So I went to Jogja recently, taking the opportunity off a task that I was assigned to do in Kuala Lumpur, meaning I could spare my money from having to buy the air ticket from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur and back. Ever since the pandemic, direct flights from Kota Kinabalu to international destinations have been so rare making traveling from this current base of mine highly unaffordable.
So traveling into Jogja from Kuala Lumpur, the real journey began at the brand new Yogyakarta International Airport. I took the train, which was also new, right to the centre of Jogja, all for INR50000. It was a comfortable train ride, and the access to the train was far more convenient and easy compared to the larger-than-life KLIA Express back in Kuala Lumpur.
The train took me right to Yogyakarta Central Train Station in Malioboro which was like the most popular spot in Jogja. I purposely booked a hotel near to the train station so that I could just walk down to it, which was exactly what I did. It was late in the evening when I arrived at the train station and I was instantly overwhelmed by the night traffic of Jogja. Even crossing the road to the hotel had required quite a bit of my guts.
Hotel Kota turned out to be an old hotel – or rather the building was – but it definitely had the classical vibes of an old building that had probably seen and witnessed so much of Jogja through time. The hotel room was OK for the price that I paid it for, except for one thing that I immediately noticed – the wardrobe. The wardrobe was there but the hangers were missing! In the end I didn’t get to use the wardrobe at all and that was when the only chair in the room came in handy.
After cleaning myself a bit, I ventured into the streets of Malioboro to look for something that I could fill my empty stomach with. It was weekend so people seemed to be out on the streets in full force. The sight of Pece Lele on the menu of a restaurant had immediately caught my attention and interest so I went for it but the portion was unfortunately too small for my big appetite so I had to order another meal before I could call it a proper dinner.
Malioboro was certainly full of characters. People from all over the city and probably beyond come in hordes especially on a weekend during which I was there. This place was very much intended for the locals to hang around in – mostly for the cafes, food, shopping or just to socialize among themselves. I didn’t see any apparent tourist so I assumed tourists don’t really come to this part of town. Just like most other places in Indonesia that I’ve been to, they still provide horse-riding for leisure purposes, which was quiet a turn-off for me. I seriously wish all this leisurely horse-riding banned and stopped for good already.
I didn’t get to explore the city of Jogja, nor was I really interested to. It reminds me of the city of Surabaya, except for the obvious lack of tall buildings. There was nothing much to see and explore, even with the help of Google. People come to Jogja on their way to other destinations – mostly to Borobudur and probably Prambanan temples or on their way to climbing any of the volcanic mountains. I might be wrong though.
After a little bit of last minute planning, I decided to take a taxi to Prambanan which was only about 17km from Malioboro, but felt like forever to reach. It had cost me some IDR135000 including the entrance fee to the parking area. I really thought it was so stupid of the driver to get into the parking area when I could just walk and avoid paying for the unnecessary fee. He even had the audacity of giving me his number just in case I needed a ride back to Jogja and probably going to other destinations later. I deleted the contact number that he had given me as soon as I disembarked.
The best part came later afterward though when I paid for the local rate admission free, thanks to my Asian physical features and my ability to converse – although with some difficulty – in Indonesian. It would have cost me a few times over if I had to pay on the foreigner rate.
It was the beginning of a long school break so many schools seemed to take the opportunity to take their school children to places and Parambanan was obviously a favourite. The historical site was full of school kids so the whole place looked like a massive school playground, which I didn’t mind anyway. The temples had the features of those temples in Angkor Wat, only smaller in sizes. But the intricity of the stone carvings on the temples were just as amazing.
Being a UNESCO World Heritage site, it certainly has the fund to keep it so well-maintained. The massive park on the surrounding was beautiful and well-maintained too and the existence of the beautiful Mount Merapi that stands high in the distance makes the whole site so stunningly beautiful. I was there for a couple of hours before making my way out through the exit which felt like forever to reach on foot.
I ventured asking a policeman at the mini police station just outside of the gate and he told me I could catch a bus from a terminal bus which was about half a kilometre down the main road. After thanking him, I walked towards the direction that he told me to, and asking people for clarification along the way. It was obviously longer a distance than I had imagined but luckily there was a motorcyclist who was kind enough to take me to the mini bus station for free. I got instantly reminded how I loved Indonesian people so much!
Returning back to the hotel in Jogja, I rushed to pack up and checked out before mid-day so that I could avoid paying for any unnecessary late check-out charges. I had a simple lunch that the hotel had cooked for me before taking a Grab towards the Magelang regency where I was so set to come face to face with the world famous Borobudur – the biggest Buddhist temple in the world! All in the next blogpost of course.