Yogyakarta day 1

Early morning drop off by by beautiful Maria and her driver. Short flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta for our next adventures.

Once we arrived I was pleasantly greeted by the smell of flowers. These fragrant fresh decorations filled the air in through the airport and even the bathrooms.

Once outside a sound occurred announcing it was 10 am time for the Indonesian National Anthem. Note how the entire crowd stops and joins respectfully and pridefully in with the music. This occurs every day at 10 am and is a lovely site to see!

Off to lunch and to a tour of a Batik artist studio. Along the way I enjoyed the signs suggesting to hold hands while crossing the street. Quick view of traffic and all of the motor bikes parked and racing; I decided it was great advice!

Lunch was a spicy Sumatran clay pot chicken with duck filled rice cooked in bamboo leaves. Accompanied by a ginger and herb tea and a block of stone sugar! Yum!!

Then the studio. Batik is an Indonesian fabric art using bees wax to resist naturals dies and is applied by older woman trained to apply the hot wax as a masters of their trade. It is used to make art as well as cloth for traditional clothing. Each has a unique patter and meaning and are worn form everyday to extravagant events. Many take weeks to months to complete with layers of color and finally the setting of the dye into the fabric. It was a site for the eyes to enjoy!

Great first day! More to come!Read more