Hours later, the afternoon prayers of our Moslem brothers
echoed from the nearby Mosque, it’s my signal to get off of my bed and start exploring
the city. As I walk outside of my hostel, I saw kids playing football at the
open lot, men are playing chess by the sidewalk and most of the women I saw are
busy with their batiks. When I reached the main road I saw a line of souvenir
shops selling everything, from shirts to key chains, the view reminds me of Khao San Road in
Bangkok. Aside from the line of souvenir shops, what caught my attention is the
Becaks parked along the side of the streets.
Becaks are their version of “Padyak” here in the Philippines;
they can pass as a Rickshaw, tuktuk or tricycle as well. This is the most
popular way to explore Yogyakarta if you’re in a budget, it can get you to your
destination faster than the buses, and affordable than the taxis. I hired one
and asked the driver if he can tour me around the city; we agreed for 100,000 rupiah
or roughly 480 php.
Destination: Short
tour of the city
Water
Castle
One Big Art Gallery
The tour of the city is slow yet enjoyable, almost every
corner of the streets has art work, in the form of graffiti, a statue or a relief.
There are also a huge number of photography enthusiasts in every corner and
they look serious in building their crafts and skills (compared to some
Filipinos who use their dslr cameras like it’s a P&S).
Near the Bank of Indonesian Building stands a huge Red statue
depicting the lower extremities of a human. Not sure what the name of this statue
or what is behind the idea of creating it and even who made it; one thing is
certain though, it will really caught your attention.
Along the streets of city are the graffiti of all sorts, it’s
either their favorite cartoon characters/caricature or something related to
their culture. Even the “esquinitas” have a line of graffiti.
Indonesia is famous for their Batik art work, and a number
of houses turned batik shops can be found in Krayton. Prices range from
100,000-350,000 rupiah, very affordable but the art works are world class. Since
I don’t have enough cash for souvenirs, I ended up buying some Batik postcards
instead of the big batik art works.
I actually stayed for almost 2 hours in one house talking to
the owner/artist of a Batik Art Work. He showed me the process of creating Batik,
from sketching the design, waxing and eventually applying the batik. I enjoyed
that conversation with Akim, (owner/artist), aside from Batik; we talked about
how the Philippines and Indonesia are the same and how tourism helps Yogyakarta’s
economy.
The city is like one big art gallery, I’m sure there are a
lot of art works I haven’t seen yet but the few things that I saw already made
a statement. They are a group of artists and art loving people; they know how
to respect each other’s creativity.
Riding a becak to explore the city is one of the best parts
of my Yogyakarta trip. It was my “me time”, I got to enjoy the sights, absorbed
the artsy vibe of the city and somewhat got a connection with one of the locals
and a great sunset to cap the day. I wanted to include my Water Castle story in
this blog but I decided to put it on a separate post instead.
Yogyakarta Series:
Yogyakarta: Random Stories
Exploring the city on a Becak
Yogyakarta: Water Castle (Tamansari)
One Big Candi: Borobudur Temple
Heart Breaker: The Prambanan Temple Love Story
7 comments:
it's nice to have those "me time" once in a while. the artworks looks nice and spending hours there. wow.
first time to see this side of yogya.
this is a nice post jerome! makes me want to explore the place too...
when i saw your post abt 'batik' naalala ko agad yung binili kong cool na patterns na damit para sa lola ko na "batik" daw sabi nung nagtitinda na muslim. (i didn't know it was called batik back then). i got it for 300, and the quality of the cloth was really good.
i must say, becak is worthy of visiting too.
ayos ng perspective nito jerome.
the last photo made me remember Cambodia, ganda talaga - very calming sa mata and napapatulala ka.
Parang masaya ngang pumunta dyan alone at magmuni-muni while riding sa Becak tapos maglakad along the art works then catch the sunset. Hay... pwede magteleport? hehe nice post Jerome :D
Lahvet "esquinitas". Sosyal basahin. Wahaha.
I would really love to go to Yogyakarta now because of all the art that can be found there. I might even set a separate budget now just to buy a painting so thanks for sharing that info! And I'm still in awe by the photo you took of the gallery na may sunlight peeking through. Ganda talaga!
Hope you post yor budget itinerary for this trip! :D
I could not imagine riding a becak or a padyak while touring manila...hehe. Nice story!
@dong ho thanks, once in a while we really need a "me time" hehe. I never expected Yogya will be like this.
@by mas mura ang batik sa Yogya. and the vendors will give you idea how to check if they are genuine batik or not...hehe
@ed thanks! ang ganda lang ng sunset parang milky hehehe
@mica teleport na tayo mica. thanks!
@robbie hahaha 'cause alleys don't sound good to me nyahahha...i added the photo of the art gallery with strikes of afternoon sun hahaha. sure add ko yung budget sa mga susunod na post
@pinoy explorer hahaha lagot paktay tayo kung sa Manila yan ehehe
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