I take the 8.45 train down to Yogyakarta. I takes about an hour so I'm in town nice and early in the day. I took a Becak to the station in Solo and now arriving in Jogja I take a second which takes me through a warren of narrow streets and laneways to my hostel Its riduculously cheap, 35,000 rupiahs, just over eu2. But you get what you pay for and it is basic. But its fine for me. First thing I do is sign up for a trip tomorow morning to some of the big temples, Borubadur and Prambanan, which lie on the plains around this city. These are bigtime sites, major temples, renowned and a mustsee for anybody passing through this part of Java.
Jojga is a larger city than Solo. It too holds Royal palaces, perhaps considered more senior to Solo?? Whatever about the past today Jogja is the more senior of the cities and recieves far more visitors than Solo. It is plainly obvious as soon as you walk around the streets here. Tourism is evident, in your face. The main shopping street, Maliboboro, which runs through the centre of town down to the royal palace is a hive of shops and street markets. Street vendors, hawkers taxis and Becaks all vied for business . It was all hustle and bustle with the pavements thronged with shoppers and tourists. It wasn't as bad as in Kuta but after the cosy, tranquil atmosphere of Solo, slightly irritating for me. I'm still low on energy after the bug and I think I was a little more easily irritated by the hawkers. Also It was up near 40c today so I wilted in the heat. As a result my first impressions of Jogja weren't great.
I went down to the Sultan's palace for a look and got taken around by a 'guide' . He was unofficial, more a tout for the souvenir shops etc. Once I realised what he was I became annoyed and didn't disguie my disdain at his attempts to get me into various places. I dropped him pretty quick. I didn't want to be dragged through the silver factory and myriad other factories cum sales rooms the 'delights' of which he promised to show me. Normally I try to be polite and courteous with locals. But when I realized this guy was a bit of a con I became annoyed. The palace was nothing much to get excited over either.
Left alone to wander around the streets of the city I was much happier. THere are elections coming soon in Indonesia and all the political parties (there are 45) use flags as well as posters to promote the candidates and party. As a result Jogja is festooned with colour as thousands of flags decorated the streets giving the impression more of a festival than a potentially volatile general election. I stopped for a bite to eat in a food hall in one of the shopping malls off Malioboro. I tried some local food for the first time since getting the bug, a seafood chowder. It went down well. After running the gauntlet of the hawkers and Becak guys along Malioboro the day wound down. I had a couple of beers in a bar close to the accomodation and in the competition between Bintang and Bali Hai, Bintang has won out as the nicer of the Indonesian beers. I had an early night as I'm up at 4am in the morning for the trip to Borobadur and Prambanan.
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