Java may not be on most people’s list to visit when travelling with children, but it’s second largest city, Yogjakarta (Jogja as it is known for ease) was a pleasant surprise. We had originally used it as a base to travel between Bali and Singapore and see some where completely new as we had a week to kill before family came out to visit us, but we had a brilliant time.
We split our week between two areas, Borobudur and Jogja city itself where we day tripped around. AirAsia fly into and out of Jogja from several main tourist destinations, and then it is around 1 hour in a taxi up to Borobudur temple. Borobudur is probably one of the main reasons to visit this area of Java and it is a wonderful temple to visit with children.
For great accommodation walking distance from the temple, stay at Cempaka Villa II which is cheap and cheerful but with the most welcoming and informative hosts. You can buy your tickets for Borobudur here (which you should do) and you can then make your way in yourself, or a guide will collect you for the sunrise tour. For sunset, you can go in around 2 hours before closing time and you will just about catch sunset before they turf you out for all the guests who paid a small fortune for sunset. Just play ignorant to the security guards and look as if you are leaving VERY slowly! For the sunrise tour you do need to pay a bit more for the 4am start and enter with a guide. We split up and opted for both one of us taking the evening and the other the morning, mainly due to our daughter being ill and we didn’t fancy getting a 7 month old up at 4am!
The temple is amazing and it is easy to understand why so many people flock here, although it wasn’t completely overrun with tourists. There are 9 levels of carved stone walls and hundreds of stupas looking out over the forests and volcanoes. Once the main crowds had gone and the evening call to prayer echoed around, there was definitely a magical feel. There were also very few westerners there, a general trait of Jogja so be prepared for a bit of staring and requests for photos. As well as the temple itself, the park grounds surrounding it are also beautiful and a worthy wander around!
The other main site to visit in Borobudur is Bukit Rhema, aka the Chicken Church – although it is supposed to be a dove, it definitely closer resembles a hen! It has has 7 storeys (floor), each floor has a different story to tell, including the Spiritual Journey, the Meaning of Prayer, God’s Goodness, Miracle and Local Wisdom. All of this is set in interconnected paintings and art work. It’s one of the most surreal places I have ever been to, but well worth the trip and a exploring the inner rooms is great fun – we even had Auld Lang Syne playing to us in July! You get a taxi to the entrance and then it is a 20 minute walk up a steep hill – or wait for the Chicken Church jeep to take you up as we did. There is a small cafe as well, and you get great views climbing right up the the dove’s crown or beak!
After our 2 nights in Borobudur, we headed to the city centre for 5 nights at the Alana Hotel, selected mainly for the pool and the location for the city centre is brilliant.
The city is built around one central square, Alun Alun Utara which is a large grassy square, surrounded by eateries and pop up food stalls, with 2 large trees in the middle. Families gather here each evening to enjoy time together, eat and fly kites and blow bubbles – it really is quite magical and don’t be put off by the surreal flashing rickshaws and cars that drive around the perimeter. Apparently being able to walk through the centre of the two banyan trees blindfolded brings good fortune!
This central meeting hangout is surrounded by the streets of inner Jogja, and you’ll notice there are no skyscrapers and you can spend hours exploring the tiny alley ways, stumbling over temples, batiks and art work along the way. There are a few sites worth making a definite beeline for including Taman Sari and the Kraton.
Just getting lost in the maze of local streets is part of the magic of Jogja – and be sure to enjoy some rides around in the local reverse-rickshaws, either moped or 80-year-old-man powered.
Outside of Jogja inner city, there are several days trips worth doing. The first and top recommendation is to visit the 9th century Prambanan Temple, around 1 hour away. This place is huge and the photos don’t do it justice at all. Again, there are very few westerners so lots of requests for photos and selfies which started to irritate our daughter, but the gardens and the temples themselves are majestic.
The second day comes with full disclosure that this was one of those days on our travels that didn’t quite click! They do exist! We decided to head north to Merapi volcano with promises of a theme park for Alicia to try and offer everyone something. We endured 2 hours of horrendous traffic to then arrive at the Lost World Castle. At the time of visiting there were still parts under construction, power tols left in the middle of the play areas, random holes with no safety barriers, and a weird mix of dinosaurs, 3-d art, teepees and a hobbit house garden with teletubbies! It was weird, but thankfully very cheap and actually we laughed it off and Alicia enjoyed herself exploring and climbing on the various areas!
The one thing we all did enjoy at Merapi was the make shift house come museum which has artefacts from the last eruption in 2010.
