INDONESIA - Yogyakarta & Solo
It was a pleasant 8hr journey to Yogya on the executive class train. Nice comfy chairs, air con and fantastic scenery.
Yogya was pretty busy with Indonesians enjoying their holidays and most places were full, but for once I followed a tout and got a room straight away for 2 quid a nite. Woosh!
On my first day I did a tour to Borobudur, Prambanan and Mendut temples. Breathtaking! Borobudur was in good nik, but Prambanan had been destroyed by the earthquake last year when 6000 people were killed. There were only 5 pagodas still standing out of the hundreds that were there originally. Felt like quite the celebrity there as all the Indonesians were asking for my foto. It was funny at first, but after the 100th time I was getting a bit p*$$ed off.
Mendut was a smaller temple, but I was more interested in the monastery next to it, which was so peaceful.
I met Jen again on the tour, who I had met in Jakarta so we hung out together and had dinner that nite. She was cool and we had a lot in common, mainly diving.
The next day I did a walk about of Yogya itself. I went to the Kraton then planned to go to the museums, but they were shut for the holidays. So there was nothing much else to do than wander the shops. Woopee! I still cant get over how cheap everything is. I really am in heaven. At nite I went to the Ramayan Ballet at the Prambanan temples. The scenery was fantastic with Prambanan all lit up, and the dancing and costumes were spectacular. Although after 2 hours my arse was a bit sore cos I'd paid for the cheapest seat.
Today I headed to Solo. I got up early but still managed to miss my train cos I was at the wrong platform, so I jumped on another train and crossed my fingers it would go via Solo. Solo is another town about an hour away. It was a bit boring. I went to the two palaces, which werent the most impressive. I went to the batik market, but there were hundreds of stalls and I just felt idzzy being surrounded by all the batik. On the way back on the train a girl started speaking to me and when she got off the train she gave me a present of a big bag of crisps. The people are so nice and it was so sweet of her (although my hips wont appreciate it!).
Next stop is an 8hr bus ride to Gunung Bromo. Ouch!
Yogya was pretty busy with Indonesians enjoying their holidays and most places were full, but for once I followed a tout and got a room straight away for 2 quid a nite. Woosh!
On my first day I did a tour to Borobudur, Prambanan and Mendut temples. Breathtaking! Borobudur was in good nik, but Prambanan had been destroyed by the earthquake last year when 6000 people were killed. There were only 5 pagodas still standing out of the hundreds that were there originally. Felt like quite the celebrity there as all the Indonesians were asking for my foto. It was funny at first, but after the 100th time I was getting a bit p*$$ed off.
Mendut was a smaller temple, but I was more interested in the monastery next to it, which was so peaceful.
I met Jen again on the tour, who I had met in Jakarta so we hung out together and had dinner that nite. She was cool and we had a lot in common, mainly diving.
The next day I did a walk about of Yogya itself. I went to the Kraton then planned to go to the museums, but they were shut for the holidays. So there was nothing much else to do than wander the shops. Woopee! I still cant get over how cheap everything is. I really am in heaven. At nite I went to the Ramayan Ballet at the Prambanan temples. The scenery was fantastic with Prambanan all lit up, and the dancing and costumes were spectacular. Although after 2 hours my arse was a bit sore cos I'd paid for the cheapest seat.
Today I headed to Solo. I got up early but still managed to miss my train cos I was at the wrong platform, so I jumped on another train and crossed my fingers it would go via Solo. Solo is another town about an hour away. It was a bit boring. I went to the two palaces, which werent the most impressive. I went to the batik market, but there were hundreds of stalls and I just felt idzzy being surrounded by all the batik. On the way back on the train a girl started speaking to me and when she got off the train she gave me a present of a big bag of crisps. The people are so nice and it was so sweet of her (although my hips wont appreciate it!).
Next stop is an 8hr bus ride to Gunung Bromo. Ouch!
posted by Cat @ 7:35 AM
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