Wonderful Indonesia: Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta is a strange place to be, even by Indonesian standard. I remember when I first visited the city more than a decade ago, it was like time almost came to a halt and the lifestyle was moving at a slower pace than anywhere else in the archipelago. When we took the becak (an alternate version of rickshaw), I could see that people were smiling, very relax and there was almost no sense of urgency. As a place to live, you either like it or leave it.

As a holiday destination, however, Jogja (yes, a different spelling, but still the same city, so don't get confused) had many to offer. It was a city brimming with culture and history. It was also budget friendly, with cheap but delicious food all over the place. The people, being Javanese, were very polite. There were flights from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, so Jogja was pretty accessible. A four days, three nights would be just nice.

Visiting Borobudur in 2004. 

My first trip to Yogyakarta was part of the Java-Bali roadtrip roughly 14 years ago. When we headed back from Bali to Jakarta, we stopped by for a night in Jogja. We were from Solo, visiting Prambanan temple and then Borobudur before we made our way to Jogja. It was late afternoon when we arrive there and when the night begun, we took the becak for a city tour that included the visit to bakpia factory. Oh, by the way, bakpia is a small, round-shaped Indonesian Chinese-influenced sweet roll, usually stuffed with bean paste. 

After a glimpse of Jogja, I returned to the city 10 years later for a proper visit in 2014. I went with Indonesian and Singaporean friends and we stayed at Ibis Malioboro. It was a good place to start. The first day we were there, we explored the major shopping street. It had local cuisines, handcraft and batik there. As we walked towards the end of the street, it led to Yogyakarta Kraton, the sultanate palace. It was no Buckingham Palace, but it was alright and very much the reflection of Javanese culture.

And they fought, Spartan style, at Sambisari Temple. 

Jogja also had a lot of Hindu temples. We started our historical and cultural tour with the visit to Sambisari Temple. The temple was quite decent, but scenery was beautiful and the weather was good. Then of course we had to visit the famous Prambanan. It was too bad that most of the complex was still in ruins after the earthquake, but at least we had some fun there. We skipped Borobudur as the site was closed after the recent eruption.

So we went to Mount Merapi instead. The active volcano was thrilling, with smoke still coming up from the ground. There was also a house that was engulfed by the ash clouds during the Merapi eruption. It was hot enough to melt even stuff made of metal, so no human could have survived this merciless ordeal! It was quite eerie to be there, really, but it was soon compensated by the four-wheel drive adventure that brought us off-road to the highland and valley. The view was amazing and we all screamed like kids as the car drove through the shallow river. That was easily the highlight of the trip!

Now, before we close this chapter, let's talk a bit about the food. I don't remember eating nasi gudeg while we were there, but at least we had Mbok Berek fried chicken that was located not very far from Prambanan. We walked into a satay stall somewhere on the roadside of Malioboro, too, ordering 50 pieces of chicken satay that costed us IDR 50K, which means it was only SGD 0.10 per piece! Then there was also this very innocent question from our Singaporean friend who had the warm orange juice for the first time: how could it be warm? Well, the vendor just had to mix it with warm water, didn't he? In short, the cuisines were good and extremely affordable! Welcome to Yogyakarta!

When our driver rammed onto the rock in Merapi.

Indonesia Yang Menakjubkan: Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta adalah tempat yang bernuansa aneh tapi nyata, bahkan untuk standar orang Indonesia. Saya ingat ketika saya pertama kali mengunjungi kota ini 14 tahun silam, waktu seakan-akan berhenti dan gaya hidup di sana berjalan lebih pelan dari kota lainnya di tanah air kita. Ketika kita naik becak, saya melihat orang-orang begitu santai dan tidak terburu-buru. Sebagai tempat tinggal, beberapa teman saya menikmatinya, namun belum tentu demikian halnya bagi yang lain, termasuk saya.

Beda lagi ceritanya kalo Jogja adalah tempat tujuan wisata. Daerah Istimewa ini menawarkan begitu banyak hal yang menarik, mulai dari sejarah sampai budaya. Selain itu, biaya di Jogja juga ramah terhadap saku wisatawan dan makanannya pun murah dan enak. Penduduk di sana, orang Jawa, terkenal ramah dan sopan. Ada banyak penerbangan dari Singapura, Kuala Lumpur dan Jakarta, jadi banyak jalan menuju Jogja. Liburan selama empat hari tiga malam rasanya pas bagi yang ingin mengunjungi Jogja.

Pak Chandra and Hartono berpose dengan becak, tahun 2004.

Kunjungan pertama saya ke Yogyakarta adalah bagian dari perjalanan darat Jawa-Bali di tahun 2004. Ketika kita pulang dari Bali menuju Jakarta, kita singgah dan bermalam di Jogja. Berangkat pagi dari Solo, kita mengunjungi Candi Prambanan dan Borobudur sebelum menuju Jogja. Kita tiba menjelang senja dan di malam hari, kita naik becak keliling kota serta mengunjungi pabrik bakpia.

Setelah melihat Jogja secara sekilas, saya kembali lagi satu dekade kemudian, kali ini khusus untuk berlibur di sana. Berangkat bersama teman-teman Indonesia dan Singapura, kita tinggal di Ibis Malioboro yang terletak bersebelahan dengan Mal Malioboro. Lokasinya cukup strategis. Di hari pertama, kita menjelajahi Jalan Malioboro yang terkenal sebagai pusat perdagangan batik dan kerajinan tangan. Ketika kita terus berjalan, kita tiba di Kraton Yogyakarta yang ada di ujung jalan. Arsitekturnya sangat berbudaya lokal, lengkap dengan nuansa mistiknya.

Di Kraton Yogyakarta. 

Jogja juga memiliki banyak candi Hindu. Kita mulai rangkaian acara ini dengan kunjungan ke Candi Sambisari. Bangunannya lumayan, tapi yang lebih menarik lagi adalah pemandangan dan cuacanya. Selanjutnya kita pun menuju ke Prambanan. Sayang sekali banyak dari bangunan candi tersebut yang sudah runtuh terkena gempa. Kita akhirnya batal ke Borobudur karena situs bersejarah bagi umat Budha itu masih ditutup. Saat kita ke Jogja, ada sebuah gunung yang baru saja meletus sehingga abunya menutupi Borobudur.

Setelah candi-candi, kita lantas menjajal Gunung Merapi. Gunung aktif ini terasa mendebarkan, terutama karena ada beberapa tempat yang tanahnya masih mengepulkan asap. Kita juga mampir ke sebuah rumah yang dilalui oleh awan panas. Di situ terlihat bahwa barang dari bahan logam pun bisa meleleh, jadi tidak akan ada manusia yang bisa selamat jika terjebak bencana letusan gunung berapi! Agak seram suasananya, tapi segera terobati oleh petualangan dengan mobil 4WD yang melewati dataran tinggi dan lembah. Pemandangannya sangat indah dan kita berteriak riang seperti sekumpulan anak-anak ketika mobil jip yang kita tumpangi melaju melintasi sungai dangkal. Benar-benar pengalaman yang patut dikenang!

Oh ya, sebelum kita tutup cerita ini, mari berbincang sedikit tentang makanannya. Saya tidak ingat bahwa kita pernah mencicipi nasi gudeg selama di sana karena rasanya yang manis mungkin tidak cocok bagi orang Singapura. Kendati begitu, kita singgah di Ayam Goreng Mbok Berek yang terletak tidak jauh dari Prambanan. Kita juga memesan 50 tusuk sate di tepi jalan. Harganya 50 ribu rupiah, berarti satu tusuk cuma seribu rupiah! Kemudian ada lagi pertanyaan polos dari teman Singapura yang baru pertama kali mencicipi air jeruk hangat. Teman ini bingung, kenapa perasan jeruk bisa hangat? Tidak pernah terpikir olehnya kalau air jeruk perasan ini tinggal dicampur dengan air hangat, hehe. Singkat kata, makanan Jogja enak dan benar-benar terjangkau. Selamat datang di Yogyakarta!

Berfoto bersama air jeruk hangat.