Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta offers the traveller or visitor a whole host of interesting and beautiful sights as well as a very high standard of relaxing tropical living, not to mention the shopping. This Yogyakarta Travel Guide will take you through an overview and general broad perspective of what Yogyakarta can offer you. Once ruled by the Sultanate from an ancient dynasty, Yogyakarta is full of traditional heritage. You can sample the interesting food on low tables sat upon cushions, this sometimes sweet and Asian style is incredibly Moorish and offers such delicacies as bakpia cookies, wingko babat and enting-enthin kacang. Reaching Yogyakarta is easy especially with advice from the Yogyakarta Travel Guide, simply fly from Bali, Jakarta, Bandung or take the land route, both of these options are very cheap with of course the land option being incredibly cheap. There are also travel agent route including different forms of transport reaching your chosen location. Getting around the city and seeing the colonial sights as well as the modern shopping areas and the traditional markets is very easy indeed. There are excellent buses as well as motor bike and car hire and the ever popular cycle hire. There are also horse drawn carts, taxis and the traditional becak pedicabs and as well as pedestrianised areas.

Dining in Yogya offers some of the best Indonesian food around as well as the food from many other areas of the country. There is also an ever growing international fare offering incredible top level dining from around the world. It is definitely worth spending some time to sample the local delicacies and the local people will point you in the direction of the best vendors. Watch out of cabe rawit which is the spiciest chilli in Indonesia and is found in the local chilli sauce known as sambal. When looking for souvenirs in Yogyakarta you will find that there are more and more air conditioned boutique stores and shopping malls offering international shopping as well as presenting locally made crafts. It is still well worth while to look around the local markets which as well as being the social centre of the community, also offer you the chance to take part in the game of bartering and pick up the same and more interesting items for a much lower price.

Malioboro Street is another incredible place to shop where bargaining is definitely important and Kota Gede offers fine silverware which is handmade in the area. Kasongan is the place for those interested in pottery and there are plenty of other places to check out. There is plenty of accommodation from the top end to the most budget; Yogyakarta is known for its colonial living hotels and villas located around the colonial plantations and in and around the city. If you only have a small amount of time and find you are interested in many of the sights then a tour is a good way to see the main attractions in an efficient time, Mt Bromo, Borobudur, the markets and colonial areas are included in the standard tours.