Yogakarta and Around

 First stop in Indonesia was Yogakarta located in the middle of Java island. Our time here was short but we managed to get in a few things before we headed east to Mount Bromo and Bali. We spent our first afternoon after the plane ride settling in and figuring out the itinerary for the next few days. I had a really hard time getting use to the next currency and paying someone 10,000 rupiah for drink (this is about $1 Canadian). Somehow it just feels weird to try and take out 2.5 million out of a bank machine.

Trishaws

We quickly found out that Yogakarta is not really that condusive to people walking. The lack of sidewalks and the tricycle rickshaw drivers yelling out if you want a ride every 5 seconds and laughing when you say you just want to walk. In the end we did end up taking one trip to the sultans palace with them, but it felt like someone was trying to push around 300lbs in a baby carriage. I think that it is faster sometimes just to walk. 

Borobudur Temple

The day after we arrived we woke up at 3:30am to head to Borobuder to view the sunrise from a hill top overlooking volcanoes and the Borobuder temple. We couldn't really see the temple from where we were but it was nice to hike through a village and learn about the traditions that have been mixed between the Javanese and the muslim culture. Once the sun was up we drove to the temple site and spent 2 hours viewing the temple grounds. The temple was humbling how big it was constructed to be. It took us over 45 minutes to get to the top walking and we took some short cuts. At the top we ran into some local students who wanted to practice their english for an upcoming exam. After some akward personal questions they wanted us to join them for a Indonesian dance. We were already tired and exhausted from a full day - it was only 10am.

Borobudur Temple

Of course we also enjoyed the food of Yogyakarta, chicken curries, beef randang and fruit juices.

Beef Radang