Yogyakarta – the cultural heart of Java and a volcano

Back in Java and now in the city of Yogyakarta, the cultural centre of Java. We are here for a few events, the first of which was to go by jeep up Turgo Hill to watch Mount Merapi volcano erupt and see the lava flow at night. Mount Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia. The route was rugged and took us through rivers to a remote location. We sat there in the dark drinking hot coffee until 1am eagerly waiting for the eruptions, we were treated to several!

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We visited 2 special temples whilst in Yogyakarta. The first Prambanan, an impressive 9th century Hindu temple and the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. The second, Borobudur temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The intention of this visit was to see the sunrise from the highest point allowed on the Borobudur temple, a supposedly serene and tranquil experience. In reality it was far from that expectation. Busy and noisy from the loud and incessant voices of a few people who really had no understanding of the reason why the majority had visited this special place and with total disregard to the overseeing Buddha. Anyway, sunrise was a total non event due to the mist and humidity but that took nothing away from the presence of the mighty Borobudur Temple.

Prambanan temple

Our time in Yogyakarta is done, apart from the big sites we visited outside of the city, Yogyakarta itself is an interesting place with its contrasts, Malioboro street is bustling and noisy, street food carts, batik shops and live street music throughout. On the quieter side you can wander around the narrow streets of Kotagede and Taman Sari which are old traditional villages within the city. The Sultans palace and the water castle are also worth a visit. During our time here there was also a music festival of traditional gamelan music. So now we have a 7 hour train journey to our next destination….. Malang