Under $650: 5 days in Breathtaking Yogyakarta
- alaughingseal
- Jul 31, 2018
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 9, 2019
Yogyakarta - minimal trekking, maximum views and culture. Yogyakarta, a destination with a great mix of culture (many impressive temples!), breathtaking viewpoints from high above and delicious Indonesian food! This destination is also where my name - alaughingseal- originated :")
Number of days: 5
Budget per person: <$650
Travel period: July 2018
Weather: Sunny
Accommodation: Sakanti Malioboro Hotel (S$150/room for 5D4N)
Main Activities:
Taking one million and one photos from viewpoints
Visiting temples
Thrilling activities: descending Jomblang Cave and cliff diving
Must-go recommendations: Borobudur Temple & Jomblang Cave
The thing is about Yogyakarta, Yogya (or Jogja) in short, is that their attractions are all over the place! As we did not have the luxury of time to take their public transports, we have decided to go for a private tour with Yoyokk! Do not forget to bring an extra stash for tipping your guide and for all your photo-taking spots (usually you can tip about IDR 5,000 per spot!)!
You can easily check out his Facebook and be impressed with his reviews! Not only did he speak good English, he refined our itinerary and even booked attraction tickets for us! There are certain attractions, which require prior bookings due to its popularity and he planned it all for us. The entire trip felt seamless, without the hassle to buy tickets, and he made us feel at home, away from home! :)
He recommended a list of accommodations for our budget (not much!) and we selected Sakanti Malioboro Hotel - the affordable and yet decent-looking hotel. Nothing fantastic about this hotel, but it was pretty spacious and we enjoyed the shows/movies shown on the TV!
Day 1
Sambisari Temple, Prambanan Temple, Ijo Sunset Temple
My bestie and I flew from Singapore to Yogyakarta direct via Air Asia for S$172. We travelled during non-peak season and hence, the cheaper air fare! The moment we touched down, we were brought to Sambisari Temple, Prambanan Temple and Ijo Sunset Temple.
We were literally flooded in sight with relics, temples and more temples! I mean, we came to Yogya for temple run, so why not!
The difference between Sambisari and Prambanan Temple is the sheer size of it. Prambanan Temple is many many times bigger than Sambisari and there is more to explore! I preferred the latter due to the massiveness of the temple :)
Sambisari Temple
Prambanan Temple
As we were sunset chasers, we had to head to Ijo Sunset Temple where we watched the beautiful sunset. As the temple is situated up in the mountains, it was really foggy and we could not see the sunset. However, we managed to catch a great view from the lookout point!
Attractions:
Sambisari Temple: IDR 10,000/person
Prambanan Temple: IDR 350,000/person (Although it was a little pricey, I think it was worth the money!)
Ijo Sunset Temple: IDR 10,000/person
Day 2
Borobudur Temple, Merapi Tour, Tamansari
We woke up on an unearthly hour of 3am as the drive to Borobudur Temple was about 3h and we wanted to watch the sunrise! We bought the Borobudur Sunrise Package at IDR 450,000 despite it being really expensive was because this was an iconic temple visited by many. We wanted to see what was the hype all about and it sure did not disappoint!
When we reached the temple, it was so so so crowded!!! Thankfully, we managed to get a good spot to watch the sunrise. Tip: Be sure to use your compass on your phone to face the East as the sun rises in the East! Alternatively, you could just follow the crowd!
After the sun rose, we started exploring the HUGE temple and we were extremely intrigued by the carvings, the Buddhas, and the entire vibe of this place. You could see travellers seeking their own spots to meditate, to read, and of course, to take photographs.
I found myself googling about the place while immersing myself in the world's largest Buddhist temple. Before we knew it, we had spent 2 hours there! Is it well worth the visit, YES OF COURSE!
We took a quick nap in the car before heading towards our Merapi Tour. We saw many pictures of the typical jeep photo and many made it look really fun. However, we felt that this tour was way too overrated and if I could choose, I would not have done this tour again. There was nothing much other than to take pictures with your jeep and be educated about the Mount Merapi Eruption (oh, this was interesting though!)
Following that, we went to the Tamansari - the Water Castle. This was on the way back to our place and we had decided to just drop by and take it a look. After all, the entrance fee was very affordable. There were so many tourists as well and we were really put off by the crowd! :(
Attractions:
Borobudur Sunrise Tour: IDR 450,000/person
Merapi Tour: IDR 175,000/person
Tamansari: IDR 15,000/person
Day 3
Jomblang Cave, Timang Beach, Pinus Pengger
Are you done with us taking pictures?! There is more to come! When I said this trip is about taking one million and one pictures, I wasn't kidding at all! We have conquered all temples and the following days are more adventurous - finally! We visited Jomblang Cave, also known as the vertical cave, Timang Beach, also known as the one featured on Running Man, and Pinus Pengger, also famous for its pine trees!
As usual, we woke up at an unearthly hour of about 3-4am as we needed to reach Jomblang Cave by 10am to be ready for the 60m (it sure didn't feel like 60m!!) descend into the cave. We reached the cave way too early, as Yoyokk factored in time for some bad traffic but we were lucky, and had too much time to kill! Thank god to be "stranded" for hours with someone who is talkative ;')
The package was expensive - IDR 500,000 - but it included a simple lunch and boots rental (yes you need to walk through the muddy and sticky cave!) Tip 1: bring your old socks so you can wear with the rented boots. Alternatively, you could just buy a pair of black socks from a lady who sells them there for about S$2!
The descend wasn't as scary as it seems as they lower you really slowly, but if you are afraid of heights, there would be a HUGE inertia for you, so beware!! Tip 2: bring a shower cap along with you so you can wear it under your helmet - it really does stink HAHA.
As you can see from the photos, we really enjoyed the ascend and descend. We had so much fun guffawing away and probably made too much noise there but it was indeed the best attraction I had visited and my bestie just made it even better :")
After descending, you needed to walk painstakingly through the sticky (and I mean really sticky!!!) mud, which would leave you scrambling and holding onto your friends for your dear life!! The walk may be discouraging, and painful too (if you slipped), but the view in the cave is well worth it!
After laughing our hearts out, we headed towards Timang Beach.
Timang beach has an iconic gondola, which transports you to the standalone island! The gondola is what makes this place pricey - IDR 375,000 per person! It was quite an experience to be "zip-lined" in the gondola across. I would do it again anytime!
Our last location for the day - phew, finally!! - was Pinus Pengger and this location is merely just for photos, photos and photos. Quite a beautiful location, which the slim and giant pine trees!
We climbed up a treehouse and we got a really nice view from the top!
Attractions:
Jomblang Cave: IDR 500,000/person
Timang Beach (including gondola): IDR 375,000/person
Day 4
Pindul Cave Tubing
Today was the day we decided to include some water activities! We did Pindul Cave Tubing for about IDR 200,000/person. It included white water rafting in the beginning, followed by being dragged around the waters for a bit and ending with cliff diving (my favourite part for the day!) at the end.
Let's be clear about the white water rafting in the beginning. There were SO MANY rafts trying to get into that small river!! It felt like a bumper-car/raft ride than a white water rafting experience?! There were simply TOO MANY rafts and that got on our nerves as we were constantly stuck somewhere. Thank goodness it became better at the end where we had the choice to swim in the river and enjoy the cool water!
What was perfect was that there was a spot where you could cliff dive off a height of about 3 - 5m? Not too exhilarating but at least it was the best thing that happened to me today!
We also went to some random photo-taking spots that were beautiful!!! If you'd show the pictures to your guide, they will probably know where they are!
Day 5
Travelling from Yogyakarta to Singapore
Sadly, we ended our trip here and had to travel back to Singapore :( Last advice from me: bring enough spare cash for massage and food! :)
From this trip, I realised the importance of a more-than-great company despite a mundane itinerary. I believe the activities, such as taking a million photos and gliding in the river would have been really boring if not for my bestie :") Through this experience, I am amused at my own's ability of laughing uncontrollably and without giving a hoot to my surroundings. And that's how my name - a laughing seal - came about. HAHA
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