Hard to believe our trip is coming to a close -- we've had a such a terrific time that we're sorry to see it end!

Our final destination in Indonesia is the city of Yogyakarta. Yogya, as it is affectionately known, is a mid-sized city in Java (around 1,000,000 people) that is known as the spiritual heart of the island. While Jakarta is the political and financial center, Yogya is the cultural center. There are lots of historic sites in the area, and the city has a youthful and progressive vibe thanks to the many universities here and large student population.

We slept in to recover from our bus odyssey across Java yesterday. We had a very nice breakfast and awesome coffee at the Ministry of Coffee before setting out to walk around Yogya. There are not a ton of must-see sites here, so we decided to take it easy and get acquainted with the city using the new Trans-Yogya busway. The stop was about 2 (long) blocks from the hotel, so we took the bus to the center of the city, Malioboro Street.

Malioboro is the commercial center of the city, with all needed for tourists and locals required. We walked around slowly (the heat was ferocious) and eventually reached the Kraton and Water Palace -- the domain of the sultan. We peeked around a little, but to be honest were a bit overloaded on site seeing at this point. One thing to mention about Yogya that we hadn't experienced anywhere else in Indonesia is the aggressiveness of the touts. It was impossible to walk 2 feet without being asked if we wanted a ride somewhere or if we wanted a guide to show us around. Luckily after a forceful "no" they generally left us alone, but the problem was there were SO MANY people harassing us, that it almost a constant onslaught. We also found that many of the guides would outright lie and point us in the wrong direction if we didn't use their services. A bit disappointing, but after 3 weeks in Indonesia, we were pretty much able to get along even with their lies!

We stopped for lunch and had probably the diciest meal of the trip. Craig refused to eat it, and even Efren after poking around a bit decided it wasn't safe. The problem was the food was not hot, so likely had been sitting around for a while -- total danger sign. In other places, even if things looked a bit dodgy, as long as the food was hot, we generally didn't worry.

Through all our walking we actually learned we were pretty close to the hotel, and walked back there. Our hotel is in the Prawirotaman district, which is a bit away from the main tourist district, but is its own pleasant enclave of hotels and restaurants. On the way we were hounded again by becek drivers wanting to drive us around. Beceks are very common in Yogya. Whereas throughout the rest of Indonesia we saw primarily motorbikes, here there are beceks, which are manually pedalled bicycles with a front or side seating compartment for 2 people.
We relaxed at the hotel for a bit before working on our blog a little. We then made contact with Efren's friend Henry and we made plans for dinner. One of Efren's coworkers went to school with Henry in a town just outside Yogyakarta. We had been communicating through facebook for a few months and were excited to meet Henry in person.

Henry picked us up and brought us to a wonderful restaurant serving traditional Javanese food. Lots of fish and tofu dishes -- all was delicious. The restaurant was called Ikan Bakar Cianjur and we ordered gurameh pismol, sup ikan, karedok and other delicacies -- yum!

It was great talking with Henry who is a professor of architecture at one of the city's universities. He is also very involved in Habitat for Humanity in Yogya, and unfortunately the devastating 2006 earthquake in the area has created a pressing need for more structures to be built. Henry brought us back to the hotel. Craig and Efren have a sunrise tour to Borobudur planned -- another early morning!

September 2 -- Borobudur and Prambanan

Wow, an early start! Our tour guide and driver from Rebecca Tours picked us up from Ministry of Coffee at the ungodly hour of 4am. The delightful staff at the hotel had packed boxed breakfasts for us, so that was very nice! By 4am we were driving in the darkness through the streets of Yogya on our way to Borobudur, about 1 hour away. We arranged this special tour to visit Borobudur at sunrise which should make the scene all the more spectacular. Also there are very few tourists at the sight at that time, so that should make the visit all the more enjoyable.

Our tour guide was pleasant but not terribly informative. That was ok as we read up on Borobudur before our visit. Borobudur is a monument often placed in the same league as Angkor Wat in Cambodia for its sheer immensity. Borobudur is a breathtaking Buddhist monument constructed about 1,000 years ago from volcanic rocks. Ironic that the site was abandoned after a volcanic eruption a few hundred years later, only to be rediscovered in 1814.

The site is covered with stone relief panels which convey Buddhist teachings The higher terraces include a total of 72 stupas, each of which include a Buddha image. The sunrise wasn't perfect (a bit cloudy), but still the morning mist hanging over the surrounding jungles lent an even thicker mystique to the site. The attached pictures should give a pretty good sense of the enormity of this site.

After Borobudur we grabbed a quick breakfast at the local hotel before quickly checking out 2 other nearby sites -- including Mendut with its fabulous 3m high Buddha statue. We were then on the road back to Yogyakarta and arrived at our hotel around 9am. We napped for a few hours and in the early afternoon made plans to head to the other main site in the Yogya area -- Prambanan.

We took the trans Yogya bus to Prambanan, and about 1 hour later we arrived. It was a good 10 minute walk to the site, and what a site it is! Unlike Borobudur which is Buddhist, Prambanan is a Hindu complex. The site comprises more than 50 temples, but we learned many were damaged during the 2006 earthquake. Much reconstruction is still going on. However, several of the temples have been restored and could be entered. The temples look absolutely stunning when viewed from a distance. The Shiva Temple is the largest at 47 meters high. The statue of Shiva stands in the central chamber, and the exterior is decorated with elaborate stone relief carvings. The beauty of this site was one of the surprises of our trip.

We considered sticking around for the evening performance of the famous Ramayana ballet which is performed on a stage with floodlit Prambanan in the background. We needed to get back to the hotel, however, to pack for our flight to Singapore tomorrow AM, so we decided to give the ballet a pass.

On the way back to the hotel we made one last stop at Malioboro for some shopping and stopped at the upscale Malioboro mall for some coffee and pastries. We got back to the hotel and did some packing before Henry came by for coffee. We chatted and bit and said farewell to our new friend -- promising to visit again in the near future. We walked up the street and had dinner at the very hip Via Via restaurant. This place serves awesome food and is a true traveler paradise -- helping to arrange visits to other sites in the area. On our final walk back to the hotel we were lucky to run into a music troupe jamming on the street and needed to pause for a few minutes to listen to their awesome show. This just reminded us how this country always seems to amaze with yet another fascinating glimpse when least expected....

We are very sad that tomorrow we leave this amazing country. We have completely enjoyed our nearly 3 week stay here, and already are planning our return trip! Tomorrow it is back to Singapore before heading home and returning to reality....