A Kingdom Within a Provincial Island of Indonesia

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Yogyakarta in Central Java is a lush location for a relaxing exploration of Javanese culture. The pace there is much slower than in India and the population seemed less dense, but I was told by my guide that Yogyakarta, or "Yogya", houses 2.000 people per square mile, so Java is actually the most dense island on the planet. Transportation within Java, however, is similar to India. Tons of motorbikes, bike rickshaws, local buses, trains, small trucks and horse-drawn carriages.

I had a wonderful guide who speaks great English by the name of Arinto Prakoso, 62-818-0265-2877, and an equally wonderful driver, Maryo Sutikno, who does not speak English. I visited the two main temples near Yogya, Prambanan, a World Heritage Site Hindu temple believed to have been built by King Balitung Maha Sambu during the ninth century, that has been badly damaged by earthquakes (which occur about 80 times a century), and Borobudur, also a World Heritage Site, believed to be the largest Buddhist temple on the planet, that suffered less damage but was never completed due to an suspected relocation of people in the last century.  Both temples have benefited from philanthropic cities and countries that have provided funds for restoration. Central Java has eight active volcanoes and there is a local fault line in Yogya filled by one of its main rivers. A really bad earthquake occurred  1,000 years ago which did major damage to the entire region and then another one occurred within the past several years, just after the economic crisis in Asia in 1997-1999. As a result, the area is being reconstructed and tourism has suffered. Tourism is at about 20% of its previous level before the recent quake, but many Dutch and German visitors stayed at my hotel, and Japanese people take vacations there as well. Java has been occupied by the Dutch and Japanese which explains the Dutch architecture found throughout Yogya (including my great hotel).

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I visited a local farming village called Candirego in a Dokar horse-drawn carriage where I got a chance to interact with the locals. People are really surprised to see an American, let alone a female solo traveler, visiting there (I have been called brave by many here) but they were warm and open and laughed easily. I was given local fruit called Rambutan from a family that was sorting the fruit on their porch, and cassava snack rings made by women after touring their houses and kitchens with dirt floors and stone, wood-fueled ovens. I was told that Javanese men want five basic things in life: a house, a wife, a horse, a Kris (traditional dagger also used in Bali) and a bird for its beauty and the sounds of nature. As a result, bird markets are plentiful in Java and every house has a caged bird which can often be seen hanging outside during the day.

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The children here love to have their pictures taken as much as those in India, with lots of laughter ensuing when I showed them instant digital photos of themselves. The locals grow rice, cassava, corn, soy, avocados, jack fruit, Rambutan, and Durian ( a VERY smelly fruit that I HAD to try and discovered I LOVED to the giggles of the man and woman who sold it to me since they were amazed that a white woman would eat it, my guide told me). If you like smelly cheese, you would probably like it.  It has the consistency of stringy pudding and tastes like something between perfume and Limburger cheese.

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In Yoyga, I visited Kraton, the Sultan's Palace (the current Sultan is also the current President), built in 1756 by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono 1, saw a Javanese Opera of the Ramayana story with stylized dance to gamelan music, played the Gamelan, had a Javanese massage and spicy hot herbal body scrub, visited the Tamansari Water Temple, shopped the main shopping district along ...went to villages known for their artisans who create batik, silver (Kotagede), and pottery (Kasongan), and went to the coast (Depot) and watched fisherman pull their boats onto the beach with the fish that they caught in their very fine nets (shark, barracuda, rays, crabs, and many unknown fish). People were selling sand crabs, mussels, clams, and octopus at the fish market right off the beach and locals were waiting to buy fish right from the boats as they were hauled up onto the beach. It appears that the young mostly wear western dress unless they are going to ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, etc, but the older people can still be seen in sarongs and bamboo hats. It is lovely in Java and I would like to return there to see more of the island as well as those of Sumatra and Kalimantan (also known as Borneo) with the Orangutans!

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Sights=bike rickshaws and motor bikes everywhere, gasoline sold in glass liter-sized bottles in roadside bamboo stalls, conical bamboo hats in rice fields, people carrying piles of grass and wood and other staples on their heads and backs, lush vegetation and mountains like Hawaii (banana and coconut trees, palms, butterflies, rice paddies, brick and wood, or concrete, bamboo and wood houses, Dutch colonial architecture in town, children in uniforms leaving school at noon, children working with their parents everywhere, batik sarongs, saddle bags or baskets on bikes and motorcycles filled with stuff, bird cages outside of all homes, bird markets, fish markets, pottery markets, batik artists hand-coloring cotton and silk materials in shops and factories, McDonalds, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts and A&W in town and at the Jakarta Airport, sheep being used as lawnmowers, not many dogs and cats, offerings of flowers and fruit on an altar before performing at a concert, evidence of belief in animism still (altars), natural fiber brooms

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Sounds= Muslim calls to prayer five times a day, Gamelan music, vehicle horns, children laughing, fisherman grunting as they haul out their boats pulling on bamboo cross ties, Frank Sinatra being played in Starbucks in the Jakarta airport, rain every afternoon (it is the rainy season and it is humid), Mung go (hello) and Matur Newun (thank you), wonderful uniforms on the hotel and restaurants, vendors calling "hello" and when you stop to speak with them, everyone of them has a relative in California-imagine that!

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Tastes=fresh and cooked fruit (Jack fruit, Rambutan, snake fruit, papaya, watermelon, honeydew melon, watermelon), Sambal (chili paste), thin noodles of all kinds, Tarmarind squash drink, chicken sate, loads of fresh vegetables, Binbarang local Beer, pickle condiments, ginger tea, cassava flour snacks, Durian!

Smells=flowers, rain, incense for ceremonies, vehicle emissions, smoke for cooking