Day 19: Exploring Jogja

First of our five days here in Jogja. Had a hotel breakfast then tried to get some washing done as both of us were basically out of clothes. Looked up some laundries on google maps (there are probably hundreds more unlisted), but after walking around for an hour or so we couldn't find a single one that was open! Lots of shops are closed today because tomorrow is the last day of Ramadan and then the following day is Idul Fitur (basically Islam's Christmas in terms of importance). Defeated, we went back to the hotel and did a quick bit of hand washing instead.

So it wasn't until after 11 that we finally headed out into the city. First stop was Kraton palace where the sultans have lived for the last several hundred years. The current sultan is 78 and still going, though I don't think he has any actual power - he might still be the governor of the Jogja province but I'm not sure. His father was definitely powerful though - a resistance leader during the independence struggles of the 1940s, and was Prime Minister, Vice President to Soeharto and also Defence Minister at one point.

We looked around their residence although obviously the part that they live in is off-limits. It was surprisingly understated for a royal residence; the large courtyard was mostly gravel and not a lot of trees or ornate finishings on the buildings. Just a lot of historic ornaments and so on. There were also supposed to be traditional dances every day at midday but of course these were cancelled as well due to Ramadan. I guess public dancing is forbidden while you're fasting? We looked around the Main Gates too which are where more formal events took place such as weddings, guest receptions and the like. This was a bit more like you'd expect, but still less impressive than other royal palaces we've been in.

It's noticeably hotter here than in Malang due to being at much lower altitude. In Malang it was high 20s, which here it was probably 32 in the shade and 85% humidity (like every day!). For lunch we retreated to a small cafe we found close to our next destination, the Water Castle.

The Water Castle (Taman Sari) was a large royal garden built by one of the sultans in the 17th century. It had a large artificial lake, bathing areas, a sauna, mosque, living quarters and so on. Much of it has been destroyed and really only the bathing areas remain, but they're in pretty good nick so we wandered around. The nearby area was quite fascinating as well, the houses are built in really close together and on top of each other (and of course they're over the remains of the filled-in lake too). The highlight for me was a secret underground passage leading to the mosque for the sultan's private use; and then in the mosque there's a weird set of Escher-style forced perspective stairs. I couldn't quite get the right photo but it was very odd!

Still very hot and we'd walked an awful lot by this point so we were chugging water like desert dwellers, but we pressed on. Walked through a couple of small alleyways in a very devout Muslim area where there was a large street market set up - lots of vendors selling food and drink at 4pm in preparation for the breaking of today's fast. It's very rude to buy and then eat anywhere other than at home (or well out of sight), so we decided to leave it be despite how tempting things looked!

Last stop was Malioboro Street, pretty much the beating heart of the city and its main thoroughfare. It's surrounded on both sides by endless batik shops, pedalcabs and tourist trap shops. We had a bit of a look around in some shops but although Shandos is interested in some of the batik, it doesn't particularly grab me so I got bored pretty quickly.

We walked the entire length of the street (probably 2km worth!), and by now I was very hot, very sweaty and grimy, very footsore and in dire need of food and drink. The atmosphere was quite nice though as the sun went down, suddenly people everywhere were eating and drinking communally, sitting on the floor at long bench tables, or grabbing takeaway from a passing vendor. There really isn't an equivalent experience anywhere in Australia I don't think.

To get out of the heat briefly we went into a tourist information building and got some brochures about Borobodur, the world's largest Buddhist temple and our intended destination for tomorrow. Ended up booking a sunrise and cycling combination package tour which should be interesting!

For dinner Shandos wanted street food but I was insistent on sitting down in a proper restaurant or something. Managed to find a nearby bar on Foursquare with really good reviews so we headed there. Happy to report that the lychee beer was excellent and the food was very good too! Back to the hotel by 9pm ahead of a very early start tomorrow - Borobodur isn't that close to the city so it's going to be another 4am pickup in the hotel lobby!Read more