Travel Guide Yogyakarta

Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat is the official Javanese name for Yogyakarta. Along with Bali, it's the "highlight" of the trip for most visitors. Everything here is refined: the majesty of the volcanoes, the nobility of the people, the delicacy of gestures and postures. The apparent nonchalance or insouciance of the locals contrasts with the melancholy or affliction of Sundanese. Yogyakarta is undoubtedly the best place to stay and visit the surrounding area, in particular the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan (listed as World Heritage Sites), with their thousand-year-old architecture and imposing sculptures. History has seen every epic and historic drama played out here... Yogya (pronounced "Jogya"), as it's familiarly known, enjoys a glorious and prestigious reputation. Wedged between the fearsome Mount Merapi and the Indian Ocean, home to Loro Kidul, Queen of the South Seas, it is Indonesia's most active cultural center. A city of culture, a student town, but when you arrive you'll be disappointed to find that its reputation is truly overrated. Malioboro is overrun with angkots and other polluting motorized vehicles; traffic jams clog the town center. This big city has a population of over 500,000, so if you were expecting to find a peaceful town, well, you've missed out! But don't run away! Its charm lies elsewhere, and as with all Indonesian cities, it takes some time before you really feel at home. In fact, the city has retained its human dimensions and has the old-fashioned fragrance of sleepy former capitals, which seem to be slumbering, but are bubbling over and dreaming of reclaiming their former glory. Javanese culture has acquired its letters of nobility here, and refinement has so permeated the city's atmosphere that Indonesians and foreigners alike are passionate about it. A very special atmosphere reigns here.