Sat 21st March: Jogja

Quite a frustrating day today. I thought I'd have another look around Jogja but ended up spending most of the day trying to sort out travle plans. I spent 90 mins queing to buy a train ticket to Jakarta and then the rest of the afternoon trying to book a flight to Singapore on a dodgy website for one of the budget airlines. Eventually I got sorted. Outside the rain came down in torrents. By late afternoon the rain had eased to a persistent drizzle. With the rain falling so the temperatures came down to a 'cool' 30c. It was so nice to walk around the streets in relative comfort.

In the evening I went to a performance of the Ramayana at a theatre in town. I had seen a different performance of this Indian Hindu epic at Ulluwatu on Bali but this performance was longer with a more complete portrayal of the story. The Ramayana is one of the most influential literary works within the Hindu collection of works and as had a strong influence on art and culture both within India and further afield within southeast Asia. Both dance performances I've seen show a very rich elaborate portrayal of the epic. The performance this evening depicted a style of dance which had evolved in the royal courts at Jogja during the 18th century. Accompanying the dancers was a traditional Javan Gamelan orchestra of percussion instruments which produced such a very distinctive style of music. Again, like the earlier performances on Bali, I was captivated by the whole spectacle. The music, the dancing and the story which unfolds is unlike anything we've seen at home. There's colour and drama, the story moves with pace. The movement of the dancers in such colourful costumes is so different you just get swept along. It was a nice way to finish off in Jogja. Tomorrow I take a 10hr train journey to the capital, Jakarta and an evening flight to Singapore. It feels as though the trip through Indonesia has ended abruptly.