Yogyakarta - 1st stop
Referred to as yogya for short, pronounced " joeg-juh " or close in english.
Yogya is 1 hour or so flight from Jakarta and both are on the island of Java.
Malioboro, as the center of Yogyakarta, where I stayed, is overwhelmed by handicraft from all around the city, street musicians, the lesehan food stalls, and the people selling stuff are always ready to bug the visitors of the streets.
As a "BULE" (white person) you really stand out in this part of town, this is not near the temples, and so honestly when people see you they see a tourist that is maybe looking for goods and or has the $ to do so atleast. Many of the locals can not even afford the items they are selling. Also you will find if your walking the side streets you will often be asked by a taxi, moped, or rickshaw (becak): "transport mister? transport? Its nice when u need it but you end up shaking your head "no" alot, or waving no.
Jogja has typical Javanese hospitality. We went around the city by a rickshaw and found sincere smiles and warm greetings in every corner of the city. If you do not feel comfortable getting asked to buy stuff alot or asked for transport, I suggest touring around in a rickshaw or taxi.
I think one of my favorite experiences was riding aound in the rickshaw (I am to tall for him to raise the top of it, so if its going to be sunny I suggest you wear a hat and bring bottled water). The best of this was tour was stopping by the artist gallerys, mainly the dyed paintings gallery. Perhaps use the info below to give to rickshaw or taxi in future to find it. (artist in photo - S. Kampek) located on Ngadisuryan street (indo for street/st = jalan/jl.) It's just down the street from the water castle and close to the bird market.
Paintings Gallery: Batik Art Studio - Ngadisuryan KT. 1/172 , Yogyakarta 55133 Indonesia , phone: (0274)386611
Rickshaw is an Indonesian traditional transport. In some busy areas such as Jakarta, it's not allowed anymore as it's dangerous and causes more traffic jams. They still keep Rickshaw in Yogyakarta to keep the city's traditional transport.
I took less photos on parts of this trip, really this trip was about culture for me and sharing a holiday . I just wanted to soak stuff in and not be too worried about my camera, just to take the pictures I thought I wanted to remember, and I admit of course I took many that I thought others would appreciate as well , as sharing the experience is part of the fun.
