Thursday Jan. 6 5 pm,Yogyakarta - watching the rain from the balcony of Tiffa Art House (hostel ), with a couple young German guys I met here last night.

I'm happy to say that I'm finally in full 'backpacker mode'again after almost 2 years.I got here two nights ago; routine flights from Pontianak.Instead of an overpriced taxi I caught a TransJogya city bus - like TransMusi in Palembang, compact and with AC, limited stops - at the airport ( thanks, Lonely Planet ) and it brought me w/in a couple blocks of this place. Again, thanks LP - 1st place listed and for under 10 bucks I have my own bathroom and a comfortable mattress in a convenient location just off Jl Malioboro, the 'main drag' with bus connections to most places of interest and within walking distance of others.But I might not have found it w/o a guy by the bus stop leading me here - hoping it was full and so I would go instead to a nearby place owned by his nephew.He was out of luck.

Malioboro street itself I walked end to end twice today - lined with seemingly endless low-end batik shops selling identical stuff at identical tourist prices ( and the tourists are Indonesians, 99% + ).Actually I stopped first at a book exchange in the next 'gang' ( alley ) and traded 2 already-read books I'd brought with me for 2 novels that look very interesting, new authors/series for me.Lots of good choices there but I resisted the urge to stock up so early in my trip.Then I went to the big traditional market at the end of Malioboro - it goes back for blocks but has produce etc. only in the far back, mostly wholesale and not too interesting for a photographer.I bypassed the sultan's palace already jammed with scores of tour busses, looking for the 'bird market' - a long hot walk - only to find out it's been closed.But there was a little neighborhood traditional market with some photo-worthy people and exotic foods, and a small shadow puppet workshop well worth visiting - I got photos of the two workers and was told lots of details I don't recall, ultimately given ( I think - nothing was ever said directly ) in the hope of me buying something, which I did not. Returning this way I met a German couple I also met at the hostel yesterday, also looking for the bird market; I directed them to the market/puppet workshop instead.They told me not to waste my time going to the kraton, which is what I'd pretty much decided already after seeing all those busses and an intense-looking, narrow gauntlet of aggressive guys selling souvenirs and offering tours on the way to the ticket booth.No thanks - not even if you paid me!

Near the hostel I stopped in a crowded mall for a Pizza Hut salad bar and for the AC - and ran into 3 young German guys I met here yesterday and had spent the afternoon/all evening with after I came back from Prambanan.Now we're out on the upstairs balcony listening to Willie Nelson and other stuff from my computer, with external speakers hooked up.I discovered last night ( there was a good band playing cover versions of Clapton/Hendrix etc. at a bar where we met a big group for conversation till 11 ) that they like blues and 60s/70s rock.Earlier we were driven inside quite a ways by an intense rain/lightning/windstorm; now it's fine - and 10 degrees cooler.

Yesterday I set out early and took a Transyogya bus to the deservedly world-famous 1200-year-old temple complex at Prambanan , which is on the fringes of Yogyakarta.There was a sprawling produce market by the bus stop so of course I walked through it camera in hand, and got the usual super-friendly reception with lots of requests for photos, which I obliged ( though one baby started crying! ).A couple photos are interesting but the market shots are getting repetitious - all selling the same things displayed the same ways.Just the faces are different, and not by much.But it's still fun to see everyone laughing and happy to see themselves recorded in a flattering light. ( Interestingly, no one ever asks for copies. )

From there it was a needlessly long walk to the Prambanan entrance - designed to maximize business for the scads of waiting ojek drivers, whose offers I ignored as always.At the entrance I showed my work visa and only had to pay $2 instead of $13 - great!I only visited the main, compact temple group - 6, with just 3 big ones and the biggest one still closed due to damage from the big 2006 earthquake here.I still spent 3 hours and took hundreds of photos.I was IN many photos too - lots of student groups were there and wanted photos with the giant bule in a giant floppy hat.I saw many hundreds of Indonesians but few foreigners - just one busload of Germans at the end and a few folks getting individual tours in at times incomprehensible 'English' ( I was offered a 'free' guide, a young woman, butturned it down; I like to wander slowly. )As ever, I 'hit my limit' on enthusiasm for temple viewing pretty quickly, but went on slowly and thoroughly, still paying attention to detail, with the result that I got many of my best photos near the end. I ended up staying 3 hours - and then went out the side way to the small museum, nicely laid out but with only a few statues and old photos/limited explanation.Just as I got there the 'heavens opened' ( dark clouds had been building a while; I didn't let it hurry me. ) so I hung out longer than I would have otherwise, virtually by myself.At the end I watched a 20-minute film, VERY well-done despite being blurry at times.From start to finish it tied the Prambanan story to an environmental message in a way that made sense; hints of 'Koyanisqatsi' w/o the intense music.I wish I could recall more details about the Ramayana story,shown in the film as in the hundreds of raised reliefs around 2 of the main temples - sadly, I did not notice or get photos of most of the key ones somehow.Wish I could have seen the film FIRST.Oh, well.Doubt I'll be back either - to Prambanan or Yogya.Certainly the towers were taller and raised reliefs far more numerous than at Phimai, Wat Phou etc. last year but the overall site was a 'once is enough' attraction, and the crowds took a lot of the fun out of it for me.At least the heat was bearable, if barely - actually, I did get a mild sunburn on my arms for the first time since--??? can't even remember when.

By the time the film ( which I watched alone ) ended, the rain had ended too - and the heat was coming back strong. The bus ride back from Prambanan was easy if crowded ( I stood ).Just as I got off a second and harder downpour started, and I had take cover halfway to the hostel.Like a while ago, strong winds blew the rain deep under canopies.Some people were still out - most with umbrellas AND full raincoats.During a lull I raced back here, arriving just in time to avoid a full soaking as the storm returned.I showered and came up here to the balcony, where I met 6 young Germans, who all at once switched to fluent English ( but kept smoking…. )After an hour + of wide-ranging, interesting conversation I went with three of them to an LP-recommended café ( Bedhot = 'creative' in Javanese ) just down the alley.Sad to say, the promised wifi was not working.I ended up getting mie ( noodles ), but very well done with lots of veggies and not at all greasy.Then we went to a bar around the corner, already mentioned.I met a young guy from Chicago, on a school break from China, and staying ( thanks to 'couchsurfing.com' ) with an Indonesian-American woman, very friendly and totally a 'California girl'.And I got to enjoy another ice-cold Guinness.At 11 we wandered back here - with a Circle K stop for Lay's chips for Jan - but quickly consumed by all of us - and I took a second shower before collapsing into bed.No problem falling asleep .It is DEAD quiet here at the hostel at night.100% silence nonstop.No loud drunks wandering in late, which I'd been a bit worried about since I have a room just off the lobby.

Tomorrow I will take a bus from the main terminal to Borobudur village and stay a couple days at the LP-recommended Lotus II Guest House, which does cheap tours to surrounding villages/countryside, which is said to be gorgeous.