Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Borobodur temple

Indonesia may be just one country in the official books, but a closer look reveals a mishmash of races and cultures scattered across the country's 6,000 inhabited islands. While many of these islands are slow, sandy places with more action under the water than above it, Java is jam-packed with 135 million people in an area about the size of New York state. Before heading off to the far flung islands for the famous beaches, jungles, and scuba diving, we decided to pay homage to Indonesia's cultural capital with a visit to one of Java's most interesting cities - Yogyakarta. The city is not extremely popular amongst foreigners, but it offers a great opportunity to experience the modern, urban Indonesia. It's also the access point to the mighty temples of Prambanan and Borobudur, two amazing sites that provide a glimpse into Indonesia's rich Hindu and Buddhist history.

Though there were plenty of hotels and great places to eat, we were in a pretty non-touristy part of town where bikes and pedal-powered tuk tuks were the preferred way to get around.

We passed this lovely demo sight and couldn't help but be reminded of the good ol' 13th Street mystery lot in our beloved East Village, which we've heard has now been turned into a modern condo building.

As if the stares from the locals weren't already bad enough, we decided to throw on these bright ponchos to stay dry when it started to rain. Clearly the guy taking the photo wasn't used to photographing anyone over six feet tall.

When the rain and stares became too much we sought refuge in a covered tuk tuk.

Our first stop was to the Sri Sultan's palace or "Kraton". There was a performance going on featuring the gamelon - a traditional Indonesian musical ensemble with a number of instruments like the xylophone, gong, strings, etc. It's very popular in the Bali and Java regions and we often awoke to the sounds of it playing in the morning.

This little guy has the traditional Javanese costume on.

Wayang kulit, or shadow puppets, are a popular art form in Indonesia, specifically Java. The puppet is made from leather and carefully carved with very fine tools and supported with buffalo horn handles and control rods. The stories are usually drawn from the Hindu epic Ramayana.

Once carved, the puppets are carefully hand painted in bright colors. 

Joe found this giant claw and reenacted one of his favorite scenes from Jurassic Park - slashing the old man across the belly, spilling his intestines.

Another popular Javanese cultural practice is the art of Batik. Batik is a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dying technique. Genuine batik doesn't have a front or a back. The dye goes through the cloth making the pattern indistinguishable on both sides. Originally used to make fabric for clothing, batik paintings have become popular. We visited a Batik school - the best place to grab the paintings.

After an exhausting day of puppet shows, galleries, bargaining and avoiding scams, Ashley was ready to put her feet up and let this guy pedal her home.

Our hotel. The rooms were terrible, but having the pool after a long, hot day definitely made up for it.

Joe had read that the Bird Market in Yogyakarta was "a colorful menagerie not to be missed." False advertising. This is what we saw...

Baskets upon baskets of "bird feed" (maggots)

These bats and rotting bananas

And this poor chicken locked into a tiny box with a giant python being slowly eaten alive. It was not the image we had originally associated with "colorful menagerie."

It wasn't all bad. This parrot was pretty cute.

And this 20-something foot Burmese python was awesome. Though his cage could use a cleaning. 

We paid a visit to the breathtaking Prambanan, a 9th century Hindu temple dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). 

The temple is covered with panels of narrative bas-reliefs which tell the story of Ramayana. Ramayana is everywhere in Indonesia - temples feature it, wood carvings of Rama and Sita (the story's lovers) are found everywhere, and it's even on TV constantly.

The temples were abandoned after a volcano eruption destroyed parts of central Java in the 930s. They then collapsed after a massive earthquake in the 16th century. It wasn't until the 1800s that the ruins were surveyed and rebuilt. Parts of the temple are still being repaired, hence the flattering hard hat. 

We heard what sounding like soft meows coming from somewhere in the temple and saw this sweet little kitten peering out. Somebody call the fire department.

Catching the best lighting of the day.

We decided to stick around for the Ramayana ballet show that takes place on a stage set just behind the illuminated Prambanan temples. Sorry Williamsburg Waterfront and Red Rocks, this is the coolest venue we've ever seen.

The Ramanyana is a 24,000 verse epic, but in brief it depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters (ideal son, ideal servant, ideal wife, ideal king, etc.).  It tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu) whose wife Sita is abducted by the king of Ravan (pictured coming down the stairs) and his journey to get her back. The performers are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra with footsteps, voices, etc. all vocalized by the instruments. 

Best part of the show - Hanuman the monkey (and Ashley's favorite character in the story thanks to his spicy dance moves) lit the damn stage on fire! This starts an epic battle that leads to the return of Sita to her beloved.

The next day Joe somehow convinced Ashley it was a good idea to make the 2 hour drive through the city and its outskirts at the crack of dawn to see Borobudur. He certainly looked the part, so she obliged.

Joe using his tried-and-true negotiating tactic of looming over the locals with his helmet still on.

As most of our motorbike stories go, we underestimated the task at hand. The worst part came when we accidentally found ourselves on the highway shortly after this photo was taken. It was the real life version of the Clueless scene. Terrified, cursing, praying... we made it out unscathed, though the psychological damage has yet to surface.

Ahhh Borobudur at last. The 9th century temple is the largest Buddhist site in the world, and has over 500 Buddha statues and stupas. The main dome at the center of the top platform is surrounded by 72 Buddhas seated inside a perforated stupa.

The first thing that took us by surprise were the countless number of children screaming and running to us like we were Bieber asking for photos. They weren't mistaking us for anyone famous, they were just that excited about seeing white people. We thought we had it bad, until we saw this poor redhead guy who was literally swarmed the entire time.

Borobudur was constructed as a series of terraces, where each level represents a different level of Buddhist cosmology. The path through the monument guides tourists and Buddhist pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors through the different levels: from Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), to Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and finally to Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness).

The first four terraces showcase the bas-relief sculptures which depict a number of different things including scenes of daily life in ancient Java, as well as the story of Prince Siddhartha and the birth of Buddha.

We regretted not hiring a tour guide to explain some of the 1,460 narrative panels, but when these local kids approached us on a school assignment to practice their English, we put them to good use. These two demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the Buddha's life and teachings - apparently teenagers in Indonesia don't spend all their time on World of Warcraft.

The volcanoes in the distance made the site even more spectacular.

Finally we reached Arupadhatu, the world of formlessness and the peak of the site.

The rest of the photos can be found in our Yogyakarta album.