 #Day 1 We arrived Adisutjipto International Airport around noon. What greeted us was the usual heat and humidity of a typical equatorial climate. Feels like home. Our hotel logistics were quite in favor of the airport itself but not so for the rest of the attractions. So we needed to start quite early in the morning to start our day. Which was a bummer. PRAMBANAN TEMPLE AKA CANDI PRAMBANAN After settling our documents with immigration we headed out to our hotel to unpack and freshen up before heading out to grab a bite to eat and straight to Prambanan Temple for the Sunset View. Prambanan was 15 - 30 minutes from our hotel so it was the safest bet to catch the sunset view. It was breathtaking! We managed to get local price tickets for this Temple though so we saved a lot on this. There is a huge difference in price tickets between locals and foreigners. Also there is also a good variation in price for student card holders as well. There might be changes in the price tickets from time to time so i wont disclose the exact prices. However I will disclose ticket prices from cheapest to expensive.
A little fact and tip for Prambanan Temple:
MALIOBORO STREET After Prambanan we headed out to Malioboro Street to check the place out and if we were lucky; get some shopping out of it. To be honest, Malioboro was my least favorite of our excursions during the trip. It was hot, sticky, humid, crowded, under construction (no safety at all) and the products sold was not at all to my taste. I was counting the minutes to when we all could go back to the hotel. But my curiosity got the better of me and I lead the group to explore longer. Yes, i was the one dragging the group along to explore more when I was also the one who wanted to go home badly. Surprisingly we went there twice during the trip - because our souvenirs wasn't enough. hah. But still; please go to Malioboro. To each their own. You may even like it despite what i said. "You do not have the right to say a place is not worth it; when you have never been to, or step foot at the actual place" is what I usually say to all my friends. But thanks to the trip to Malioboro, I got a taste of Mcdonald's Indonesia and I declare that was the only best thing that happen to us that night. *maybe i exaggerated a little bit; but that was how I felt*  Jalan Malioboro - Airport - Prambanan Temple #Day 2 MERAPI JEEP TOUR We woke up early for this trip thinking that maybe we could avoid the hot sun (the jeeps do not have a covering - so stock up on your sunblock girls!) We did manage to arrive early and Merapi was so cooling in the morning we decided to have a light breakfast at the base and make our way to the Jeep Tour center. Little did we know it would take us more than 2 hours to complete the tour. So yes it got hot! But there were many stops so we manage to get out of the sun from time to time There are a few tour ranging from IDR 200k to IDR 500k, all depending on the length of tour time and stops you want to make. There is also an option for a Sunrise Viewing - this cost more which wasn't in our budget plus we would need to turn up early to actually catch the sunrise. This was a no for us as well because we stayed in town, while Merapi was in the outskirts. Too much effort for a holiday (VERY FAR OKAY?) HUTAN PINUS AKA PINE FOREST Next stop is Hutan Pinus aka Pine Forest. Just so you know, they are a few to choose from. We opted for the one in Daerah Mangunan, which is also known as Hutan Pinus Imogiri by the locals, aside from it other well known name; Hutan Pinus Mangunan because it was on our way, to safe more time on the road. We were driving on our own so we were cautious to get back to town before it gets too dark. (The roads are inclined, windy and lacks proper lighting but surprisingly ALMOST pot holes free!) The pine forest was driven by and for tourist. It was breathtaking, the air cool and fresh to breath in, a change from the Merapi Jeep tour. Literally a breath of fresh air. Though there isn't much to do here, i looked forward to this place because it was a chance for solitude but not totally alone. We rented hammocks and stayed in for a few minutes; just to relax. I wasn't sure about the rest but i had my short time alone - lying in the hammock, looking up towards the slow, swaying, branches of the pine trees. For a while i was contented and i'd like to think i got back in touch with nature. If you know me in person; I NEED to be in nature from time to time to recharge. And for a while i did.   #Day 3  PANTAI TIMANG - PANTAI JOGAN - PANTAI WEDIOMBO We were suppose to be doing Kalisuci cave tubing and goa jomblang today. We specifically choose there two places because it was mentioned online; that not a lot of tourist go here and there were less risks of crowd. WRONG When we arrived Kalisuci, we were greeted with a huge crowd (they came in buses some more okay) and was told today's session were fully booked. Seeing that we were bummed, one of the employees were nice enough to help us out about our next item on our itinerary which was, Goa Jomblang and offered to lead us to the place and made a call. We were again unlucky. Hence, we decided to redirect our trip towards Pantai Timang. It was the best choice we made throughout the whole trip. Pictures here turnt out to be the best! For the rest of the day we decided to cross of all beached in our list and this was the day i regretted not using sports sunblock aside form my usual everyday sunblock. My shoulder were burnt red and it hurt every time in contact of anything. fml But asides that, pictures today were some of the best. I personally do not recommend Pantai Jogan and Pantai Wediombo cause there isn't anything there except for a plain looking old beach. But the sunset in Wediombo was LOVELY! Pantai Jogan promises a majestic waterfall - but when we arrived, what we saw was puny looking water spout what claims to be the "waterfall". I think we went during the dry season so there wasn't much water for the waterfall to actually make it look like a waterfall. hah As of Pantai Wediombo, it promises of natural pool overlooking the sea made from rock formations. However what greeted us was just a normal beach. A little bit dirty, full of people. Not much to do here. it's still alright for a quick photo-taking session. The good thing is there are lots of eateries by the beach, so you can have lunch/dinner/tea/snack with a pretty view.  Sunset in Pantai Wediombo #Day 4 BOROBUDUR TEMPLE We made a mistake of visiting Borobudur in the middle of the day. IT WAS SCORCHING HOT! glad i brought my cap. PLEASE LATHER GENEROUS AMOUNT OF SUNBLOCK ON YOU OKAY? The temple was beautiful but the sun distracted my concentration and i cant enjoy the beauty of it all with the heat and also the crowd. I cannot wait to get down and find shade. So please DO NOT GO TO BOROBUDUR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY LIKE WE DID. A little breakdown about Borobudur for you: Largest Buddhist Monument In The Entire World. OMG The individual statues would have all been each carved from a single stone block and each statue can weigh as much as 200kg. Much of the beheading of the images probably occurred during the period after Borobudur’s rediscovery when the monument was poorly guarded and thieves and looters had free rein to steal the sacred Buddha heads and sell them on the black market for profit. Heads from these statues have also ended up in western museums like the British museum in London and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. KALISUCI CAVE TUBING Need extra pair of clothes for this! you definitely will get wet! i mean its basically getting a bath. lol All in all cave tubing was a blast! I just hoped it lasted longer. Cover your feet if possible - rocks in he area quite sharp. Safety briefing will be done prior. We went in quite late so we were the only group they had to entertain which was great actually. We had the place all to ourselves. The guide were funny, friendly and made sure we GOT WET. We were all tired from the morning heat in Borobudur so we were not as enthusiastic to get into the water. But the guides made sure we had fun by cracking up jokes and splashing water on us to lighten up the mood *we did not made it to Goa Jomblang this trip due to limited time and poor planning. We were told that the last customer they took in is at 11 am. Anyone who comes after 11am will be dismissed and told to come the next day. Since it was our last day in Jogja, we were forced to miss it entirely. I was somewhat disappointing but it can't be helped.*  FOOD Budget Breakdown (excluding tips)Food - IDR 200K Prambanan - IDR 75k Merapi Jeep Tour - IDR350k Kalisuci Cavetubing - IDR75k ( includes a bowl of Indo Mie for a snack after) Car Rental and Gas - IDR340k Hotel - IDR430k Borobudur - IDR325k Pantai Timang - IDR 15k (Motorcycle) + IDR100K (suspension Bridge) Hutan Pinus - IDR20K (Hammock) + IDR2.5K (Entrance) There wasn't any departure tax at the time but be sure to check before flying in and out of Yogyakarta just in case they decided to implement it. Tips & Suggesstions
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