How To Spend 3 Weeks To Enjoy The Best Time In Your Life In Indonesia

Stop 2 – Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Visited 25-29 November 2022.

After 2 days of enjoying Jakarta’s diversity, I now depart for Yogyakarta, toward the center of Java Island, on an 8-hour executive train ride. Lush green paddy fields rushed by, and flimsy young shoots in flooded ponds took their time to stand tall. Some fields were expansive, others terraced, but each plot was uniquely landscaped. Every inch of the land is utilized to beautify and nourish the house it surrounds.

Central Java is mouth-watering. I hired a car to take me to Borobudur and Prambanan. I started off at 9 am, and about 1.5 hours later I was in Borobudur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a magnificent 9th century Buddhist temple, one of the largest and most impressive Buddhist monuments in the world. That it is so well preserved in a Muslim-majority country is extraordinary.

From Borobudur, I arrived at Prambanan Temples one and a half hours later. This time, it was a Hindu temple complex. Built in the 9th century, Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. The complex features three main temples dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, adorned with relief panels depicting ancient Indian epics. A few structures stood like huge cones on dirt ground. My eyes raised in marvel while my jaw dropped. It was awe-inspiring.

Another new day with much in store, but I was not ready when woken by loud music that started at 6 am! Who played and allowed to play music at the top of the sound at this early hour?  Sounds abounded – gongs and bells in traditional Javanese music. They love their music; it is a music-crazy country. 

After shaking off my sleepiness, I rode in a motorized trishaw to visit Kraton Palace, Fort Vredeburg Museum, a former Dutch colonial fort and Taman Sari Water Castle. The castle, built in the mid-18th century with a unique blend of Javanese and European architectural styles, consisted of a large artificial lake, a bathing complex, a complex of pavilions and pools, and a smaller lake.

The next day, I caught the executive train to Probolinggo, then joined a few others in a minibus to Camoro Lawang, the closest village, to see Mount Bromo. I rode pillion on a motorbike, starting around 7am, to near Mount Bromo, then teased death by climbing to the crater of this active volcano. I was standing on The Pacific Ring of Fire and imagined my shoes smoking. I stood with my knees wobbly, then trained my gaze at the entrance to hell, deep into the belly of the earth and down into the hellhole. There was no tremor nor tantrum, but smoke billowed from it, as though it would blow its top any moment – my blood bubbled with excitement. The slopes were left with the scar of scorching and the plain below with the aftermath of barren black soil.

At the foothill was Pura Luhur Poten, a significant religious site for the local Hindus made of black stone from the volcano. Looming behind it was the symmetrical Bukit Batok, by contrast, a dormant volcano and much greener. I then pillion-rode my hired bike to Bukit Teletubbies, a lush green grassland away from the scorched earth on and near Mt Bromo. In the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park but away from the vicinity of Mount Bromo, I came to a popular viewpoint, Seruni Point. At an elevation of 2,400 meters, it offers breathtaking views of Mount Bromo and the surrounding landscape.

After the day trip to Mount Bromo and its sights, I returned to Probolinggo. From here, I will travel to Banyuwangi to stay a night before taking a ferry across to Bali.

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Click the link below to go the next stop, Stop 4 Gili Trawangan/Lombok:

How To Spend 3 Weeks To Enjoy The Best Time In Your Life In Indonesia

Click the link below to start from Stop 1, Jakarta,

How To Spend 3 Weeks To Enjoy The Best Time In Your Life In Indonesia

Indonesia 3-week route map:

Map legend:

Jakarta, in blue marker:

1. Jakarta

Yogyakarta, in red marker:

1. Yogyakarta
2. Borobudur
3. Prambanan
4. Probolinggo
5. Cemoro Lawang
6. Mount Bromo
7. Probolingo
8. Banyuwangi

Bali (1), in black marker:

1. Denpasar, Bali
2. Seminyak, Bali
3. Canggu Beach, Bali
4. Kuta Beach, Bali
5. Ubud, Bali

Lombok, in purple marker:

1. Gili Trawangan
2. Pantai Aan, Lombok
3. Pantai Merese
4. Areguling Beach
5. Tampah Beach
6. Mawang Beach
7. Kuta Lombok Beach

Bali (2), in orange marker:

1. Nusa Penida Island
2. South Kuta, Bali