A new friend from Spain went with me....Ana....So we arrived Friday night and went to our hotel in Prambanan....great we were there....everywhere there in the area was closed for dinner and even drinks, but yes our room had a mini fridge!!!!! Yay....we drank all the Bintang (beer), chatted a lot and had a good time.....we slept till 10 the next morning and woke up soooo refreshed....we got dressed (in a very slow pace) and headed out for the day....1st stop lunch and shopping in Yogya.....we were warned that the ash showers had hit Yogya, so we asked to borrow some umbrellas from the hotel to make sure we did not get covered....so we head to Yogya and as we go further and further, more ash was on the ground.....you could see it blowing in the wind....people were selling masks on the side of the road so we bought a couple from the taxi on the way. We finally made it to our location, had some lunch and began our shopping adventure....I should mention that Yogya has many artistic items to buy (BATIK!!!!).....we start walking and find many cool things to buy (some Christmas shopping also...hehehehe). At one of the shops we went to, they recommended us a place to go to see Batik being made. Oh my....I was in trouble......
We start walking down this street and a man starts walking with us...super nice...just wanting to chat....he finally asked us where we were going and he knew and said he would show us exactly where....it was very funny chatting with this man, but very cool also....people are soooo nice in Yogya!!!! Finally we arrive at the Yogya Artist Center and go in....we were soooo in trouble!!!!! The batik was amazing!!!!!! Soooo beautiful.....we watched for a bit the batik being made and then started looking around.....let's just say we bought some batik!!!!!!
So we finish with the batik and the guys say "hey...have you ever seen puppets" (I should mention that they do puppets of the legends here and they are the characters from the Ramayana - Love Store).....well we said no, but we need to go soon as we promised to meet a taxi so we could go to a temple....they said "no problem....we will go by motorbike and then we can drop you back where you will meet your taxi)....so off we went....jumped on the back of 2 motorbikes with all of our purchases and headed off into the really authentic part of Yogya...it was AMAZING!!!!! Sooooo fun!!!!! Everyone was waving at us and soooo happy to see us yelling hello!!!! We arrive at a small home where a guy was making beautiful puppets out of buffalo skin...they were amazing!!!! I had no intention of buying any, but did of course!!!!! They were sooo nice and we chatted a little and he explained the characters and then we were off again...back on the bikes.......
We got our taxi and headed to Prambanan....a Hindu temple in the area....I had seen this one from a distance before, but never entered....we arrived and went in....it was getting very dark....we were a bit dirty with the flying ash and the motorbike ride, so I was talking about how much I would love to have a "BIG SHOWER".....never ask for something you think you want but don't really want right then when you are in the temple of Shiva!!!!! Shiva must have heard me or something because it immediately started pouring rain!!!!! OH MY!!!!! We were walking to dinner from there, so off we go...trying to beat the rain, but it just got harder and harder....we were DRENCHED!!!!!!! NOTHING WAS DRY!!!!!! We arrived to the restaurant looking like wet dogs....everyone was staring at us like what the hell were they doing to get sooo wet!!!!!! It was soooo funny!!!!!! We had dinner, the rain subsided and then we headed out to see the Ramayana Ballet....it was very interesting, but I think it would have been very helpful to read up on the story before as I was a little lost at some points....it was nice though!!!!!
So it was the end of the shw and we were still drenched!!!!! We headed back to the hotel we had stayed in to pick up our luggage, changed our clothes, and then headed to our hotel next to Borobudur!!!! We arrived to a very amazing hotel that was just awesome!!!!!! We were dead so we just had a hot shower and headed to bed......
The next day we got up, had breakfast and headed out to the temple....Borobudur....we arrived to buy our tickets and they told us that we could only go to the 1st level because they were still cleaning the ash from the 1st eruption (wind had shifted since then so no more ash)....we were disappointed, but still went in....we got to the temple and it was amazing....massive....soooo detailed!!!!!! We started weaving our way in and arround the 1st level....after a bit of time, we discovered that they had opened the rest of the temple to go to the top!!!!! Great!!!!!! We went up and this in my opinion is where the true beauty of the temple lies....the temple is gorgeous, but the surroundings are absolutely amazing!!!!!! Soooo beautiful!!!!!! We sat at the top for about 1 hour just looking around....oh....the funny part was all the locals coming to ask to take photos of us....yes of us.....and for us to take photos of them....entire families.....it was hysterical and soooo funny....so we talked with them and laughed a lot....it was great!!!!!
We finish the vacation with an amazing Javanese massage!!!! It was a great massage....just what I needed to finish the vacation, but little did I know the adventure was not quite done....we heard that all the flights on the airline I was taking had decided to move the flights to leave from another city 1.5 hours from Yogya.....Solo...so I was to go to Yogya and check in and then take a bus to Solo and then take my flight....sounds simple in theory, but it was CHAOS!!!!!! I arrived and checked in and they put me on an earlier flight....I did not understand...there was no way I was making that one if I had to go to Solo.....what they had done though was to put everyone on a flight as they arrived and of course they were all delayed....finally I got on the bus, sat on a bus for more than 1.5 hours.....I arrived in Solo....I thought, ok...almost done...hahahaha.....of course when you are in this type of situation in a much less touristic area there are some difficulties...no english.....I had no clue what was going on....Thank goodness I knew some numbers in Bahasa Indonesia as I figured out what flight they were on and was able to recognize when they called for my flight.....I waited there though for another 1.5 hours, oh and I figured out why we were delayed again....we had an ash/rain mix...guess it was not such a good idea to move the flights....hmmmm.....finally I was on my way and arrived at home around 11:30 when I should have arrived at 8 pm....it was an adventure!!!!
It was a great adventure and will keep a special place in my heart!!!!! I guess all in all it was not too delayed considering the conditions.....I for sure will go back (of course when Merapi settles a little)!!!!!!!!
