Yogyakarta is a huge improvement over Jakarta, but not of that much interest on its own. The landscape of the city is dominated by Mount Merapi, an active volcano that tends to erupt now and then (no such luck this time). The volcano is climbable both independently and as a part of a tour, but due to periodic rains we gave it a miss. What makes Yogyakarta worth a visit are nearby temples of Borobudur and Parabanam. Both are lovely, but Borobudur is truly majestic (as featured in the movie Baraka). Otherwise, the city is full of dubious sights, tourist shops, restaurants and travel agencies. It feels right for a little while, but gets tiring very soon. Two full days there and we were so ready to continue the journey.
Horse-cart is one of the modes of transportation in Yogyakarta. Bumpy, expensive and slow. Hardly recommended.
Each bus-stop has dedicated staff selling tickets, guiding passengers and just hanging out. This is what you get when you have vast human resources.
Eating Street food on Jalan Malioboro.
A bicycle lady selling mysterious drinks.
A cute caged owl in the bird market of Yogyakarta
And some geckos too
Asia weirdness: color dyed chicks. I have no idea why.
Borobudur temple in all its glory.
Stupas on top of Borobudur
Each stupa contains a statue of Buddha
Headless buddhas. There are a lot of them.
Locals chilling (sleeping) in the temple.
Rainy Parabanam temple
We made it to Parabanam just before the closing and it was heavily raining too, but on a positive side there were few tourists. I shudder to think what it's like on a good day.