Hello & long time no post! After about a month of being quiet, I am back. I just came back from a big trip somewhere far & I cannot wait to share more details about you guys. For now, it’s time to catch up on some backlogs. Today, I will revive my Wonderful Indonesia Series. In the past, I have shared with you details about my trip to Bali, Nusa Penida & Komodo. Today, I will bring you to another amazing place in Indonesia – YOGYAKARTA.
Last August, my friends & I went on a relaxing weekend trip to Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Yogyakarta, in the local terms Jogjakarta or Jogja, is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. It is the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarch. The city has a long history in terms of arts & culture. Nowadays, the city is the center of Indonesian education. Many youngsters move to the city to finish their degrees. To the tourists, it is the home of the world-famous Borobudur & Prambanan Temples.
Join me as I share with you the details of this quick but relaxing weekend getaway in one of Indonesia’s most beautiful cities.
Flight Tickets
I didn’t have plans of going to the city & country this year until my Indonesian friend Yudi, whom I met on Its The Ship 2018, invited for a weekend trip in Indonesia. Last June, I managed to book a return Cebu Pacific Air piso-fare ticket to Jakarta for ₱2,471 for an August long weekend. I immediately contacted my friend Yudi & we decided to spend the trip in Yogyakarta. I booked my Jakarta-Yogyakarta-Jakarta ticket with Indonesia Air Asia for only ₱3,155 return.
Overall, I spent ₱5,626 for 4 flights from Manila to Yogyakarta (via Jakarta) & back. Not bad, not bad at all. Actually, I posted reviews about 3 of these 4 flights. Check out the flight reports here: Manila (MNL) to Jakarta (CGK) with Cebu Pacific Air, Jakarta (CGK) to Yogyakarta (JOG) with Indonesia Air Asia & Yogyakarta (JOG) to Jakarta (CGK) with Indonesia Air Asia. I decided not to cover my flight back from Jakarta to Manila as I was asleep most of the time.
last minute joiners
Yudi & I have been in constant communication about the trip & tried to plan where to go or what to do. About 2 weeks into the trip, Dallin & Lord decided to join us for the trip. Dallin is Yudi’s friend while Lord is a Singapore-based good friend of mine who runs the LordAroundTheWorld blog. Lord was responsible for me joining Its The Ship 2018. He also joined us for a few days in Melbourne last April. Lord & I met in Yogyakarta Airport & we eventually met the other 2 guys in our hotel in the city.
Gallery Prawirotaman Hotel
We took a break from the hostel / dormitory life & decided to stay in a hotel in Yogyakarta. It didn’t hurt much cost-wise since accommodation in Indonesia is cheap compared to other cities in Southeast Asia, way cheaper than Manila hotels. We picked Gallery Prawirotaman Hotel & paid IDR 1,736,836 (₱6,511.39 reflected in my statement) for 3 nights in a 28 sq m superior room for 2 people.
This 4-star hotel is centrally located in Jalan Prawirotaman II where nice hotels & restaurants are located. The nearby Jalan Prawirotaman is the hipster street of Yogyakarta. The hotel is fab & well-designed. It has an inhouse fitness center, swimming pool, spa, art gallery, bar & restaurant. The hotel staff was accommodating, helpful & friendly. The hotel WiFi connection was fast & reliable.
We got a spacious superior room with a private balcony & a view of the city. The room has impressive lighting, lots of space & has an ‘office corner’ where guests can do some work. The hotel is clean & well-maintained. Buffet breakfast is included in the room rate. I am happy to say they have a good variety of dishes in the 3 mornings that I had breakfast.
We had a pleasant stay at Gallery Prawirotaman Hotel; we were able to take advantage of the hotel amenities. Food was good, the service was top notch & the location was perfect. I recommend that you consider this hotel when going to Yogyakarta.
Getting Around Yogyakarta
We used my friend’s car to go around the city. There was no need to hire a private car charter or to take public transportation, Grab, Gojek or rickshaws to go from one place to the other. There are multiple options in going around the city, but the best way in my opinion is to rent a motorcycle for a day or two or to rent a car & drive around for the whole duration of stay. The highlights of the city like Mount Merapi, Borobudur & Prambanan Temples are located far from the city & far from each other.
places visited
Let me warn you. All of us went to Yogyakarta with no plans or anything in mind. I didn’t do any research & I asked my friend to plan out our itinerary. Apparently, they also didn’t plan anything. We ended up going to the places we only feel like visiting. Most of the time was spent eating in nice restaurants (wait for the post about this!) & in our hotel. We were there to take a break & relax. Anyway, check out the places we went to.
JALAN MALIOBORO
Jalan Malioboro, commonly known as Malioboro Street, is Yogyakarta’s major shopping street. This street is the best place to go shopping & have the local street food. At night, the long strip transforms into a busy market with all sorts of stuff you can think of. Both locals & tourists flock this street every night. Warning! Prices can be expensive, especially if know that you are tourists.
TAMAN SARI WATER CASTLE
Taman Sari used to be the garden of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. It used to be the sultanate’s hiding place, also his place of rest & meditation. The water castle is now one of the city’s top attractions with only a few buildings left from the old times. Locals also started to reside in some of the castle buildings / grounds.
MERAPI LAVA TRAIL TOUR
My friends & I drove about 1.5 hours away from Yogyakarta center to Mount Merapi & take the lava trail tour on a 4 x 4 jeep. Mount Merapi is an active volcano located in the border of Yogyakarta & Central Java. It is a popular tourist destination because of its lava & boulder trails brought by the volcanic activities.
There were 3 options for the lava trail tour. We opted for the shortest one. The tour & the bumpy ride around the lava trails took about 1.5 hours. I’m sorry I forgot how much we paid for the whole tour. It wasn’t that much. Was it worth the time & effort going to the volcano grounds? It was alright; not much interesting things to see. I won’t do it again in the future.
BOROBUDUR TEMPLE
My main reason of flying to Yogyakarta is to see the world famous Borobudur Temple. This UNESCO World Heritage Listed Site is the world’s largest Buddhist temple built in the 9th century. The temple is also famous for its round stupas containing a unique Buddha structure inside.
Most tourists go to the temple during sunrise / sunset, but we opted to go there during midday. An entrance ticket is required to enter the temple grounds. Lord & I opted for the US$45 combined entrance ticket for Borobudur & Prambanan Temples.
PRAMBANAN TEMPLE
Prambanan Temple is another UNESCO World Heritage Listed Site found in Yogyakarta. This Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva was built in the 10th century. This, together with Borobudur Temple, are the main attractions for people visiting Yogyakarta.
We got a combined entry ticket worth US$45 per person (for the 2 temples) to access the temple grounds.
This pretty much sums up my Yogyakarta weekend with friends. It felt good seeing them again after a while & spending quality time over good food & drinks & amazing scenery. Nothing much really happened, it was all about taking a break from our daily routines.
Have you been to Yogyakarta? How did you find the city? Is it a place you’d love to go back or maybe a place you’d love to visit? Post your thoughts in the comment section below. Do you have any questions about the information mentioned above? Send them to contact@thewkndtravel.com & I’ll respond as soon as I can. Please also help me in promoting my social media channels – Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Thank you for taking time to read this post. Watch out for the list of restaurants you shouldn’t miss when in Yogyakarta – that’ll be the next post about this amazing city.
PS. Photos were taken using my HTC U11.