Our Indonesia itinerary
Friday 23rd June
Travel day from KL to Yogykarta. The only thing of note was the sniffer dogs at the airport. You forget how strict they are with drugs here. Bit scary!
Saturday 24th June
We are staying at a lovely homestay next to Prambanan temple which is just outside Yogykarta. Its really lovely, they give the kids brownies, treats and the owner gave us a 2 hour lift from the airport! Everyone in the neighbourhood is so friendly and gives us a smile and a wave. I don’t think many Westerners come here.
We all chilled and did some home school this morning. C has some end of year assessments so she did creative writing for an hour.
We borrowed some bikes from our homestay in the afternoon. Hs was so small he just did ‘backies’ on Ts bike. Crunchy old bikes but did the job! A good first lunch, spicy spicy rice for us.
Us wheeling our bikes on a massive main road!
Batik class in the afternoon. It was a bit random, no chat about the history of batik, not really any instructions. Anyway, it was still nice to do something creative. You put wax on the picture lines and then dye around it. Then the same on the other side. We took ages to do the wax and the kids started fighting. And C got really sad. So it wasn’t our best activity! But by the time we finished, everyone was back on track.
Sunset here is much earlier than Borneo because of the 1 hour time difference. Which means its at 5.30 which is an adjustment. So went for dinner, spicy jackfruit curry for us. Yum. They had that in Borneo too.
Sunday 25th June
Early wake up so we can go to Prambanan temple as soon as it opens. C was soooo grumpy! But it was lovely and empty when we got there. Its one of the largest Hindu temples in the world. It looks a little like Angkor Wat in that it is made of building blocks of stone with some beautiful carvings.
The pics are nice and all but here are the kids LOVING the temple…note the crisps and brownie bribes in their tupperware!
By the time we left, all the local tourists had arrived and wanted our picture. We were mobbed! C hated it in India but now loves it!
There was a smaller temple on the way out that was amazing. Literally just us. Apparently when they were restoring it after the 2006 earthquake, if 70% was intact they would fix it, the rest would lay as rubble.
Travelled to Yogyakarta city to our Airbnb which is a bizarre two apartment set up. Upstairs and downstairs so we are each sharing with the kids.
We did a food tour with a lovely guy – using Airbnb experiences. We tried ‘Gudag’ which is jackfruit curry, with some coconut sauce. And a pickled egg. Its a kind of sweet savoury dish. Very umami.
Then we went to a famous noodle stall. Apparently the President came to visit 3 weeks ago. We had dry and wet noodles. They use duck eggs so its delish!
Yogya is a city of art & culture, loads of street art like this
Next up was Malioboro street which is a bit like the Leicester square of Yogya. Its a Sunday so it was packed with (domestic) tourists and locals alike. There are 25 Universities here so its a really young, buzzing city. We tried the local sweet, klepon. Mochi rice with palm sugar inside, covered in coconut sprinkles. Kids loved it!
Fish cakes made of fish skin next, with a spicy sweet sauce that comes with it. Random!
Last but not least, a famous coffee shop where they put a piece of wood charcoal into the glass of coffee so it bubbles up. Really cool.
Kids were shattered by this time as we’d started so early. Henry was sparko almost instantly!
Monday 26th June
Our tour guide said last night that all the sights in Yogya are closed on a Monday. Eek! So we made a last minute plan to do a jeep tour of Mount Merapi. I’m fairly sure I learnt about this volcano because its very much active! It spews out lava regularly! The last big eruption in 2010 ruined all the paths which killed tourism. So an enterprising local started offering jeep tours on the volcanic rock.
It was a super fun trip. We visited a museum where they had left the house exactly as it was after the ash. So everything was completely melted. Our jeep guide said his house was destroyed too so the government moved everyone 20kms away in a safe zone. And helped them build houses etc.
This is the old lava flow – mad!
The highlight of the trip was when they took us to a river where they drove through and got us soaked. The kids loved it.
After that was the highlight for me. We were supposed to do a walk up a big hill but we got there and its closed because lava is flowing (slowly!) down the mountain.
Our guide mentioned the seismograph for the volcano so I said I’d like to check it out. It was literally a room where he knows the guys that work there. So not a touristy thing. And there was an old fashioned seismograph that literally has a big cable running from it into the centre of the volcano. So rudimentary.
This was the seismograph that happened whilst we were there! 👇
Up until a year ago, they just had the seismograph and would have to manually work out the length of eruptions and strength of it. They showed us the old papers from years ago. Crazy! And it really is active all the time, we could see it going crazy in the 10 mins we were there. They also have heat sensors monitoring it, and cameras too. They showed us pics of the lava flowing down at night. All of this kit is monitored 24 hours a day. By an old dude nearly 60 years old, smoking ciggies with dodgy teeth. But he holds Java’s volcano monitoring in his hands! When an eruption happens, radios give out a different sequence of ‘beeps’ to inform people, along with Whatsapps (and an Instagram feed!).
This was the lava flowing down the night before! 👇
He showed us the manual paper from the 2010 eruption which was the last huge one. You can see the needle went off the paper, and ripped it!
The geographer in me was totally geeking out.
Went home and did some volcanoes for home school and the kids were so much more engaged. For dinner we went to the backpacking area which we didnt enjoy. I don’t know, I think we just enjoy the street food vibe more. In a month though, we’ll be desperate for pasta! It seems a shame to travel somewhere and hang out in (expensive) Western places. But 20 years ago, we’d definitely have stayed there so I think its an age thing!
Tuesday 27th June
Today was a visit to Borobudur temple. You can no longer do sunrise there so its only a timed ticket. We got there a few mins late so had to do the 9.30am tour. It was a bit boring tbh and really busy and hot. Stark contrast to Prambanan where we had the place to ourselves. Still a beautiful temple. The largest Buddist temple in the world.
Check out all the tourists!! The pics above look deserted, not the case!
Afterwards we had booked a bicycle tour around the countryside which was awesome. So our jam. We went with our driver and a guide who were so brilliant with making sure the kids were okay, helping cross the road and stuff.
Kids had a spin around on his motorbike which they LOVED!
First stop was a mushroom farm where we stopped for lunch. Mushroom dim sum, mushroom balls, all delicious. There was a baby monkey they kept in a tiny cage. It was so tiny, on its own. C was really upset about it, we all were to be honest. Really awful. This is what Mark talked about in Borneo, its rural communities who keep animals in cages. Maybe they found it separated from its mother? So sad. I’m going to google if there is a monkey sanctuary here (I doubt it).
Second stop was pottery where the kids got to make a bowl. Sadly we cant take it home!
Didn’t always go to plan, this is T wheeling Hs bike that he had just fallen off!
Third was a rice cracker place, kids got to make rice crackers, and eat them with tea! At one point lots of local tourists came in – it gets too much for H because EVERYONE chubs his cheeks. Eek – like a proper chub. It’s just something people do here because he’s young, looks really sweet. It proper gets on his wick so he runs off! (understandable!)
Fourth was a doll crafting shop. Where they made a pencil. Just perfect for the kids. C bought a bigger doll with her own money. She loved it!
When we got back to Boody’s house, his wife had done a lovely spread of local sweet treats. Klepon is a treat for them, mochi rice with palm sugar inside.
Went to the train station to sort a cancellation then onwards to Malioboro, the famous street like Leicester Square, to sort Henry with a footie shirt he had his eye on. Then C realised she left her new doll in the train station! So after a quick chicken rice street food dinner, back up to the train station. By the time we all got home the kids were knackered! A quiet day tomorrow…
Wednesday 28th June
Easy day today, the Water Palace which was cool. And a lovely wander round the streets.
Kids were cranky though so we kept it easy, grabbed some street food soup for lunch then headed home for some home school.
Amazing soup – clearly all the drivers eat there cos it’s an unsung hero of the street food world – delish! 👇
A word on Eid – there is a Muslim festival going on over the next couple of days. Eid Al Adha – it marks the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is the second largest celebration after the end of Ramadan. So quite a big thing. Lots of sacrifices happen – cows, sheep, goat. It has meant not only do we have the first call to prayer at 4.30am (just before sunrise) but also mosques playing over the loud speakers all day. At the end of our street, we saw a live sacrifice of a cow. Gawd it was a bit full on. The men all sit on it, then they slit its throat. It was actually pretty horrible but I do believe that if you eat meat, you need to know where it comes from. C turned away, H watched with interest (!). I won’t share a picture…
This evening we went to the South main square which was awesome – full of people on the streets. There are two massive trees – they say if you walk through them blindfolded, then a wish will be granted (and come true). Third time lucky for us!! Really fun for the kids and cool watching everyone giving it a go!
Then grabbed some nasi goreng street food – I must say, Yogya is very much a street food kind of place, there are loads of domestic tourists so a thriving street food scene. Everything from rice to satay, to sweet treats. Ace fun and right up our street.
Kids getting their stalwart street food – frankfurters (yuk!)
They have these cool cars that light up which we had a go on – they are actually pedals under it so go very slowly. Kids loved it!
Next up… Malang
Team Mossy on the move 