Why Fly to Jogyakarta?
People we met asked “Why fly to Jogyakarta?” We fly there because we want to visit the ancient temples of Borobudur. Jogya (pronounce York-yah) as it is affectionately called by the locals is the closest city to get to the temple sites. We read it is one of the most popular cities to visit in Indonesia. Jogya is located in Central Java and is famous for its traditional arts and crafts particularly silversmithing, batik textile, and wayang puppetry. It is a city rich in culture and fine arts. These are all the aspects Shane and I love to explore and experience in our travels.
Rainy Season!
Well, it’s rainy season here in Jogyakarta! December and January are the wettest months to visit this city BUT it is also the coolest. Temperature could dip to 75° Fahrenheit (23.8° Celsius). A heavy downpour greeted us on the way to our hotel. A little inconvenience for this wet weather to travel but like most countries near the equator, there is often a break in between for the sun to come out. I do have to say we are lucky we did not encounter any flooding.
Jogyakarta, a Walking Tour
We wake up to a beautiful sunny day with rain clouds at a far horizon. Shane and I took a Grab Car (e-hailing ride) after a quick breakfast at the hotel. The driver dropped us at the beginning of Kemasan Street to Kotagede. Shops selling silver goods and jewelries lined the street. There are many shops selling the same silver wares so after a few walk-ins we decided to simply enjoy the sights around us. We love this idea of a walking tour. It is perfect because we get to see so many things and stop to chat with the locals. Our destination is to the popular Kotagede Silversmith Shop.
Sights and Sounds of Jogya Streets
Jogya is so busy with traffic particularly motorbikes. We are careful and so far our experiences walking on the streets have been pleasant. The locals are very friendly and they get even friendlier when they found out I could speak some Bahasa Indonesia. Most of them are surprised I wasn’t a Japanese. LOL
Below are some photos captured during our walk:
Rain and Traffic Jam…
Yep…Rain and traffic jam – we got them all in one day! Note to self – watch the clouds and make sure to leave the city before it starts to rain and waaaayyy before the evening traffic jam starts. Shane and I are seasoned travelers on crazy traffic in South East Asian countries BUT I still freak out when our driver jumped lane to get ahead of traffic.
More of Jogyakarta coming up soon!