JohnH

I'll be spending 3 days in central Java in June. I could really use some help from the experts on my itinerary, some logistics, and on where to stay.

My MAIN reason for visiting this area is to see Borobudor, Prambanan and Dieng Plateau, and the surrounding areas which I've heard are very beautiful and scenic.

I'd also like to visit Jogyakarta. but am not as excited about that as the others above, so that would be secondary.

Based on this, where would you recommend staying (budget $150-$200 per night)? In Jogyakarta for all 3 nights? Or elsewhere? I've looked at Manhora, Losari and Amanjiwo (I'm not sure I can afford that one). Lonely Planet says there are accomodations near Dieng Plateau - would spending a night there be advisable?

Second question: how would you schedule this itinerary? Here's what I'm thinking - but it all depends on where I'm staying:

DAY ONE - arrive Jogyakarta from Bali around 8:30 am. Spend day in Jogyakarta.
DAY TWO - hire car/driver for the day. am: Prambanan / pm: Borobudor
DAY THREE - hire car/driver for the day. Dieng Plateau
(I also do have the morning of DAY 4 - as my flight will depart at 1:50 pm)

Is this too much driving around? I don't enjoy sitting in a car driving around all day - I prefer to be out and active as much as possible. This itinerary also means I'll miss sunrise at Borobudor (but I'm thinking maybe I can be there for sunset?).

And, where is the best place to hire a car and driver? From my Jogyakarta hotel? If I do change hotels, how does one get from one hotel to another, in a different town? Will they arrange pickups?

Lots of questions I know, but I see that several of you have done this before, so I appreciate any help and suggestions.

Kathie

You'll have a wonderful trip!

A couple of thoughts... You could visit Prambanam your first day, then spend some time in Jogja (kraton, shopping).

Second day, Head to Borobudor for Sunrise, then go to the Dieng Plateau. You can easily do both in one day. No reason to stay at the Dieng Plateau.

Third day, plan for either a sunset at Borobudor or go the the Ramayana Ballet that evening in the pavillion near Prambanan. During the day, you can spend more time in Jogja, or have your driver to take you to Solo to see the Kraton there and to visit some temples out beyond Solo.

There is a lot of driving in this trip, but the scenery is fascinating.

I would stay at the Hyatt the whole time. I don't think it makes sense to change hotels (unless you wanted to stay at the Aman) You can hire a car and driver from an agency at the Hyatt or someone there can recommend a driver for you.

Becalm

John
Visited this area last September and loved it and the people in the countryside near Borobudur.

From my research, the nicest hotel is the Hyatt, other than Amanjiwo which is fabulous although expensive. We stayed at the Hyatt one night and can highly recommend it. Situated on the northern outskirts of Yogya, the Hyatt is beautiful with architecture that mimmicks Borobudur and has fabulous, lush grounds, a nice pool and even a golf course. It offers a contrast to hotels in the center of Yogya which to us is a bit hot and dusty being a city. The Hyatt is a bit closer to Prambanan which is NE of Yogya (~10 minutes away) and Borobudur is 1 hour north. Be sure to check the room size as our room was only about US$90 including breakfast, nice but very small. Worth spending a bit more for a larger room.

The Manohora Hotel appeared to be a nice clean, very basic hotel situated in Borobudur Park (A/C, private bath). We stopped there briefly after visiting Borobudur and we saw no reason not to recommend it. I cannot advise on other hotels in the area.

Your itinerary depends on whether you travel to the Dieng Plateau (DP) or not. We didn't go there but believe it is a 3 1/2 drive each way from Yogya, so a very long drive .

There is alot of flexibility for your itinerary. One idea to shorten the drive to the DP is:

Have a driver/guide pick you up at the airport, and drive you north to the Manohara hotel. Visit some of sites in the Magelang area and Borobudur Park (e.g. Mendut temple, Dagi Hill and villages near the Amanjiwo, etc)and have lunch at Amanjiwo by the pool (outstanding food) and tour the resort (highly recommended). The resort is at the base of the Menoreh Hills which is unique beauty and is very peaceful. After lunch you could enjoy a massage at the Aman, see a few more sites or return to the Manohara to rest for a few hours before going to Borobudur in the late afternoon.

As an alternative you could visit Borobudur the next morning for dawn (gates open at 5:00am). The sunrise is reportedly good in June as the sun rises between the mountains. Since you are now closer to the DP you can leave after breakfast around 9:00am for DP which is NW of Borobudur, so a shorter drive than from Yogya. Return to the Manohara by late afternoon. Splurge for dinner back at Amanjiwo, for me would be great especially since the Manohara is only $50 a night (figure $30 for a grilled fish entree ala carte + 21% tax/service fee).

Regarding dawn at Borobudur: it is cooler and much less crowded before the tour buses arrive but the morning we were there at dawn early clouds partially obscurrred the sunrise yet clear the day before so you never know.

Leave the next morning for tour of Prambanan complex. After lunch, check into Hyatt. Spend afternoon touring sites/shopping in Yogya. If scheduled for that night. you could attend the Ramanyana Ballet at Prambanan Open Theatre which was a spectacle.

On the day you leave you can send a relaxing morning at the Hyatt or venture back into Yogya for a few hours.

Search this site for "Phuket, Java & Bali" to find my trip report.

Your driver will pick you up at the airport, transport you wherever you want to go, act as your tour guide if qualified, and transfer you to different hotels. Anything you want.

For a driver/guide, we booked through Amanjiwo so it was much more expensive but worth the price as they hire the best. Save money and hire our guide direct rather than one through the hotel. He was with us for 3 days and he was fabulous. Hands down the best we've encountered anywhere. His name is Rohmad Hidajat and works on his own as well as for the Aman (although he did not volunteer that info to us).
You can contact him at:
[email protected]">[email protected] phone: (62) 293 789039 and (62) 813 2818 0180 or through [email protected]">inf...randtravel.com Visit their website at http://www.borobudurtourandtravel.co...randtravel.com

Let me know if you would like more info esp regurding things to see/do near Borobudur.

MichaelBKK

You might consider Dusun Jogja Village as a place to stay. It's new since my last visit, so I haven't personally checked it out, but my spys tell me it's very nice, especially for the price.

JohnH

Thank you all for the excellent feedback. Becalm, your trip report is wonderful. It really does make me want to stay at Amanjiwo but I'm not sure I can justify spending that much on a hotel.

Also love the idea of spending time biking around the countryside, and meeting local people. I'd also be very interested in visting Mendut temple and the Buddhist monastery to hear the chanting. Maybe I'll reconsider Dieng Plateau depending on how far away it is. Or maybe I can work all of this in. Yikes, there's too much to see and do!

The driving distances and times are what I'm wondering about, and I think you've partly answered. Would you say this is about right?

Jogyakarta to Prambanam: 30 minutes or less
Jogyakarta to Borobudor: about 1 hour
Jogyakarta to Dieng Plateau: about 3 1/2 hours
Borobudor to Dieng Plateau: about 2 1/2 hours

hobbes

When we went only guests of either Amanjiwo or Manohara were allowed into Borobudur at sunrise. If your budget does not stretch to Aman - and it is VERY exoensive - I agree that the Manohara is completely adequate for 1 night. Becalm's suggestion of lunch at Amanjiwo after you see Borobudur at sunrise is a good one. I suggest the Manohara combined with the Hyatt. The Hyatt is much nearer Prambanan. I wish I had Becalm's suggestion before we went coz the Aman tour of Borobudur was really expensive.

Ericka

I have a very detailed report about Amanjiwo and the surrounding areas in this forum. Please do a search for "Amanjiwo". The report was posted last July.

While you may not feel comfortable spending the money to stay at Amanjiwo, I think the report will give you some ideas for activities in the area.

Becalm

Approximate distances:
Jogja to Prambanan 10 mi
Jogja to Borobudur 25 mi
Borobudur to DP 65 mi

I think that 1 hour to Borobuduur and under 30 minutes to Prambanan are reasonable from central Jogja and from the Hyatt are conservative.
Unsure of drive time to DP but believe I read somewhere of about 3hr or so from Jogja. Using the distances above and assuming similar road speeds (Jogja to Boro), the time from Borobudur to DP would be 2 1/2 hr but I really don't know. It may well be less. Hopefully others will know or you can contact a tour company.

John, the Mendut Temple is about 2 mi Borobudur and you pass it on the way from Jogja so very easy to visit. Its relatively small so it does not take a long time to experience. There are 3 highly acclaimed statues inside, one is an impressive 10 ft high Buddha.
The chanting at the monastary accross the street from Medut starts at 7:00pm I think but is not done every night.

Bicycle tours of the villages are available and are suggested around 8:00 am or after 3:00pm to avoid the mid-day heat. You could bike after lunch on your first day and then do dawn tour of Borobudur followed by DP as a suggestion. An alternative to the DP is to visit the Gedong Songo group of temples which resemble those of the DP. Built high in the moutains the views are said to be beautiful. They're on my list for my next visit.

Amanjiwo is not essential to enjoying this great area and some have not enjoyed the Aman as we did. Having lunch and possibly dinner there and taking a tour of the rooms and grounds gives you much of the experience. Contact with the friendly people of the Magelang area can be gotten by visiting local villages by bike, elephant, horse or horse cart and at the local market.

marmot

I think you’ve received a lot of good advice so I’ll just make a few more comments.

1. Don’t miss sunrise at Borobudur. In fact, I’d plan for two sunrises in case the first is disappointing.

2. Definitely do Pramabanan and the Yogya sites directly from the airport. Once you decide on a hotel, the ask the concierge to make arrangements for you. A guide is not really necessary as there are all kinds of people on site who will show you around. I would see Prambanan, the Kraton (Sultan’s palace), the water palace and if you’re interested do some shopping.

Access to Prambanan’s temples is somewhat restricted now due to earthquake damage, but they’ve done a good job explaining what you’re missing.

3. I like the Hyatt for Yogya but it doesn’t sound like you’re interested in staying in town. Nice to have a pool though as Yogya is HOT dusty and congested. I wouldn’t recomment the Dusun Jogya as it’s a bit too local, which doesn’t always equate to charm.

4. At Borobudur, the Manohara is clean, serviceable and just a few meters from Borobudur. My son was just there and said the food was good too. They’ll give you a lift to the temple and a flashlight. A guide too, if you want one.

5. Tales of the Golden Buddhas is an excellent book on Borobudur. Our drill is to first go directly to the top for sunrise, then go back to the base and do the total circumnavigation of all the tiers. I don’t particularly like having a guide as they move too fast in some areas and too slow in others.

6. I’m a great fan of the Amanjiwo but if it’s a strain on your budget, it’s better to give it a miss as the room cost is just the beginning and everything is alacarte plus/plus 21%. If you stay at the Manohara you can always drive over to the Aman for an excellent (albeit pricey) dinner with mesmerizing Javanese music.

7. I’ve not stayed at Losari, but hear it’s really nice and beautifully situated. It would be a good option after Manohara/Borobudur as a jumping off point for the Dieng.

8. It’s fairly easy to arrange drivers once you’re there. People are accommodating and they really need the work.

FromDC

We will be in Java at approximately the same time and are still tinkering with the itinerary. I am considering adding a 4th day to the trip (and taking one day off Ubud because we will have a week there). My thought would be to arrive in Java and spend the first night in Jogya, then move to the Amanjiwo for 3 nights. If we stay only 3 nights, we will spend them all at the Aman. I think the extra day would make us feel less rushed, allow us to enjoy the Aman and perhaps a bit more sightseeing or cultural activities. Any thoughts?

Becalm

The idea of adding a day to stay the first night in Yogya is a good one. This will allow you to see the nearby Prambanan Temple Complex and the Ramanyana Ballet and/or sites in Yogya.

If you want an early start as we did, Amanjiwo's driver will pick you up after breakfast or you can spend the morning seeing more of Yogya.