I favor this hotel because it is located right on Malioboro Street, the center of Jogjakarta. It is within walking distance to the batik and handicraft stalls, and is adjacent to a mall where you can opt to eat junk(the usual- Pizza Hut, McDo, KFC),and do some shopping at the grocery and department store. Money changers are very accessible within short walking distances. Internet facility is available at the lobby. A travel agency office is within the hotel and you can have them arrange your tour and transportation rentals. Breakfast at their LA TABLE Restaurant is okay. They serve continental breakfast with not so many choices but not too few either. You wouldn't see eggs on the display area but just ask the waiters if you want eggs and they'll have it cooked right away in the kitchen. I had lunches here too because they serve tom yam, one of my fave Thai dishes. Hotel Ibis Malioboro is three star and you won't expect 5-star luxury but I have no complaints with its cleanliness and its excellent location.

The Javanese legend live until now, Prambanan, the highest Hindi's temple Indonesia was made as a gift for Princess Loro Jonggrang. She wants a thousand temples which is the temples must be build in one night from Bandung Bondowoso, the man who fall in love and mad about with Loro Jonggrang. Actually, Loro Jonggrang didnt love him thats why she asked to Bandung Bondowoso something illogical as the condition if he want to marry her. Bandung Bondowoso got backing from his demon army. His works almost finish and the night still young. Loro Jonggrang affraid if he can make it. She waking up her people and order to make some morning noise. The cock is crow now and the demon army run, they affraid with the sunrise. There is only 999 temples. Bandung Bondowoso shoked and getting mad then he curse Loro Jonggrang as statue. Its only Indonesian's folk story.
The truth about Prambanan is: it was built by Rakai Pikatan to commemorate the glorious power of Sanjaya Hindu dynasty in the 8th and 9th century. Prambanan is dedicated to Hindu's Gods called: Siwa, Wisnu and Brahma. The largest one in Prambanan complex named Siwa.

Just a few 100 meters from the train station, you walk down on Marlioboro street and find on the right hand Jalan Dagen, there is Batik Hotel located. The city itself is noisy and crowded, the hotel is situated in the midst of all that but is as quiet as can be! Friendly area with a swimmingpool, cottages with enough space, a good dining room and friendly staff at the reception. We enjoyed it a lot.

In a one day tour, we hit Borobudur, Prambanan temple, and a few sites at Jogykarta, including of course the obligatory vists to the various market industries/shops such as silver jewelry, batik, and paintings.  We were exhausted by the time our plane landed back down in Bali. 

BOROBUDUR AND PRAMBANAN TEMPLES

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple on earth and is one of the wonders of the world (was one of the 7 wonders but I was told it WAS dropped from that distinction) . The other temple Prambanan is a large Hindu temple that was damaged from a large earthquake.

 I would advise going to the temples during the weekday as they are very crowded on weekends with locals, very very crowded. And possibly go when its closer to sunrise or sunset, as it's very hot during the day. Have patience as there are many people trying to sell you stuff, ignore them completely if not interested as they are very persistant (very much at Borobudur, I found Prambanan to be very mellow for this comparitively).

You can find people selling water as well if you need it, often they might carry in black plastic bags.  There is a really old guy selling big hats at Borobudur , if you have a big head he has 2 different sizes. He is persistant but nice and is so greatful if you buy a hat. He asked USD 5 to start, I think i paid USD 3 for one (2 for USD 5 maybe) it ended up being used on the rest of the trip so well worth it.  Kind of cool/cheap souvenier that was useful and it semed to help the seller. :) I also bought a small heavy rock carving of the Buddhist elephant guy :) (yes i know he has a name...lol) (oh Asri informs me he is called Ganesha) and I bought a set of wooden puppets for IDR 70,000 with bases and a blow dart gun for IDR 50,000.

At Prambanan you can rent umbrellas  to help with the heat. There is a nice little cafe to eat or get some tea as well.

Helpful note: right now the exchange rate is about IDR 9000 for USD 1, so IDR 50,000 = USD 5.50 or close to that.

The night before as we were walking around the Malioboro side streets by the Ibis Hotel we found a tour guide and registered for a full day tour for the next day for only IDR. 200,000 total - (around USD 11) per person (minimum 2 persons per tour), with a good car (Toyota Avanza) and all included (driver, gasoline, parking tickets, etc). The tour started at 7.30, the driver waited for us at the lobby of our hotel, we went to Borobudur, Kaliurang and Prambanan. He dropped us back off at the lobby in the early evening.

As I stayed at the Ibis Hotel, it was easier for me to have something to eat at the Malioboro Mall and avoid people selling goods, as the hotel has a connecting entrance to the mall. The mall is a smaller mall @ 5-6 stories high and all stores are located around a central opening with escalators and 1 elevator. there are many places to eat.  We ate at the Pizza Hut, Excelso, Foodcourt, etc. Pizza Huts there are cool, so many food options besides Pizza, different than in the states.  I included some food pics, but I swear i took more than this at the mall, maybe I deleted some by mistake ? :(

Asri was able to get us rooms at Ibis, she was offered a special deal from a local person that had points they had to use for that hotel. I think if you have the $ you will like this hotel. With the food options being so close and more food out on streets if you want. Ibis is sort of a traditonal business type hotel like you can find anywhere, the rooms I think are comparable to maybe say a Holiday Inn or Red Lion. The breakfast buffet was huge , with pastries and continental/american style options and also alot of great Indonesian foods.

Should also mention locals get a better rate on hotels than tourists do. Always good to check online, or if arrive at an airport maybe check with the travel agent there to get a voucher. Keep in mind sometimes the places are not what you expect. Maybe if use a voucher for multiple nights best to pay with credit card and maybe get a refund for part if you find you cannot stay at a place.

By the time I arrived in Yogyakarta (Jogja) is was getting pretty tired of traveling.  I was tired of the repetitive nature of south east asia, tired of packing every day, tired of sharing the same old travel stories, tired of packing every couple days, tired of showering out of buckets, tired of craping in squatters, tired of all of it and was ready to go home.  I could not have been bothered to see do anything else in Java so I just set up camp in the art capital of Java for more than a week, making it my longest stay anywhere other than Tonsai on my entire trip.

I spent a couple days exploring the Kraton area.  I thought the Sultan`s palace was pretty lame but I had recently been to Brunei which was a whole different league.  The most interesting part was just walking through the streets taking pictures of smiling friendly local living their quiet artsy lives.

The bird park was an interesting visit.  Memoires of the bird flu problems flashed through my head as we explored the stink narrow passages.  Cages from floor to ceiling held everything from fruit bats, to rabbits, to deadly snakes, oh and birds too.  It was an interesting experience but most people can only stomach a few minutes of the stank before moving on. 

Batik is a traditional art method of Indonesia.  I spent a couple days taking some courses.  You start with a white sheet, place hot wax using a stick with a copper cup and tube where you want to stay white.  Then you pick your next lightest color and dye the whole sheet.  You place the wax where you want that color to stay.. yada yada you get art.  I was actually quite impressed with my results for some early attempts.

I went to Jogja primarily for it`s proximity to Borobudur, the biggest Buddhist temple in the world.  Ian and I made a last minute decision to head to the temple on his last day.  He just decided that he was leaving the following morning so that he could tag along with some Swedish blondies who were heading back to Bali.  We had to take local transport because the tourist minibuses were booked.  I would not recommend going on your own.  We spent an hour on the local buses getting to the edge of town, an hour on the bus to Borobudur, fifteen minutes on a horse buggy, and were only left with about 45 minutes of daylight to explore the disappointing and expensive temple.  The real adventure was the way home.  The information that we had was that local buses ran regularly back to Jogja until 7:00 pm.  This was clearly not the case.  Eventually Ian had to suck up his fears of motorbikes since we were out of options.  We caught a ride to the main highway in some dark and dirty town that I could not name.  Here there were several local who came out to help us try to flag down passing busses.  Somewhere around the 20th bus that passed without stopping I was wondering if we were going to have to spend the night in that dirt rat town.  Eventually a bus did stop, or at least slow down for us.  It was so packed that I had to hang out the door outside for the first fifteen minutes or so.  And if you have been to SE asia you know how many people they can fit in a bus before they won`t let one more slip in the door.  All in all we were gone from 2:00 until 9:00 with only 45 minutes at the temple.  This trip was under on hour each way for about the same price using the A/C mini bus that we missed.

I was much more impressed with the Hindu temples of Prambanan.  I went there in the evening for a traditional Indonesia fire show / ballet.  The light up hindu temples made for a perfect backdrop for the show.  The show itself was pretty good and included real bow and arrows, the burning of a village.

Travbuddies: Ian (UK), Whiskey (Netherlands), Sweeds

Early morning saw us strolling along Jalan Malioboro again. Many becak drivers offered their support but we preferred to "jalan-jalan" (walk). Our first destination was the sultan palace ("Kraton") which was built in the middle of the 18th century. We saw the large pendopos which are being used for listening to gamelan performances. And the famous desk where the overthrow of the Dutch was plotted.
Afterwards we went to a Batik manufacture and had a closer look at the production steps. It came to my mind that my Mum had always done "Batik" with the children in her Kindergarten. But I had never seen the production before. We took a becak back to the city center.

After having a short look at Fort Vredeburg (picture) it was time for a little break. We walked through the animal market (how sad!) and found a little restaurant. I will never forget the lunch we had there. Not because the food was especially good or bad. Actually I can't remember what I ate. No, it was the "setting". The owner had some falcons who lived at the entrance. Plus a giant, 1,80 meter (6 ft), plastic waran - which was located directly under our table. "Strange!" That was my first thought. But I like strange places. :-D sShortly after we had started our meal Katrin suddenly said: "The waran has moved!" I shook my head in wise disbelief, looked at her with my typical dignity and said: "Katrin, you don't really think they would let a living waran stroll around their restaurant and rest under our table - without even telling us!" Shook my head again and innerly laughed about this perfect example of female naivity. Well, she knew I am a wise guy.
I was still deep in thought about this silly incident when the owner of the restaurant approached our table. He bent down and oddly enough grabbed for the huge "plastic thing". Then he turned to the couple in his wake - and presented to them his pride and joy: a 1,80 meter utterly living waran with an impressive huge snout! My jaw dropped open. I tried not to look at my wife but I could actually feel she was grinning triumphantly! It couldn't be true. But it was. :-D

In the afternoon we visited one of the popular shadow plays. It was a perfomance for tourists that lasted for about 60 minutes. we learned that the original performances may last up to six hours!

We arrived in Yogyakarta in the late afternoon. The city has about 500,000 inhabitants and is well known for its art, batik etc. Since it is also located close to world famous Prambanan and Borobodur we had put Yogya on our must-go list early on. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the hotel we chose (I will t´ry to find that out). It was located very close to the train station, practically just on the other side of the street. And therefore just a stone's throw away form the main shopping street, Jalan Malioboro.

We had enough time left to walk around a little bit. Close to the hotel was a nice little kiosk. I took a picture of the owner who proudly posed for me. At Jalan Malioboro the locals had already started meeting for dinner. It was beautiful to see them gathering together in those little "street restaurants". Real life. :-)

Mt. Merapi Volcano in Jogjakarta has been active for more than 10,000 years, is Indonesia's most active volcano and is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. It is also known as the sacred Mountain of Fire.

The volcano spews lava at a speed of 110 kms per hour. It destroyed homes and killed lots of people in the towns far from the foot of the volcano, but inspite of the eruptions, folks in these towns with their Javanese mysticism opted not to leave.

The first thing I asked my tour guide when I arrived in Jogjakarta is where Merapi could be found. He sugested to  visit  Borobodur and Prambanan first, but I insisted on going to Merapi that late afternoon. Something draws me to that place. I must go.... no one can stop me.

We arrived at the base of Mt. Merapi a few minutes before 5 pm. As I got out of the car, I was met with the soft,gentle , cold mountain breeze. Isn't it supposed to be hot? I was near an active volcano but the climate was so refreshing. There was not much people around as it was almost sundown. The place was almost bare. It was almost just me and the volcano. The view was panoramic.  I followed the trekkers path moving up the slopes of the mountain and while I was walking I looked upwards to the direction of Mt. Merapi's summit but I saw nothing but clouds and the blue-green mountains surrounding the base of the summit. It was a beautiful heavenly sight infront of me -blue-green mountains with white clouds in contrast to the darkening sunset sky. I continued my trek upwards while thingking" Merapi, wherefore art thou? I came from afar to see thee."  Haha! The beauty of the place can inspire you to make a quick poem. Thank God for this beautiful sight.

I walked up further until I reached the plateau where you can look down on the canyon covered with lahar.It looked like the remains of a lahar dam destroyed by continuous mud flow. From the plateau, I stopped and faced up, my eyes searching for the summit still covered with clouds. I stood there waiting, looking above, mesmerized by the mountain view, and imploring for Merapi to show her beauty. Suddenly, the clouds began to shift to the right side and the summit was beginning to show up. I was already talking loudly 'Oh my God, please show yourself to me'. The clouds moved farther right while I took photos with the summit already showing most of its body. Haha Merapi heard my prayer. After some moment, the clouds started to move back to cover Merapi again. After it was fully enveloped with the clouds, I saw the golden sunset rays beginning to appear. I went down from the plateau and I was smiling. I saw a lady coming down from the mountain carrying grass on her back for the cattle. She smiled at me and I smiled back. 'Terimah kasi', I said and let her pass by.

I was lucky to have seen Mt. Merapi before she went to her night's rest. Maybe she knew that it will be a long time again before I come back to Java to see her beauty and that was my only chance to be in the mountain on that 4 days trip. Terimah kasi, Merapi.

Malioboro Street is known as the longest market in Yogyakarta because it takes 2 kilometers from one end to the other end. It basically a place to sell JUNKS :) But we’re talking about beautiful and inexpensive junk like all the traditional Javanese artworks, clothes, accessories, sandals, etc. Malioboro is the centre of tourist district in Yogyakarta. There are some modern and colonial-age buildings around the area.Along the street is packed with small sidewalks shops. Test your bargaining skills in this place :) When you take a walk in this place, you will see the surrounding full of traditional transportation which you may be appealed to try. The well known one is BECAK, a three wheel pedal powered bicycle cart. There is also a romantic lovely horse carriage which we call DOKAR. Many hotels and restaurants are located in this place. Night time is normally full of open-air street side restaurants which are locally known as LESEHAN. They sell traditional food called GUDED – a young jackfruit mix with palm/brown sugar. Very tasty and delicious :)

Definitively the best hotel I've ever been in, surrounded by the tropical forest, but near the city, it has a huge swimming pool immersed in the tropical vegetation. Rooms are really nice (as the whole hotel) and the the relationship quality/price is very good.

Walking down the Prawirotaman area they call it an international village,maybe because this is the place where there are many homestays and hotels mostly for people from all over places who loves to travel especially in Yogyakarta... Found it on www.yogyes.com then i book it..then i like the place...there are 3 different categories for the bedroom, the cheap ones is 60000 IDR (about 6 USD) there are about 6 bedrooms with fan and shared bathroom,the middle rate is about 90000 IDR (around 9 USD) with fan and private bathroom and the expensive ones is about 120000 IDR (around 12 USD),with aircon,fan,private bathroom and a tiny patio for nodding hahaha... The thing that i like is they have this clean private bathroom in every bedroom and yeah also clean shared bathroom!! Which thats very important when you are traveling!!... Yes they have a small pool and yes this place is green and yes they will clean up your bedroom everyday and change your towel too humm yes we can choose our breakfast menu in a simple way..you can ask for scramble,boiled,omelette or whatever...with yes bread or toast,with tea with sugar,milk or coffee... The staffs are nice...and this place is ver near to the Palace too... If you are lucky try to book the bedroom with aircon+fan+patio with kingsize bed!!! Hummm...and all rate is per room not per person (i guess hehehe)

istana, parangkritis, sultans palace.. night train