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Vibrant Yogyakarta

From Bali we flew directly into the core of Java island, in Yogyakarta (often called Jogja). If you want to experiment genuinely Indonesian culture this is the place to do it.
Aerial view of the city
After the checkin, we went to explore the surroundings. 
The same artist from Kuta. And yes, everyone is welcomed in this city!
From the airport we took a Grab, and from the car I've noticed on streets artists playing on percussive instruments. Later I found out this is some traditional Javanese music.
Gamelan - traditional Javanese ensemble music 
Another symbol of the city is the becak, cycle rickshaw. You will see them everywhere in the city. 
Becak - this is an upgraded model with motor!
Another Indonesian heritage that you can delight with is the batik, a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth. 
Framed batik. The colours are natural and it's printed on both side. You can easily transport it and wash it.
Near the Malioboro street, a major shopping street, we found a hidden garden with live music.
We came here each evening for dinner
So, Malioboro street is very vibrant in the evening. There are a lot of shops and stalls with food, clothes, crafted accessories. 

What surprised me most were the people. We were stopped many times by locals to take photos with us. I was interviewed twice by some students. For them, we were of a never seen beauty. I've never felt so admired.
They were curious to find out more about my culture

How is possible to walk on streets and people stop you to say hello and ask you from where are you? Yogyakarta has  4 million inhabitants!
Sunday was a lazy day! Only 20k steps. All this holiday the distances seem so short.
Lazy in a nook
On our last day in Jogja we booked a tour from the hotel and went to see Borobudur and Prambanan temples. The tour was 150000 IDR (~9.5 EUR) and the combo-tickets 560000 IDR (~35 EUR). We were lucky to be alone with the driver. The driver picked us from the hotel at 7.30 am and we returned at 2.30pm. From Jogja to Borobudur, the first stop, it was ~1h. From Borobudur to Prambanan it was ~1h40m, and another hour from Prambanan back to the hotel. During this time we enjoyed the rural landscape of Yogya region.
Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. 
The temple blueprint
Playing around stupas

Stupas overlooking the misty mountains
Buddha statues placed inside perforated stupas
From Borobudur we went to Prambanan temple, the largest Hindu temple from South-East Asia.
The temple blueprint
The temple was damaged by the major 2006 earthquake 
I found more impressive Prambanan temple rather than Borobudur. I liked the low number of tourists. As well, at each site you could get a free bottle of water or a cup of tea/coffee. These small details make your visit more pleasant. 
In Jogja there are more to see but for another time! The holiday is ending... Tomorrow morning we fly back to Singapore, for another three nights and after that we fly back to Bucharest...
Bye bye Indonesia!

   
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