Goa Jomblang

We arranged for a driver to take us to Goa Jomblang, a vertical cave in Semanu, about 2 hours by car from Yogyakarta.

Things to know:

• The entrance fee includes lunch after you return from the cave, guides, as well as all the equipment needed to safely get in and out of the cave. Make sure to bring enough cash.
• You need to wear boots to go into the cave, which are supplied, but a little bit smelly. Bring long socks. The helmets are clean and no problem to wear.
• Most importantly, there is a limit of 25 visitors per day.
• Be at the cave no later than 10am.
• It's quite damp and warm in the cave. Bring drinking water.
• This tour involves walking on and climbing across muddy cave floor and steep slopes into and within the cave. We had a lot of fun, but this is not for everyone. 

Arrival and waiting for the tour to begin 

Picking out boots

The cave is basically a giant sinkhole, 50 meters across. The edges and walls are overgrown with dense forest.

Jomblang cave

Pairs of visitors rappel into the cave from the edge. This is probably the most adrenaline-producing part of the trip...

At the bottom of the cave awaits dense, tropical forest.

The group descends into the connecting cave to make our way through 300 meters of darkness to the main attraction. The guides have lights, and there are some stationary lights in the darkest section.

Luweng Grubug awaits at the end of the tunnel. An opening in the cave ceiling allows light to come into the cave and produce the most heavenly effect.

We spent over an hour here, taking photos, rest, and just enjoy the view.

When it was time to return, it was very nice to see the green forest in Goa Jomblang again.

Yogyakarta behind the scenes

Well, after our return from Pramdanan, Tamansari, the swimming pool of the first sultan, was already closed. However, a nice lady showed us a spot from where you can take a look over the walls. Quite neat.

She also showed us into the shop of a local Batik artist, which we admired, and then left with friendly grunts. The village area in the old palace compound is made up from many small, but very cute houses, and there is a super-friendly vibe in the neighborhood.

We wanted to visit the bird market next, but learned that the map we used was outdated, and the market had moved. Nevertheless, a man from the neighborhood showed us the old water castle, which is no longer surrounded by water, but rather by houses.

The former main hall of the Water Castle

View to the West from the top of the Water Castle

We were shown the connecting tunnel that allowed the sultan to go from his residence and office in the water castle to Tamansari, where his concubines lived.

This tunnel went straight below the moat of the water castle.

Our neighborhood guide wanted to take us to the same we already had been to see Tamansari, so we skipped that part of the walk,  went by the original main entrance to Tamansari, and returned to the open space in front of the water castle.

Since it was still early, we headed over to Sosrowijayan street, which is supposed to be nicely illuminated at night, but didn't really excite us. Food at a nearby restaurant was good, though.
We took a becak (muscle-powered, three-wheeled bike) back to Prawirotaman, and finished the day with Italian ice cream at Il Tempo Del Gelato.

Prambanan and the hidden temples tour

Prambanan temple as seen from the north

Today we took ViaVia's "Prambanan and hidden temples" tour. We started the tour with a drive through rice fields, small side-streets, and tiny villages on the way to the Ijo hindu temple.

Our guide Vita was a fountain of knowledge and more than happy to tell us about the symbolisms of Hinduism, Buddhism, even Animism as practiced in Java, as well as lots of background about life in Indonesia in general, and Yogyakarta in particular.

Loaded up with knowledge we continued to Barong temple for a short photo stop.

We continued to Sojiwan temple where Vita taught us more about Buddhism's symbolism, numerology, and things we didn't quite notice while we were at Borobodur, e.g why are the holes in the stupas on one level diamond-shaped, while on the next higher level they are square? And there are no holes in the stupa at the top.

Next up was Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. Vita and our driver stayed behind while we explored the various temples located in the complex.

The reliefs all around the temples are impressive, as is the sheer size of the buildings.

Taking photos took patience and some luck, as the sun was either hiding behind clouds or creating very strong contrasts that made it hard on the camera sensor. Nevertheless, Tatjana prevailed.

We walked to the far end of the temple complex to see the Sewu temple, also known as the site of the thousand temples, a name which originates from the local legend of Roro Jonggrang.

While Sewu is not quite as big as Prambanan, the solitude and relative lack of people made up for it.

Finally, we met our guide at the exit and headed back to Yogyakarta, for some yummy cake and coffee at the ViaVia cafe. This was an excellent tour and heartily recommended to anyone traveling to the region.

Java Trains

While Yogyakarta has regular train service, I only managed to take a photo of a switcher type engine in the front yard at Benteng Vredeburg. Most trains here run on cape gauge, 1067mm.

Borobodur

After traveling to Yogyakarta yesterday, today we did the sunrise tour at Borobodur.

On the upper three levels of this massive structure are bell-shaped stupas housing Buddhas.

A few of them are open, like this Buddha looking west.

The best part of the sunrise tour is to climb the temple in darkness, wait for the sunrise, and see how the temple materializes from darkness as the sun comes over the horizon.

Photography is ridiculously hard here. Lots of people and very difficult light conditions.

As the sun came out from behind the clouds and rose higher our cameras started to cooperate more.

On the lower levels of the temple are exquisite stone carvings.

Finally, here's a shot to give an idea of the size of the monument. The stupas are at the very top ...