Yogyakarta Vacations, Yogyakarta Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Yogyakarta Vacation Guide

Yogyakarta or Jogja is located in south-central Java. It is the only province in Indonesia that is still formally governed by a precolonial Sultanate, the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. People name Yogya as Gudeg city since it is famous for its specialty food: gudeg, which is jackfruit cooked in a sweet coconut sauce.

Yogyakarta is one of the foremost cultural centers of Java. It is well-known for its leather puppets crafted for wayang kulit (shadow plays), traditional batik, silver crafts, and gamelan (a large gong-chime percussion ensemble).

Yogyakarta is more than just a site of cultural tourism, though. It is a very lively city and a shopper's delight. The main road, Malioboro Street, is always crowded and famous for its night street food-culture and street vendors. Take a horse-drawn carriage around Malioboro area to get a closer view of the craftmaking business or straight to the end of the road to see the sultan's palace. Many tourist shops and cheap hotels are concentrated along this street. People are friendly and down-to-earth, with most living the simple life.

Yogyakarta bore the brunt of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 27 May 2006, and it affected some tourism sites in the area, such as Prambanan temple, the biggest Hinduism temple in Indonesia. But you will still enjoy visiting the city, which also boasts the world heritage-listed Borobudur temple in neighboring Magelang.

Yogyakarta is also nicknamed the "city of students" as the oldest university in Indonesia is located here, Universitas Gadjah Mada. In addition to UGM, the city accommodates more than fifty other universities, colleges, and a range of language and tuition centers, populated by students from all around Indonesia and the region.