Yogya? YogYES!

Setting-a cafe in Palembang Indah Mall, 3 lovely ladies are having a delicious lunch and chatting...

Deirdre: Jogjakarta is beautiful and amazing and everyone should go there.(paraphrasing)
Hafiza: Can it be done in a weekend?
Deirdre: Yeah, I think it could.

Eye contact followed by mental dialogueMe: Fiz, could we do it?
Hafiza: Yeh, defo. How about this weekend?
Me: Right before our long holiday? Why not?
Exeunt eye contact

Me and Hafiza: WE'RE GOING TO JOGJA!

We booked our flights the next day, found a cheap hotel, and headed to Jogja the following Saturday morning at the delightful hour of 5am.

Ahh, Palembang in the morning!

This is how excited Hafiza was to travel with me

After a quick layover in Jakarta, combined with the usual dash to find the correct gate, we hit Jogja (Yogya) running. We headed out to the famous shopping district called Jalan Malioboro and saw more batik shirts and tourist shops than I thought was possible. Jogjakarta is an extremely popular destination for Indonesians and foreigners alike. Palembang isn't quite so popular so we enjoyed the vacation vibe along with everyone else.

Skyscape en route to Jogja

City center

Check out the behind on that birch!

A fancy becak we rode around in

 One of the main events in Jogja is Ramayana ballet, a traditional Javanese dance that tells some of the stories about the Hindu gods. We booked a package deal of a buffet dinner along with an open air performance for later that night. Before dinner we went for a stroll and enjoyed not being in Palembang.

Our candlelight buffet dinner was delicious! There was a good mix of both Western and Indonesian style dishes for every palate. After dinner it was a short walk across the courtyard to the amphitheater performance area. The show was interesting and very well done. After the show we caught a becak back to the hotel to hit the hay before an early day on Sunday.

For Sunday we had booked a car and guide for the 2 main attractions for Jogja which are the temples of Borobudur and Prembanan. Borobudur is a massive Buddhist temple and Prembanan is Hindu. First stop was Borobudur and it was absolutely stunning. 

 

 Inside each of those domes is a buddha like this one

 Check out those clouds. Whoa.

Unfortunately for us, foreigners are a pretty big deal and at some points we became more of an attraction than the temples themselves. Here is one of many groups of Indonesian students asking us to take photos with them.

A short car ride later we went to another temple called Mendut that houses another 3 Buddhas. Then it was onward to Prembanan!

 I think these monkeys are the cutest things ever.

At the end of the day we were exhausted from many hours spent in the sun, in the car, and on foot. Luckily, there was a pizza place not too far from out hotel and we stopped in for real pizza with real cheese on it. If there is one thing Indonesia doesn't know how to do, its pizza, but this place was pretty good for our standards. The next morning we caught the first flight out to Jakarta and on again to Palembang followed by a full day of teaching. Great sights with a great friend! Terima kasih Jogja :)