The train journey from Solo to Yogyakarta only took an hour and it was just like being on a train at home, very comfortable! We decided to get a becak to the area where the cheap homestays are and we walked around until we found Dewi Homestay, we had a four poster bed complete with Mozzi net and it was only 10 dollars a night so we were happy!

Yogyakarta is a lot prettier than Solo, where we were staying there were lots of little alley ways with restaurants and shops and motorbikes aren't allowed down them so it made for a nice quiet stay too. Yogyakarta is seen as the centre for Java's artistic heritage and the people there are trying their best to keep traditions alive in spite of western influence and developments. It is the city where the Sultan of Java has lived since 1755 when the Kraton there was built. The main road leading to the Kraton is called Jalan Marlborough - named after the Duke of Marlborough after he visited.

We spent a day visiting the Kraton, Gem wanted to meet the Sultan and ask him to buy Luton Town FC but unfortunately he was hiding in his quarters! We did however see his servants returning from serving him tea at 11am and we got some good pictures of the people that work on the complex. The Kraton itself was much more impressive than the one we went to in Solo, it had nice grounds and we sat and watched a Gamelan performance in the main courtyard. It is effectively a walled city within Joygyakarta and 25000 people live there, 1000 of which are employed by the Sultan. We enjoyed walking from the water castle to the Kraton, the houses there were very nice and it seemed a lovely place to live - see pics.

We also spent one day at the zoo! After realising we weren't going to see Komodo Dragon's in the wild it was great to see them and there was lots of other weird and wonderful wildlife including a giant tortoise, bears and some very peculiar birds. It was a Sunday and it was lovely to see all the locals having a fun day out with the family. The fact that we were the only westerners there caused quite a stir with people wanting to have photos taken with us and one baby who I am quite sure would have stayed with Matt forever if he could, see our pics!

With not much to do in the evening (bars close at 10 and alcohol is very expensive!) we decided to take a taxi to a big shopping mall where there is a cimema and we wanted to watch the latest Batman. It was a strange experience going through security to enter a shopping mall, a stark reminder that we are staying in a Muslim country and there are problems with extremists. Whilst we were in Solo a policeman was shot dead (we read in the papers). Much to Gem's dismay Batman wasn't showing and the only English film to watch was Expendables 2 - it was okay, funny experience being looked at by everyone again and we enjoyed the popcorn!!!

We booked a tour to see Borobodur and Prambanan, both places that were "not to be missed" according to other travellers and the guide book. One guy we spoke to said he went on a weekend and it was very crowded so we decided to go on the Monday in the hope it would be a bit quieter. We were picked up at 5 in the morning and went to Borobodur first. There were only about 20 people there in total and we got to watch the sunrise over the monument. It is a massive Buddhist Monument which was only rediscovered in 1815 and has since been taking apart and rebuilt as it had water damage and was subsiding. It was built in 750AD and we hope our pictures show what a special place it is, we really enjoyed walking around the different levels, looking at the views and spotting different scenes in the stonework. The bus then took us to Prambanan, a complex of Hindu temples about 17km from Yogyakarta. Unfortunately the temples were badly damaged by an earthquake in 2006 so we were only able to enter some of them. It was very much like Angkor Wot and impressive in it's own way but not as gigantic!

The best thing about Yogyakarta was seeing real Indonesia and gaining an understanding of how nice the locals are, always saying hello and they really can't help you enough. Again we have both been surprised by how well developed the country is, with big shopping malls, office buildings and lots of mod cons which we both weren't expecting. Our next Indonesian adventure is in Sumatra where we plan to trek in the jungle and hope to see some wild orangutans.