4 Highlights of My Awesome 2 Days Trip in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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Yogyakarta, locals call it yogya for short, is a temple city known of arts, culture, and food. My second destination of my one week trip in Indonesia where I pampered myself, learned about Javanese culture and eat delicious yogya cuisines. A short trip but a memorable one and hot! Couldn’t stop sweating and there was one night when it rained so I just used the resort facilities.

Yogyakarta, the capital city of Yogyakarta region is located east of Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta. To get here, from Bali, I had a connecting flight in Jakarta for about 4 hours. When I told my tour guides in Bali of my layover and next destination, apparently it didn’t make sense because I’m going farther lol. Bali is at the east of Yogyakarta while Jakarta is west of Yogyakarta. Well, there wasn’t a good connecting flight to the new international airport YIA from Bali but layover worked out well because I ended up using my lounge access at the Concordia Lounge (kudos to Priority Pass) at the Bali International Airport.

I arrived at the international airport and took a Bluebird taxi to my accommodation. I highly recommend installing this app to go around Indonesia for transportation and support the local business. The app is very user friendly and the drivers know the local stuff! The ride took one hour because the new airport is far from the current accommodations that are in the city. There is actually another domestic airport closer but due to the G20 summit being held at the country, they build this airport and now everything is farther. I passed by Indonesian farms and the city. Went through the busy Jalan (Street) Malioboro in the downtown Yogyakarta and saw the Sultan’s palace Kraton. I got to see more of the city than I expected.

Why I Chose This City As One of My Destination

Yogyakarta is a great destination for food, culture, and adventure. There are many places to visit but actually, one of the main reasons why I decided to go here was that one of my very good friend who’s Indonesian got me sold when she told me there are two cultural heritage sites that are in Yogyakarta.

I made this trip focused on those two and at the same time, experienced a good five star resort at a value that I can afford! My money went along way here and got good access to delicious food. Here are the highlights of my Yogya trip!

1. Staying Luxuriously at Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort & Spa

I stayed at the 5 star resort Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort & Spa at a very good rate of ~90 CAD/night. I think it’s low season plus the dollar stretches a long way. It’s about an hour away from the new Yogyakarta International Airport where all the hotels are actually but close the the major Yogya sites and the older domestic airport.

I had a welcome package waiting in my room, had a nice spa treatment and ate great local cuisine. Definitely felt pampered and enjoyed my lovely stay at this luxury resort.

2. Admiring Candi Borobudur – the World’s Largest Buddhist Temple

Yogyakarta is home to the world’s largest Buddhist Temple and I get to visit this ancient wonder and admire the beautiful iconic architecture. Built between the 8th and 9th century, this candi (means temple in Indonesian) is a magnificent temple complex that is definitely a must visit when you’re in Indonesia.

Definitely include Yogyakarta in your Indonesia trip and see this temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site found in Indonesia. I booked a tour through Klook that allowed me to see this temple and my next one on the list, Prambanan temple in a day trip.

The insides are old so it’s currently undergoing renovations but you get to explore the grounds and go closer to the temple. You’ll see many Buddha on the walls and some are missing pieces probably due to the stones crumbling. Proof how historically old this place is.

3. Roaming Around Candi Prambanan and the Other Temples Around It

Another must see in Yogyakarta and a UNESCO World Heritage site as well is the Prambanan Temple and the other many smaller temples around it inside the Prambanan Park. A very historical Hindu temple compound, built in the 9th century, it is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and dedicated to Trimurti, the three highest gods in Hinduism.

The main grounds, where the actual Prambanan Temple sits is where the three main Trimurti temples are dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. You get to walk around and see the structures up close in person.

There are other many temples in the Parambanan compound. There’re many signs pointing to where they are so they’re easy to locate. They are Candi Lumbung, Candi Bubrah, and Candi Sewu to name a few. They also have amazing architecture and different structures depending on who they dedicate to.

4. Eating Delicious Yogyakarta Cuisines

Trip is not complete without trying local cuisines. I am a big fan of heavily spiced dishes and Indonesian cuisine definitely satisfies the palette. I dined at the Androwino Bistro at the resort, it was raining heavily on my second day at night and thankfully, they have authentic Javanese and Yogyakarta dishes I could try. Had Yogyakarta fried chicken called Ayam Goreng Kalasan and a rice dish called Gudeg Tugu (more explanation on the next post listing of all the Indo foods I tried, yum!). The fried chicken was juicy and they had this crispy herds on top. The gudeg tugu was super flavourful sweet and salty together.