Yogyakarta — Birthday Fun Days

Vasco and I arrived very early in the morning, coming from a badly slept night on an overnight train. A grab ride later we found ourselves in a sketchy back alley at 5 a.m. searching for the entrance to the hostel yezyezyez that had been recommended by Antonia back in Jakarta.

After walking up and down the back alley there was little doubt that that rusty grey door had to be the entrance to the hostel. We knocked a few times but to no answer. Luckily they didn't lock the door, and so we made our way inside. The common area was a big open courtyard with tables, a pool and even a pond for tortoises, surrounded by plants all around and the quirky yet charming architecture of someone that started hammering boards together without so much of a plan. The anarchist-like structures, and possible safety hazards, contrasting with an eerie chilled energy of the place.

I managed to get some sleep on one of the hammocks, rocking side to side over the pool. In the meantime Vasco was wandering around. I don't think he managed to sleep much.

The sunlight was bringing the courtyard to life by the time someone checked us in. We left our belongings in one of the lockers, finally free to start exploring. The first order of business was to find food and a motorbike. A modern looking hotel across from the main street offered a good breakfast and a scooter that we gladly took for the day. With our bellies full we hit the road that would take us out of the city towards the Prambanan temples.

The ride was long but worth it. The ancient temples seemed straight out of a Tomb Raider game or an Indiana Jones film. The three main shrines in the Prambanan temple are dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the gods of creation, preservation and destruction.

The temples were pretty, and the Google translated stories of the temple in the flyers I found were hilarious, but it was too hot to stay around for too long. Some honourable memories from the site include Vasco trying his hand at archery and a Guavo ice-cream that was served on a cup but cut in slices instead of scoops… I cringed for all my Italian friends.

We left the temple towards Puncak Becici, a natural park high up in a hill overseeing the region of Jogja. Surrounded by nature, the park offered beautiful viewpoints connected by man made trails running in between the trees. While walking one of these trails we stumbled upon a small group of people playing traditional Indonesian music. We took a minute to enjoy the music but soon they were inviting us to dance. I happily accepted the invitation while Vasco laughed, shouted in encouragement and at some point took out his phone to film. A lady put a scarf on my shoulders and I began to rock my scarf to the rhythm of the music. Soon after, a few Indonesian ladies joined the dancing and even taught me a few moves. It was a lot of fun!

The group of locals dancing with me later introduced themselves. They were from the region and the lady that taught me how to dance was a primary school teacher. Something she was clearly very proud of. We could feel the respect that her companions had for her and her profession. We said our goodbyes but only after the mandatory group selfie.

Out of all the times we were asked by locals to take selfies, the one that takes the cake happened in Puncak Becici. While we were enjoying a magnificent view over the region, a girl approached Vasco and asked him for a romantic selfie. “A romantic selfie??”, We exchanged confused looks but Vasco hesitantly agreed to the selfie. The girl held both his hands with a huge smile and one foot raised behind her in an old fashioned romantic pose. Meanwhile Vasco's faint smile and questioning look made clear he wasn't as committed to the short-lived romance as his selfie partner. I somehow managed to contain my laughter long enough to snap a photo, and I’m so glad that this moment was captured for eternity.

The following day we headed west, to the waterfalls at Taman Sungai Mudal, following the advice of the receptionist at the hotel where once again we rented our scooter and ate breakfast. The road was windy, steep and full of holes but also very beautiful when deep in the forest.

The park was hidden in the natural landscape. It followed a small river that came out of a cavern and folded into multiple waterfalls downstream, with natural pools of clear water that tempted visitors with a swim.

It was a place mostly enjoyed by locals. Due to the language barrier we had to resort to pointing at images at the food stand to get some lunch. I was trying to eat some form of rice but somehow instant noodles was all we managed.

Unfazed, we went for a swim in the cold waters, enjoyed the sun and explored the park. I found a pond used as a fish spa. Many locals were sitting at its edge with their feet dangling inside while happily chatting. I joined them, despite struggling to keep my feet in the water due to the tickling of the fish, which earned me amused looks and giggles. In no time I was having a chat with a few of the locals who told me that they were all teachers from a school nearby and came there for a team building day at the waterfalls.

They invited me and Vasco to join them for lunch which we were happy to accept. The food was a humble Nasi Goreng with tofu, egg and a cup of tea. Under everyone's attention, we were brought to the centre of a small pavilion to sit and eat with the principal of the school and their two English teachers. They told us all about their school and curiosities of the region and we told them about our travels and our lives back in Europe. After eating and drinking, they asked us to take pictures. We took a picture with the principal and the two teachers, and a group picture with most of the teachers, but then a queue started forming and teachers came one by one to take pictures with us. We felt like celebrities. Still dumbfounded by their attention and kindness, we left them to their team building activities to start the motorbike journey to our next stop.

We arrived at the Borobudur temple late in the afternoon. With the weather threatening to rain we wasted no time to start exploring. The temple’s multiple levels represent the different stages on the path to Nirvana, the ultimate state of illumination. It is said to be one of the largest temples in the world, which I can't help but find curious since Java is mostly islamic.
While randomly walking around the temple I suddenly realised that I had seen that view before. I was exactly where Sílvia, my friend from Geneva, made a video for their blog (https://sobrelamarcha.wordpress.com/2016/02/23/…). I couldn’t resist taking a photo in the exact same spot doing my best impression of Silvia. That earned me a few good laughs in our group chat.

Nearby, Vasco spotted a huge black scorpion on a gutter on the side of a road. It was a childhood dream of mine to see one of these bugs in the wild and I suddenly felt like I was 10 years old again. They're so cool and badass! A little further away we found some Asian elephants in captivity. It was Vasco's turn to be overcome with childish enthusiasm.

We rode back to Yogyakarta and returned the bike before getting dinner. I later left Vasco at the restaurant to meet with Vee, a local that managed a community of artists that I had met online. Her English was not as good as I’d hoped, but the conversation was pleasant. We got along well, and she invited me to prolong the night after we left the bar. But by then it was midnight and I left to go celebrate Vasco's birthday. Bros before hoes.

Vasco's birthday was a relatively chill day. We hung around Yogyakarta, had some good food and some good laughs. We met a bunch of nice people at the hostel, including Antonia, who we had previously met in Jakarta and recommended that hostel.

I had a particularly interesting conversation with an Indonesian girl who was trying to make it in the Palm oil exporting business. She told us how shady and difficult it is to do business in Indonesia. How she would save all her money to be able to afford paying dinners for her potential business partners just to get a chance to be let in their club. It sounded savage.

She was on such a tight budget that she didn't go out with us. Me, Vasco, Antonia and a few more people from the hostel went to the bar behind the hostel for dinner and drinks and had a really fun night. When the live band asked for music suggestions I requested a birthday song for Vasco that the whole bar sang, and later a local offered us slices of cake that she baked because she too was celebrating her birthday.

Vee sent me a video of myself in the bar saying that she knew where I was, which I found creepy as hell. Turns out the American guy that we were hanging out with was chatting with her and unkowingly had sent a video of the bar to her. I didn’t tell him I had had a date with the girl he was chatting with. I hope he got away.

Vasco and I went to bed very late and with a few too many drinks. The problem is that we had to leave at 6 a.m. for our multiple day tour of the volcanoes in east Java. With a drunk Vasco totally out asleep next to me, I knew we were in trouble — no way would I be able to go to sleep while drunk and wake up with the alarm three hours later to start our volcano journey.

Luckily for us, I was chatting with my friend Letícia who was back in Europe and she managed to keep me awake with some cheeky chatting until it was time to wake up Vasco. We met our tour contact at 6 a.m. sharp and set off with a mix of drunkenness, hangover and lack of sleep, on a brutal trip that would keep me sleep deprived for 3 days. It was all worth it though.Read more