Smeagol

I am planning on visiting my good friend K who lives in Singapore in September. We normally like to go for a side trip some where and this time will probablyy have about 4 nights. We have tossed around a few places and Lombok and Yogyakarta seem to be the hot favourites. (with Yogya being numero uno!) anyhow, i was a little concerned there wouldn't be enough to do to keep us busy for 4 nights but Kathie has somewhat alleyed those fears with some suggestions SO, what do you think of this:

Arrive midday Sat (from SP) thinking of staying at the Phoenix? would like somewhere in town so we can walk to local restuarants. my plan was to stay here for all 4 nights?? (we could fly into Solo from SP but the AA flight to Yogya is much cheaper) - what do you all think about Yogya as a base? )- spend afternoon wondering around Yogyakarta?
Sun- Sunrise/day time visit at Borobudor - maybe lunch at Amanwijo? (cant afford to stay here this trip)
Monday - afternoon trip to Prambanan temple and then stay for the dance show in the evening?
Tues - ???
Wed - leave (v early) for flight back to Singapore

I would like a bit of relaxing time in there but do think we should be able to do that Sunday afternoon/Monday morning. Do you think the above sounds like a good plan,
Any suggestions for Tuesday? what have I missed? (we do like to tour the temples etc but i don't want 4 days of just temples-K and I like to explore local areas, eat good food and of course shop!
Does anyone have details of a good guide and driver who we could use for the days at the temples.
Is the Phoenix a good place to stay?
Appreciate all suggestions.
Smeagol

Kathie

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Filmwill and David stayed at the Phoenix. I re-read their trip report before I decided where we are going to stay.

Smeagol

Thanks Kathie, to be honest I am covering all bases really, I actually really like the look of the Phoenix and think we will plump for staying here but thought i would check to see if anything new had opened up! when i looked at their prices i thought wow so expensive but then realised that was for the whole 4 nights
I will read FW trip report too.

Smeagol

Also any good restuarant reccos would be great!
X

marmot

Smeagol, I haven't been to Central Java for a while and can't comment on the Phoenix. I've always liked the Hyatt because of its spacious gardens.

I would definitely choose Yogyakarta over Solo. Yogya has some interesting sites and some good shopping (for arts and crafts, both high and low level). It is, however, a hot, crowded trafficky third world city. Fascinating, but not so easy to wander around in on foot.

My experience with Yogya restaurants hasn't been so good either. The local food can be good, but in some of the better known places the hygiene is questionable.

Definitely have a meal at Amanjiwo. Sunset + dinner is spectacular. The food is not too pricy, but alcohol anywhere in Indonesia is exorbitant.

The places connected to the Sultan of Yogyakarta -- the Palace (Kraton) and the Water palace (Taman Sari) -- are worth a see. The Kraton offers some of the best authentic Javanese dancing. According to this website http://www.yogyes.com/ (which is quite good, actually) there's a dance performance at the Kraton 0930 on Sunday.

If you can, I'd recommend trying to spend a night in the countryside, close to Borobudur. There aren't a lot of choices in the moderate price range, but, again in my opinion, it's worth a bit of inconvenience to experience the beauty and serenity of the mountains and rice paddies, especially at dawn and dusk.

I'd also try to see Borobudur more than once, at different times of day. The first encounter can be overwhelming and it's wonderful go back and spend some quiet time with the carvings and a copy of the book, Golden Tales of the Buddhas.

The Dieng Plateau is also a becautiful and spiritual place, but it takes some determination to get there.

Most important: Don't go to Borobudur on Sunday! It will be overrun with local tour groups, even at 6:00 a.m. They will all want to take a picture of you with their group, which is charming and flattering the first couple of times but quickly becomes an annoying distraction. Prambanan will be crowded, but less so.

MichaelBKK

I got a good car and driver last year through the official Borobodur Park web site. He took me everywhere - Magelang, Solo and Yogyakarta. I think Solo is under-rated, but with only four days I wouldn't recommend you split your time between the two. You might consider spending a day in Solo, seeing BOTH palaces (for some reason, they only ever take tourists to one of them) and poking around the batik 'village', which is in town.

Depending on your capacity for ruins, you might also take in Ratu Bokor, a hilltop palace near Prambanan. There's a little restaurant there where you can watch the sunset. You can get a consolidated ticket for Prambanan and Ratu Bokor, and there's a free shuttle between the two.

Smeagol

Wow thank you both, great advice. I will especially heed the don't go to Borobodur on Sunday ( which is exactly what we had planned to do) I say we, K hasn't even seen any of this, so we are still at the "shall we go there" phase but I do think there is enough to keep us occupied.
I like the sound of Rath Bokor too...
Ok, so if we went for an overnight near Borobudor, any good options on places to stay. I seem to remember reading they are all pretty hideous ( apart from the gorgeous Aman which is out of our budget for this trip)

marmot

You're right, choices at Borobudur are limited. Manohara is right on the grounds. It's barebones basic, but acceptable for a short stay that's monument focused.

Saraswati is a notch up on the comfort scale. It's about a 10-15 minute walk to Borobudur. Also Plataran which looks quite nice in photos. The website says it's a 5 minute drive to Borobudur. The only one I've been to is Manohara so I can't compare.

And then there's MesaStila (formerly Losari Coffee Plantation). It's in Magelang about 45 minutes by car from Borobudur, located in a beautiful mountain view rural setting. From their website they seem to have an emphasis on wellness. I haven't been there, but I hear good things.

Kathie

You may remember from Filmwill's report that the Saraswati was so horrible that they left early, even though they had pre-paid. The Plataran looks great on the website, and we considered it but decided to stay put at the Phoenix. If you do opt for a night or two at Plataran, we'd love to hear about it!

filmwill

Thanks for saying that, Kathie. I was just about to say the same thing.

Smeags, unless something drastic has changed there--say, they've burned it down, rebuilt it and hired all new staff--run, don't walk away from the Saraswati. Seems nice enough on the outside but it's sort of like the hotel in The Shining on the inside. Hence our early departure.

If you can find a place that doesn't seem too shabby, then stay overnight in Borobudur...but honestly, we would've been fine with a day visit in retrospect--and the choices in Borobudur areso limited. There really is not all that much of anything to do there other than see the temple (sunrise obviously is a must!) and lounge around and soak up the atmosphere. That's why I think if the Aman is in budget (it wasn't for us either...in fact, who is the Aman ever in budget for?) it's one of the only places you'd be fine just sitting on the patio and enjoying that magnificent and unworldly view that they have for days and not get bored. Otherwise, stay in Yogya.

That said, I do agree that you may have 1 day too many in your current plan...but not sure what you could do with that extra day quite yet. Let me marinate a bit in that one.

Smeagol

Thanks FW - You point above about the Saraswati REALLY made me laugh... ok i will not be staying there. I do like the look of the Plataran but heeding Marmots advice about not going to Borobodur on a Sunday means if we stay there we will have to do 1 night in Yogya maybe 2 there and then because of the super early flight back another in yogya which seems like a hassel so manybe we will stick with the Phoenix.

Mmmm I too am wondering if we have 1 day to many but then the trip may be too short if i shave off a day, oh what is a girl to do. Is the Phoenix somewhere we could just hang by the pool and sun my incredibley pale body?

Kathie

A couple of ideas for day trips... the Dieng Plateau or Solo (as per Michael's comments above) and a drive out to Candi Suhkah, a fertility temple out in the hills.

StanKase

I might recommend the guide driver we have used twice in Central and East Java and will use again this Dec. He really knows his stuff about the temples being the UNESCO Advisor to Bobodurur and he and his staff also of course do private tours of the 2 other magnificant temples. As mentioned a day trip can be spectacular with the agricultural sights as spectactualar or better than much of Bali. Though it is a long drive if the guide takes one route going and a different route returning it is pleasant. If you get going at 7 AM you can get to a big bustling local market on the way by 8 AM that is very interesting and worth a 3-40 minute stop and there is an animal barter stop on the return. Also the day in Yogja the guide can take you to some villages that are a throughback to Indonesia 1920's where most tourists do not go.The Sultan's Palace is o.k. except if it is a Sat. or Sun. because on those days at 11:30 they have a 30 minute special perfomance that is quite special. The Palace itself was not worth the 45 minutes that the required Palace guide you must use (but only cost I think $2 USD/person). We stayed at the Hyatt and it was lovely because it is like a Hyatt Regency and our guide receives very good discounts there as he does at other hotels. I say the lobby of the Pheoenix and it was pretty nice and not very expensive. I heard a Deluxe room is $125-$130/room. The Hyatt was only a 35 minute drive from Bododurur as I remember, it was 2010, so it is not that remote. After 10 hours of touring we were so tired we ordered delicious pizzas in our room at theHyatt ($(9/pie) two of the 3 nights in Yogja. On our second trip we were in Jogja for one night and then went to Mt. Bromo and ijen.
To our knowledge 7 others have used the guide we used and were pleased even though he is a little more expense than the average run-of-the-mill ones.
bobodururtourandtravel.com or his home/office [email protected]
I hope some of the above helps.

marmot

Kind of a quirky article on Yogyakarta in today's Jakarta Post.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2...ogyakarta.html

Smeagol

Thanks all for the info. Stan if we do go to Java I will contact your guide for sure. Just need to see if K likes the idea as much as I do.
How far from town is the Hyatt?

Smeagol

Stan, I can't seem to open the web link, is it correct?

StanKase

The day trip I was referring to was to Dieng Plateau as mentioned by others. The Palace I mentioned is the Sultans Palance who actually lives there and it has gifts the Sultan's received from various dignitaries from other countries and various photos. For us this was not that interesting and the Palace "required" guide we were assigned was not that informative, in my opinion.

Kathie

The link is misspelled. The name of the company is Borobudor Tours and Travel.

Smeagol

Thanks all, I am assuming we can tailor our day trips to what we want? I always like to use someone who has been recommended on here, so the fact Stan you have booked them for a 3rd time is great.
What is an animal barter stop? Not sure if I like the sound of that?

marmot

The Hyatt is IN Yogyakarta, but it's toward the northwest outskirts. Yogya doesn't really have a "center". Tourists tend to graviate toward the Kraton or the Malioburo. Students and artists toward the universities. Religious groups toward the mosques and madrassas.

Wherever you stay, you end up taking a lot of taxis because it's not an especially pedestrian-friendly city.

I like the concept of the Kraton more than the actual place. I agree with Stan that the tour can get a bit tedious. It's actually a separate municipality -- like the Vatican -- and the Sultan is very powerful. The cultural performances and the retainers' get-ups are worth the visit.