Sightseeing in Indonesia: One day in Yogyakarta

Inside Kraton palace

After having spent an afternoon in Jakarta Yuma and I traveled by train to our second destination in Indonesia: Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is a city rich in history; this is where you find the royal palace, and in the short period between 1945-1949 Yogyakarta was even the capital of Indonesia.

We spent a couple of days in this city, which we found to be very cheap, easy to get around in and not to mention an interesting spot for sightseeing.

 Browse places to stay in Jakarta on Agoda.com. Free cancellation.

Me sitting in the becak with the driver's hat on

To get around in the city we payed a becak-driver a set price for him to take us around the city for one day, and the first place he took us to was the palace, which was built in 1755 and goes under the name Kraton. This palace is where you, if you are lucky, can get to see the Sultan and his family. But even if you aren't, there are still some other interesting things to see here, so don't worry..

One of the things you can experience here, is a traditional Javanese puppet show with puppets made of buffalo skin.. Along with the puppets there were people playing different types of instruments, and a story-teller who probably told an interesting story which we unfortunately couldn't understand since it was all in Indonesian.

Yuma and a big statue

One of the main rooms of the palace

A rather cheap-looking statue.. Haha..

The palace is also a museum, with displays of traditional clothing.

A funny-looking face (or three..?)

After our trip to the palace our driver showed us around to some of the local souvenir shops in the area. First he took us to a place where we could see how they make the traditional puppets which are used in puppet shows like the one we saw in the palace.

A guy painting a leather puppet

This is how the puppet shows looks like

The next place was a store that sells pictures made with traditionally Javanese batik. Batik is a special technique of dyeing clothing which is designated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Yuma negotiating to buy a batik picture.

..And the picture Yuma bought.

In the evening we went to check out the main street Maloboro, where we had dinner at a street restaurant. I can promise you that it cannot get much cheaper than this.. 

Probably the cheapest meal we had during the trip

Local street restaurant, try it if you dare;)

In the evening when we left for our hotel we passed by the big square right by the palace, and for some reason there was a light parade there.. We asked some local guy if there was a festival going on, and he told us that yes, it was a festival. We tried to ask him what kind of festival it was, but his English wasn't good enough to answer. We asked another guy about the same questions, and he told us that they were having this light parade every (?!) day.. I'm not to certain if it is true or not though, it sounded a bit strange.. Haha..

Light parade in Yogyakarta

As a final note: If you are planning to visit Indonesia in the future, then Yogyakarta is perhaps the place we visited that I would recommend the most so far on our trip. We had a really good time here, and besides just the city itself you also find the famous temples Prambanan and Borobudur just outside the city too. Further, if you are looking for a cheap hostel with good service you should check out Metro Guest House; they have cheap private rooms and a big pool in the backyard.

Entrance to metro hotel

Related blogposts

• All blogposts from Indonesia
• Sightseeing in Indonesia: Borobudur and Prambanan Temple
• Sightseeing in Indonesia: Jakarta to Yogyakarta by Train
• Sightseeing in Indonesia: One day in Yogyakarta
• Sightseeing in Yogyakarta: The Taman Sari Water Castle
• Sightseeing in Bali: Daytrip to Ubud & Don Antonio Blanco's Museum
• Label: South-East Asia Backpacking Trip 2012

Recommended Hotels in Yogyakarta

 More Yogyakarta hotels

Melia Purosani Hotel Yogyakarta

Nibenia Homestay Yogyakarta

Hotel Tentrem Yogyakarta

Eastparc Hotel Yogyakarta

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.