Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2013)

Nagkaroon ako ng urge to travel because of Asian History, well 6th grade pa lang ako/kami mahilig na kami sa Geography.  My elementary best buds and I, hindi kami sporty - kami ang mga geeks sa section namin.  Ang hilig naming mga non-school/extra curricular activites eh iyong mag-stay sa library, magbasa ng books about Anatomy, Planets, and Places/Geography.

Ang gagawin namin - magtatanong kami sa bawat isa ng alam mong trivia, mga tipong - give me the countries located in French Polynesia.  Hahaha!!! No kidding or kundi naman - identify ng mga flags or capital ng countries.  So Grade 6 pa lang ako alam ko na iyong mga Ulaan Baatar or Bandar Seri Begawan na mga capitals.

Anyway, ano naman relasyong ng kwentong ito sa blog - mayroon dahil I became interested sa mga landmarks dahil sa geography/countries.  Kaya nung Asian History time namin, 2nd year - naexpose kami sa mga wonders of the world and nature.  One of these many picturesque sites eh ang Borobudur.

I was really lucky with my previous work, I was given a chance to see and fulfill my dreams.  I did the Yogyakarta travel during my 2013 Jakarta visit, in this trip kasama ko si Sonny, one of my bestfriends na kasama ko sa story ko sa itaas.  Luckily, he was in Jakarta too and sakto ang weekend namin, parehong free.

Better than Cebu Pac...

Friday's my flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta via Air Asia.  I was scared na baka magkadelay, pero hindi naman.  Infer sa Domestic airport ng Jakarta, mas maganda pa sa International parang Pinas lang.  Flight to YOG was an hour or so, malapit lang naman.  Son was already in the hotel (kalimutan ko na name) na near sa Borobudur, sick and feverish.

From airport, I took a cab to Malioboro - I have to admit, mahal scared kasi ako na baka pag mura maloko ako lalo na mahirap ang conversation sa Indonesia. 

Party in Malioboro

Malioboro, a must visit place sa YOG - para siyang Baclaran/Divisoria na I think mas safe (and this came from someone na lumaki from Tondo).  Bought souvenirs, iyong puppet na famous sa Indonesia.  Nagpafoot massage din and nagcanvass ng tours.

Kailangang pairalin ang pagiging laking Tondo and ayun tawaran.  After checking several tours, we decided na i-avail service (tour that is) ni Aan Purnama Yoga.  Hindi ko na maalala how much iyong agreed price pero ok naman.

Around 6pm kami umalis ni Aan from Malioboro to Borobudur, ok si Aan may face value - madadaan sa ligo.  Sabi ko nga kung pagsasamantalahan niya ako, keri na eh kaso biglang nag-open ng topic about religion, ay loss!!!  Hahaha... anyway, mahaba haba iyong biyahe so buti na lang there's something to discuss.

Pagkahatid sa hotel - umalis na si Aan, matutulog daw siya sa van.

 

Ok - tour day, Saturday - we planned to visit Borobudur, Prambanan Temple, Silver Store, Mt. Merapi, and Kraton. 

Sunrise Viewing

Sa loob may Buddha.  Parang halimaw sa bangin.

Aga namin umalis to do trekking, iyong sunshine chorvah na may gandang effect sa Borobudur, uhmmm mali kami ng iniisip so I suggest don't do this trekking. We stayed 2 hours for this activity, then off to the actual temple.

One word to describe the Buddhist temple, magnificent.  You can't help to think na ang gagaling talaga ng mga ancient humans who built ng mga ganitong man-made sites.  So basically, Borobudur is a Buddhist temple - iyong mga carvings niya represent the story of Gautama Buddha.  Absolutely one of my greatest travel experiences.

Writings on the Wall

Next location, Prambanan (Hindu) temples.  Ang story is (if I remember it correctly), magkapatid ang nagpatayo ng both temples but fell in love with different beliefs.  Prambanan Temple tells a story of a guy/prince who fell in love with a girl/princess and promised to build 1000 temples, mga ganung ek-ek.  Currently, wala na sa 1000 iyong temples dahil na rin karamihan eh damaged na due to earthquakes.

Prambanan

One thing to note that the 3 main Hindu Gods, they have their own temples.

Kraton

A bit unfortunate dahil inulan kami during our stay in Pramabanan pero again, worth it na worth it.

It's compulsory to visit the silver store kahit na kebs ako.  Next destination - Merapi mountain.  Dahil sa weather, sorry na lang ulap lang ang kita. 

Then we go back to Malioboro and had a quick stop at Kraton, nothing extraordinary dahil closed, so facade na lang ang picture.

On our way back to JKT, we took Garuda flight. 

Ktnxbye!