We were a little upset about leaving Pangandaran as we could have quite
happily chilled out there for a fortnight but as usual it seemed no sooner we
unpack it’s time to bundle our belonging again. Once again our outbound mode of
transportation was a cramped minibus but at least the seven hour journey was
bearable.
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| queuing at the Kraton |
It was
mid-afternoon by the time we reached the hostel area of Java’s city of culture
and history, Yogyakarta (also spelt Jogjakarta). Finding some overnight digs is
straight forward enough as there are three pedestrian alleyways (conveniently
signposted as gangs 1, 2 and 3) opposite the central railway station. Each gang
offers a number of guest homes, restaurants and other useful services so there
is no real need to venture long distances, unless you want to. We booked a room
at “Setia Kawan Losmen Guesthouse” opposite the popular “Andrea Hotel”. Setia
Kawan was comfortable enough and for a reasonable price of Rp 100,000 our stay
included free breakfast, en-suite bathroom and A/C.
We decided to
wander the streets on our first full day and headed toward the “Kraton” area.
The Kraton makes up the very central district of the city and is home to the
palace grounds. The grounds are a good way to kill an hour although if you
visit expecting grand and expensive artifacts it may be a little disappointing.
Many of the exhibits seem to showcase the royal families “incredibly
fascinating” collection of tea pots, coffee mugs, cameras and other everyday
items. Don’t miss the cutlery, frying pan and spatula exhibit you’ll only
regret it. If you have not seen a shadow puppet show before the palace contains
a nice seating area to highlight this important ancient form of entertainment
although it is better to visit in the evening to experience the show in all its
splendor.
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| It's lavish for Indonesia at least |
To see the best
that Yogyakarta has to offer you have to venture outside the city. Java’s most
popular attraction Borobodur temple is around an hour’s drive away and the best
tours leave early at around 4am to capture the sunrise over the temple from a
nearby vantage point before visiting the temple proper and then returning to
Yogyakarta to visit another popular temple Prambanan. We booked the tour at the
main tourist information
centre with some friends from Pangandaran and prepared for the early morning
wake up call.
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| sunrise view |
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| Tri-plodders fighting for that perfect foggy view |
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| Bruvs on Borobodur |
Borobodur was a
much nicer experience and although it’s fair to say we have visited so many
temples in the last few months few live up to the spectacle of the Khmer temples
of Cambodia, Borobodur was a real surprise. After climbing the many steps to
the top visitors are presented with a collection of small domes containing
stone idols. The temple itself sits in a valley surrounded by sleeping active
volcanoes in every direction. It’s easy to see why people see the area as a
special religious sight.
 |
| what a view! |
Talking of
religion and spirituality, unusually the peaceful serenity atop the temple was
disturbed by the incessant chanting of what I at first believed to be a school
of monks. It was only when they crept into eyeshot that it became apparent most
of the howlers were western tourist who had obviously paid money to be involved
in some journey towards spirituality. Now it’s important to say at this point
that I consider myself an atheist and although I accept many people use
religion to achieve great things there are aspects of it that are quite
hilarious and this was one such example. Stereotypes are sometimes a bad thing
but on this occasion it was hard to ignore the demographic of the people paying
good money for this sponsored groan-athon. At first glance no similarities existed. It was a mixture
of men and women of different ages and ethnicities. However almost all had
dreadlocks, silk trousers, hemp shirts or the dreaded top knot. After
travelling Asia for six months we have met many people who fit this category
and I can safely say that the only reason these people persevere with looking
like an utter imbecile is so they can head back to the hostel and boast about
how spiritually cleansed they feel. That’s all well and good but I think the
only thing that’s been truly cleansed is their damn bank account. No wonder the
monk had a smile on his face because essentially his found a way to make money
by doing very little.
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| PLAYER! |
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| You can see why faith is important here |
The group of twenty or so tourist followed
the monk in slow precession circling the temple before climbing to the first
level where they would circle the temple again and so on all the way to the
summit. Always moaning inaudible notes and waving their hands in a way that
resembled the Macarena. The ones nearest the monk at the front always looked
keener than the stragglers who judging by their faces had finally realised they could have done the same thing for free without forking
out $50. They say there’s one born every minute but it’s not every day you get
a group of them at the same place (unless you visit Old Trafford at a weekend).
Our third and
final stop was at Prambanan temple and after Borobodur it was a little bit of
an anti-climax. The sight was a pretty much an undamaged replica of the ruined
temples we saw in Thailand in Ayutthaya, except it lacked any real character.
If you haven’t seen an Asian temple before try to visit this one before
Borobodur and you’ll see what I mean. Sure the carvings are exquisite but the
temple itself felt dingy, smelt of urine and offers limited photographic
opportunities unless you like the sight of Yogyakarta in the background. All
was not lost though because we got to see our minibus driver have an argument
with another passenger after they realised they had paid more than us for
entry. They got their money back in the end and our pissed off driver was kind
enough to give us an aggressive drive back to our guesthouse.
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| Where's Jono gone? |
 |
| A gaggle of morons |
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| Prambanan |
If you visit
Yogyakarta you have to try the temple day tour. On our occasion we didn’t get a
good sunrise but that’s the way it goes sometimes and in many ways Borobodur
makes up for the tours faults.
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| The carefully carved spires are impressive |
·
The minibus drivers will try to sell you entrance tickets before
entering the temples. Just kindly decline and buy a ticket at the appropriate
desk. The drivers buy the tickets themselves to sell on at a slightly inflated
price.
·
It is possible to buy a combo ticket for both temples although it’s not
clearly advertised at the desk (The signs only show adult and child prices for
one temple). If you request the combination ticket the women at the ticket desk
will know what you mean and you can save a little money.
·
Visitor with student cards pay 50% less. Just try with a driving
license, who knows you may get lucky.
 |
| Traditional Go-cart track at Prambanan |
I would like to
say that we visited more sights on our 6 day visit but unfortunately for us we
had an administrative barrier to cross in the form of a visa extension. Unlike
Malaysia and Singapore visitors from the UK and other countries can only obtain
an initial 30 day visa on entry unless they apply for the two month visa from
their home country. Obviously we haven’t been home for a while so were
therefore stuck with the initial 30 days. This visa can be extended for an
additional 30 days if you need longer and we sure needed more time to get to
Bali and Lombok to search for a final boat.
Many people apply and obtain the Indonesian
visa extension however sometimes the procedures can be a little confusing and
advice online is limited so here is a quick guide on obtaining an extension in
Yogyakarta (other immigration offices may vary in speed and professionalism).
It took three long days but we finally had our visa and were ready to continue
through Java towards Bali.
Getting a visa extension in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1.
The immigration office is located next to the
airport car park at this address:
Immigration office:
Jl Solo KM. 10, PO BOX 19 YKAP, Yogyakarta,
55282
2.
A taxi from the main roads near the hotels in
gangs 1, 2 & 3 cost around 40,000 – 50,000 Rp. (haggle for the best price
or ask for the meter).
3.
The immigration office operates from 8:00 –
16:00 Mon-Thurs, 08:30 – 16:00 Fri and is closed Sat & Sun. Although it’s
important to note that the office that deals with visa extensions closes at
14:00pm on every open day.
4.
A lunch break operates from 12:00 – 13:00 and
the whole office shuts down for the duration. No staggered lunch breaks here.
5.
A dress code does exist and it’s advised to wear
a long sleeved shirt, trousers or shorts covering the knees and proper shoes,
no flip flops. Although in reality all the Indonesians wore flip flops and
sandals.
6.
You need to hand in your passport with
Indonesian visa, 1 completed form, 1 copy of passport, 1 copy of Indonesian
visa and 1 copy of the departure card (it helps to have additional copies and
there’s an office at the immigration office to photocopy items. Just ask at the
help desk and they will direct you.
7.
It takes 3 days to process and you have to visit
consecutively.
8.
There are places to charge your electronic items
so take a laptop of something to pass the boredom if you don’t have a book.
9.
Take some snacks as you never know how long the
wait will be.
10.
Make sure you have a flight booked for onward
travel. We have heard mixed messages regarding this and we had to return to our
hotel to book a cheap flight as they wouldn’t even accept our form without an
onward ticket.
11.
Day 1) collect the extension form from
the front desk. Fill it out and add the passport and photocopies. Hand in at
visa extension desk to the left. Wait for receipt and you will be told to
return the following morning to pay.
12.
Day
2) return to the immigration office with your receipt and hand it to the
guy at the extension desk. Wait until he gives you your file back and walk to
the far side of the building to the pay desk. Hand in your file and wait. When
called up pay 355,000 Rp for the extension. You will received another receipt.
Return the file to the extension office guy and wait for him to check it. After
a while he will hand the file back to you at which point you walk a whole 10
yard to an adjacent office and give the file to them. Wait again to be called
out where they will ask a few questions about why you want the extension, take
a photograph and scan fingerprints. After all this you will receive yet another
receipt and asked to return the following day to collect your completed
passport. This part took 6 hour but it will vary depending on how busy the
office is on the day.
13.
Day 3) return to the office and hand
in your receipt at the extension office. The guy will eventually present you
with your file and the completed passport.
14.
Oh yeah don’t expect any order. You may wait
hours and some people will take a lot less. That’s the luck of the draw.
It is a frustrating process and to be honest arriving early doesn’t always pay off as everyone tries it thinking it will be quicker and it ultimately results in large queue. In the morning most of the staff seemed to spend their time dicking about hitting each other with magazines and playing candy crush but don’t get too pissed off its just the way it is.
The staff seem to buck their ideas up at around 13:00 after their lunch break as they have to process everyone before the day ends. We saw a guy roll in at 12:45 and he reached the same stage we were at within the hour. It had taken us six hours.
I hope this helps you enjoy the horrors of the immigration office.
It is a frustrating process and to be honest arriving early doesn’t always pay off as everyone tries it thinking it will be quicker and it ultimately results in large queue. In the morning most of the staff seemed to spend their time dicking about hitting each other with magazines and playing candy crush but don’t get too pissed off its just the way it is.
The staff seem to buck their ideas up at around 13:00 after their lunch break as they have to process everyone before the day ends. We saw a guy roll in at 12:45 and he reached the same stage we were at within the hour. It had taken us six hours.
I hope this helps you enjoy the horrors of the immigration office.
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