopped by a local traditional market just to see what's there.  It was our first time to come across this fruit called by the locals as Salak Pondoh.  It looks as if it's covered with snakeskin! Hehe!

Yogyakarta Center
Then off to the center, we went!  The city center is in between Borobudur and Prambanan so it's relatively a shorter car ride.

Our driver, Mr. Choiri (he was so nice by the way), dropped us off at the hotel, finally.

We stayed at Melia Purosani Hotel, one of the three "nice and big" hotels in Jogjakarta according to Mr. Choiri (whatever he meant by that) aside from Sheraton and Hyatt.  Trust us, we would've loved to stay at Aman resort's Amanjiwo but we cannot afford it, HAHA (what's new).  Honestly, Melia Purosani is a good hotel and we enjoyed our stay, inspite of it being a short one.

It is located right at the center of Jogjakarta.  We had a good view of it straight from our hotel room's window.

We would have loved to explore the city more but we were already too tired to move, and so we just opted to dine in-room for supper.

We slept like a child, woke up at 4:30AM, and flew out of Yogyakarta early morning the next day.  

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