YogyakartaArt and Culture.Seven hours later, we arrived in Yogyakarta, with Becca extremely cold and angry at the train workers that took away her blanket way before we got there. As we walked off the train at four am, we were greeted by inquiries of “taxi misses?” “Where are you going?” “Taxi?” We ignored then and kept walking to the street Fiqy told us was where many backpackers stayed- Socowajara. Asking the man at the gate he pointed slightly to the right with a cheery ,“Ohhhh Socowajaraaaa” after he interpreted my awful pronunciation. We headed in the direction he pointed, dodging around the cars pulling in and out of the station. I’m sure we made quite a spectacle, in our north faces and leggings, wandering down this Indonesian street at four am, past the rickshaw drivers and men setting up their street shops. As the sky began to brighten, we found our street, and wandered down, looking for a place to stay for the night. The first hotel was full, but the next one we tried was open, and we were immediately shown to our room. Setting our backpacks down on the twin beds, we headed out to walk around until seven am, the time when the desk guy would know if we could take a group van to Borobodur the next day. Walking to find the bus for Pramadan, the Hindu Temple. After walking around and asking where it was, we stood by the stop for a few minutes until someone told us that it did not run until much later. Deciding to take a cab, we headed to Pramadan, falling asleep in the cab and giving the driver a chuckle. After Pramadan, we headed back to our hotel and took a quick nap before heading out to lunch, where Becca tried an avocado/coffee smoothie. We left the café and walked around the market in town, first walking around the edges and being jostled by horse drawn carts and tuk-tuks, and then walking on the inside and being shoved and nudged by hundreds of people. Back at our hotel, we settled in for an early night and even earlier morning. The next day we awoke ready to go to Borobodur, the Buddhist Temple. After walking around the temple, we explored the surrounding areas, where we found an enclosure of elephants. We walked right up to them, and I immediately wanted to steal them and set them free. Becca assured me that I would not get very far with them. Curious about why they were there, Becca went wandering around to look for someone. Finding someone, she was handed a brochure about elephant safaris. Even more distressed for them, we finally turned to leave. Just then, the five elephants started tugging at their chains and stomping around. I knew they wanted to come with me. On our way back from Borobodur, we stopped at a smaller temple and a Buddhist Monastery. Dropped off at our hotel, we stopped a cab to take us to the Gabusan art market. The driver cherrily dropped us off in front of a waterpark and drove away. Obviously we looked like we wanted to go on water slides. Asking the car attendants where to go, they directed us across the street. Wandering in, we were slightly disappointed because many sections were closed for the holiday. We were greatly entertained by one man that insisted that we sit down and solve his “challenge” puzzles. He didn’t speak any English and we didn’t speak any Indonesian, but we laughed and giggled together for a substantial amount of time. Especially after he had to get out a sheet explaining how to put one back together when none of us could figure it out. Eventually leaving our friendly little man, we headed to the jewelry section and bought a couple of rings. Done shopping, we were ready to go back. However, getting back to Yogyakarta proved to be an adventure. We waited patiently by the side of the road for a while, until we realized that cabs did not frequent this area of town. Going back to our helpful waterpark car attendants, we asked them for another favor- to call us a cab. Laughing at the silly girls, they called us a cab and waited with us. Indonesians are so hospitable. After this adventure, Becca and I went to a restaurant for lunch/dinner, where we met the sweetest Balinese woman. She told us about all of her favorite spots in Bali, and then gave us her number, in case we needed help with anything. She offered to be the translator between Balinese people and us if we needed help. After thanking her for all of her help, we headed to the airport to go to Bali. |