Borobudur, Prambanan & Yogyakarta - Part 2

From the ancient Buddhist temple at Borobudur, I ventured 18 km eastward of Yogyakarta to another ancient temple, this time a Hindu one. Like other parts of the Malay archipelago, the long history of trading with the world had brought with it religion from far away places.

The Prambanan temple complex, being previously ravaged by a couple of earthquakes and looting, was literally (and impressively) pieced back together stone by stone in recent years - it's quite hard to believe that it was pretty much a heap of rubble before the 1950's! Since the main temples were rebuilt, it's purpose as a place of Hindu worship has been resumed. A surge in the number of visitors has also been observed since its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. And if you're lucky, you may just be able to watch the Ramayana ballet held nearby with the temples as a backdrop ;)

Chinese visitors gawking at the Prambanan temple complex - being rebuilt stone by stone, I was impressed too!

Indeed, the sheer determination of the Javanese people in preserving their history and tradition really took my breath away. Breathe in... breathe out... Okay, let's move on to Yogyakarta city, shall we?

Yogyakarta (or Jogja for short) is a bustling city dotted with architectural remnants of her Dutch colonialist past. That being said, I am so not interested in those things since it would only remind me of my own country's sad history - being colonised for hundreds of years by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British :(  In fact, I was more into it's cultural and artistic facets established way before those sneaky Europeans came.

Upon passing by the main street Jalan Malioboro, one can see it littered with batik shops left and right. If you don't know what batik is, you will do in an instant! On seeing them, the first thing I did was to ask the taxi driver to stop by an ATM machine 'coz I knew I'd be spending money like flowing water here :) And a moment later when the cabby offered to take me to a boutique selling genuinely high quality batik (instead of being duped at one of them stores at Jalan Malioboro), it was a no brainer for me to say, "Yes!"

Batik Rumah was definitely a different kind of batik store, alright. Discreetly tucked away among private residences, it was deceptively calm and uncrowded probably because of the higher prices of the goods sold here. But as the Malay saying goes: alah membeli menang memakai (literal translation: you lose at buying but you'll win at using/wearing it) i.e. good things don't come cheap! Every piece of cloth here was either hand-painted (hence each piece is unique) or printed using the traditional batik making method - either way means great quality. I had to stop myself from grabbing more after a few select buys and off I went to my hotel...

Nicely decorated room at Eclipse Hotel.

My 3-starish accomodation, Eclipse Hotel is located at Jalan Prawirotaman in a quieter part of town. Whilst not being smack in the city centre, this spanking new establishment makes up by offering a blazing fast wi-fi connection and a private balcony overlooking a rather nice swimming pool. Plus, the small area across the street is a parking spot for beca (trishaws), which later proved to be the best mode of transport to go round the city for me, albeit their limited speed.

Nice pool view from my room's balcony. But more importantly, the brilliantly fast free wi-fi connection :)

Soon after checking in, I came back down and I asked one of the beca riders to take me to somewhere decent for my long overdue lunch so he brought me to a local eatery where the food was yummy and the price was right (couldn't remember where, though). Burp!

With my stomach full and my energy restored, we headed to Masjid Agung (Grand Mosque). Built in 1773 and bearing immaculate Javanese architecture, this building still stands as the main mosque of the city. After joining the Maghrib prayers with the locals, I sat around for a while, listening to a circle of men reciting the Quran, and absorbing the tranquility of this holy place. Just outside the mosque's entrance, there were some stalls selling local titbits. Reminding myself that I would most likely be needing some midnight snacks, I grabbed something sweet before leaving the mosque and retiring for the day.

Enjoying the tranquility of Quran recital after prayers at Masjid Agung Yogyakarta.

The next day was kickstarted by a visit to Taman Sari and Kraton Yogyakarta. After a quick shower and breakfast, I was on the road again in a beca! On arrival, I told my beca rider to wait for me while I tour around the venues, which was fine by him. Taman Sari used to be the bath house of the Sultan's household. In the olden days, the Sultan's many wives would bathe together in a large pool and the Sultan would choose which wife he wanted to sleep with that night just by flicking a flower from a balcony located high above - because he had magical powers, the flower would land exactly on the wife he so desired!

Taman Sari (Water Castle) was the royal bath house circa 1800's.

An intriguing portion of Taman Sari called Sumur Gumuling was believed to be a small mosque. Currently unused but still quite photogenic, this place is now just another spot for wedding photography. Although Islam has its roots way back for hundreds of years, traditional beliefs still exerts some influence on the lives of the Javanese as evidenced by a part of the bath house thought to be connected to the Indian Ocean where the mystical Nyai Roro Kidul (Queen of the South Sea) lives.

The stairway at Sumur Gumuling, Taman Sari.

On entering the palace courtyard of Kraton Yogyakarta, the sound of the gamelan (traditional Javanese orchestra) caught my ears. Being a fan of it for so long, I took my own sweet time (of a mere 15 minutes, haha) being serenaded by the relaxing tune of gongs, old ladies singing and whatnot. Apparently, the palace is now a centre for the preservation of Javanese culture with certain traditional art forms being displayed on a regular basis.

The gamelan in action: traditional music played by locals in traditional costume at a traditional venue. Lovely...

As before, I asked for a guide to show me around the palace because that would be better than just strolling around blindly without knowing anything about it (plus I was too lazy to read, hehe). Speaking sometimes in Indonesian and sometimes in English, my guide explained that tourists have to be out of the palace grounds by 2 pm i.e. well before the Sultan is back from office; ever since it was built in 1755, the complex has housed the Yogyakarta royal family up to this day.

Kraton Yogyakarta showcases Javanese architecture at its best.

A beautiful gazebo at the palace courtyard.

Alas, as knowledgeable and multilingual as he was, my guide still couldn't help those souvenir shopkeepers from grumbling when I left their shops at the end of the tour without buying anything :) Oh, you know me, I never like keeping puppets in my house, including those authentic wayang kulit (shadow puppet) ones that they were selling...