Yogyakarta part one: amazing culture at your finger tips

The train was an 8 hour ride to Yogyakarta, and it was just beautiful; per every daytime train I have taken so far.  I got to see so much of the country side and I enjoyed it immensely.  I had already booked a hostel in a nice part of town and straight off the train I managed to find an o-jek (motorcycle taxi) to take me there for fairly cheap.

 My hostel was great!!! All of the rooms looked onto the patio and courtyard.  This garden was like a jungle, super green.  It had fountains and massive trees, a nice little walking path and just was serene.  That night I did a little more research and found a well known tour center, Via Via, near where I was staying.  The next day I headed out in that direction to check them out.  

  

Via Via had a café/restaurant with western food.  So I plopped down ordered myself a crab burger and looked over the tour options.  

 Being a solo traveler has some down sides.  Unfortunately booking the volcano hikes were much more expensive and just plain hard to do with one person.  So I looked at more of the local type things to do.  I knew I could explore the palaces and markets on my own, but seeing some of the temples with a tour guide would be nice.  I know nothing about the architecture.  So without a guide all I would see was pretty buildings.  I settled on two tours.  One was a cooking class and the other was visiting a few minor temples and then heading over the Prambanan temple complex.  I was excited and it was super cheap!

The rest of day was just walking around and getting my bearings.  While I was walking I booked a bicycle rickshaw for the next day.  A nice guy said he’s take me around for about 5 to 10 dollars.  Where ever I wanted to go. I agreed and gave him a time.  I don’t mind being taken around a little bit.  I know I can go on my own, but renting a guy for a few hours is much better than being individually ripped off by several rickshaws. 

That night I met Claudia.  She was a fellow traveler from the States.  We exchanged stories of our adventures and where we were planning on going next.  It is so nice to meet someone that is as well traveled as you are (especially from the states) and are excited about how you experienced different countries.  Claudia had been traveling for more than a year and had no idea when she would stop.  This is how I feel now that I’ve finally hit New Zealand.  Maybe one day I will stop, but at the moment I have the world at my fingertips.  Why would I ever stop?

I ended up being late to my rickshaw because I decided to skype mom and dad.  Skype dates with the rents is essential and the guy was still there, so no big deal.  I usually like to be on time, but in Indonesia it really doesn’t matter.  In the states he would have been super upset, but Indonesians run on a different time schedule.

 The rickshaw driver took me to the Sultin’s palace.  It  was really nice, not spectacular but nice.  I took my time wandering around.  It is quite a large complex.  As soon as you enter there was traditional music being played.  I guess they change what is happening depending on the day of the week you enter.   The day I went there was music, the next day was a puppet show and the next day was a dance.  I thought this was very convenient, even though it wasn't tourist season they made an effort for there to be cultural experiences available.

After the palace I went to a Puppet making shop run by the kings relatives, so it was exclusive...maybe?  They said it was only open a few times a week and holidays.  The puppets are made of buffalo leather that has been treated and cut.  Buffalo leather makes it more durable and felxable, so if it rolled up to put a away it retains it’s shape (ex. Doesn’t become a scroll) and doesn’t break easily.   Every piece has a story, color signifcants, over 200 characters. I  bought a little one, I just couldn't resist.  To learn more about it, check out this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayang

We also went to a Batik shop.  They were amazing.  I did batik in high school and thought I did quite well, but this was something else all together.  These were literally paitings.  All were straetched on freames, so I felt as if I couldn’t take them with me,  not having a house and limited space in my bags.  I learned later from Claudia, later, that you could get them unframed. If i had known that I would have totally gotten one, but I was also money conscious.  Indonesia was already costing more than I thought, but I was enjoying every minute of it.

 The next stop was the Water palace.  It was so beautiful.  When I first walked in I was non-pulsed.  It didn't look like much and seemed run down.  But everything in Indonesia ages because of the high humidity.  I should have known better.  It took my breath away, it was so beautiful. I spend a good amount of time wandering around and taking pictures.  So i shouldn't have been surprised when I lost my driver.  He was having lunch.  Oh well.  I had a drink and hung out with the other rickshaw drivers, once they realized I did not need transport and would be only taking my driver to my next destination.  They were pretty chill.

The last thing I wanted to do my rickshaw driver wasn't too excited about.  I needed to go to the market to get a new (cheap) pair of sneakers.  I had thrown mine out in Georgia, my last cold weather country.  They were worn out so much I could feel the bottom of my foot through the rubber.  So we went on a mission to get me some shoes.  While we were in the market the rickshaw driver convinced me to meet his mother, who owned a batik shop.  I said I would love to see her, but I couldn't garentee that I would buy anything.  In the end I got new patchwork batik shirt.  By the time I was ready to leave it was raining cats and dogs. So I had a bit of local food before we headed back to hotel. 

 The rest of the day was uneventful.  I wanted to get a manicure while In Yogyajarkarta, but alas all I could find were ones for about $50.  So I just did dinner and applied for my Austrailian visa.  Something I had forgotten compleatly about, until someone on Facebook posted a link.  The link was a visual map that showed you, according to nationality, what paperwork and cost was requited for each country.  It was really cool and when I clicked on Australia I realized I needed to actualy apply for one, verses the usual (in asia) visa on arrival.  http://www.visamapper.com/ Through this lovely website I discovered US citizens are only barred from 2 countries.  I thought it was more.  Anywho, the visa took me 20 minutes to apply for and was $20.  Kick ass Australia!

The last and probably best part of the day was a skype date.  Oh, reliable internet.  I love you.  The next few days are full of adventure, so I'll update you soon.