Yogjakarta, or short Yogja, couldn´t be more contrary to Jakarta than mice to elephants. The highrise buildings look like regular multifamily residences, the streets not as wide as a football field, the trees greener - and even more trees! It feels like walking trough a small village, although inhabiting more than one million souls.
The so called Special Region of Yogjakarta is currently governed by his majesty Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
Still tons of scooters rule the streets of this city, the heartpiece of Javanese fine art, culture, concerts, batic and poetry. I was amazed at the diversity of small green side streets, bike shops, art and craft stores and especially, the "Jalur Alternatif Sepeda" - a backroad for cycling commuters. Something that would be regarded as very western. And a good way of encouraging more people to use pedalpowered vehicles, the easiest way of decreasing the high air polution.
One could easily say, Yogja is a lot cleaner than Jakarta - I even discovered public rubbish bins, seperated into organic and anorganic waste. I smiled to myself.
Many tourists mainly visit Yogja for the temples - something that I refused to do, as foreign visitors have to pay an equal of twenty US dollars or fifteen Euros to enter the famed Borobudur temple. Domestic visitors, on the other hand have to pay an equal of four US dollars or three Euros.
This rip-off made me feel kind of discriminated, although it is a common sales method for sights, national parks and admission charges. Maybe I´ll visit Borobudur the next time I come to Indonesia.
Similar to me, many tourist flock the main Maliboro street, epicenter of souvenir commerce, food courts and traditional carnivals. The wide open avenue is seamed with hundreds of batic shops, trishaw and horse cart operators try to make a living, as well as small wheeled snack bars, selling bakso soup, mie goreng and a lot of other different dishes.
I spent three days - knowing that I would return in a few weeks to look at the sights I missed the first time.
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