Borobudur and Prambanan in a day!

Trip Start Oct 21, 2009
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Trip End Nov 07, 2009


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Flag of Indonesia  , Yogyakarta ,
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

For the sake of flexibility, we decided only hours before sunset to hop an overnight train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta figuring we could easily find accomodation upon arrival. Java's most expensive luxury trains do not offer sleeping cabins, but they provided free blankets, free entertainment (sellers screaming at the top of their lungs in case you were deep in sleep and missed the goodies they had to offer), air conditioning cold enough to lose all feeling in your limbs and gigantic rats that passed through every so often to keep you from getting too comfortable. We arrived shortly after 5am and began immediately the hunt for a hotel room with air conditioning and a swimming pool to cool down during hot afternoons. It turned out a trade show was in town and we needed hours to finally find a room. We then proceeded to sleep our hearts out till mid-afternoon and awoke hungry and ready to discover the culinary delights of Central Java. That same evening, we both bought batik textiles (purse, shirt, yards of material) in real Javanese batik shops (definitely better prices than in Bali and genuinely beautiful prints)
Old city walls, Yogyakarta, Java
Old city walls, Yogyakarta, Java
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The following day, we took a bus to Prambanan and spent about an hour's time exploring the surroundings before taking a bus back to Yogyakarta's northern bus station to take a bus to Borobudur. While the locals usually paid under 2000 rupiahs, each bus conductor named his own price about 5-10 times higher, packed his cash back into his pocket and walked away with a smile. Nevertheless, it was much cheaper than engaging a private driver, which every taxi driver in the city will offer (one way to Borobudur - prices start at $20). Yes, you could tour Cologne, Germany in a taxi for less than that. So in the end, the bus is worth it and it brings you closer to the locals some of whom we got to know better. Borobudur was even more beautiful than Prambanan especially since we witnessed this monument in golden light at sunset.

Warning: Unless you've pre-arranged a ride back to town from Borobudur, you'll have trouble finding any buses after 5pm. Leftover taxis and minibus drivers will offer a ride back to town for no less than $50 :O. We just barely found a bus going elsewhere, which let us out in the dark on a major road where we just barely caught another bus 30 minutes later that brought us back to the city. It was a 3-hour ordeal to get home.
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