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Melissa has been to Yogyakarta, Java, and Bali with her group for countless times. Melissa is a tour leader for tourists from Malaysia. On this tour, they will explore the beauty of Yogyakarta for 5 days and 4 nights, and I myself will accompany them while in Yogyakarta. That day, I picked them up at Yogyakarta International Airport around 2 pm. Our program on the first day was to visit an interesting photo spot near Borobudur Temple called Swarga Bhumi.
A photo spot with a stretch of green rice fields and the magnificent Borobudur Temple in the background. After being satisfied with the first location, we immediately headed to Rhema Hill, which is located not far from Swarga Bhumi. At Rhema Hill, we can enjoy the sunset surrounded by the Menoreh Mountains. After about 1.5 hours of enjoying the beauty of Rhema Hill, we headed to the restaurant for dinner and then checked in at the hotel to rest.
Melissa is a humorous and kind tour leader, she always jokes all times. Besides that, she also smart and punctual. Our first day went smoothy and happy. The next program for the second day is to visit Borobudur, Bhumi merapi and Malioboro street. Coincidentally, the hotel at that time was in the city of Magelang, which close to Borobudur temple. The explore the beauty of Yogyakarta end today. So I have to drive a bit far because I live in Bantul Yogyakarta, but it’s not a problem at all to me. I am enjoy and love my work.
Explore Borobudur Temple and Yogyakarta.
On the second day, we will visit Borobudur Temple. Melissa has purchased an entrance ticket to Borobudur Temple and got a visiting time in session 2, which is 9:30 AM. As a professional guide, Melissa always prepares what is needed during the tour.
It only takes about 30 minutes to travel from the hotel to Borobudur Temple. As usual, after parking the car, I took each guest to the Borobudur Temple entrance ticket, and I showed them where we would meet again after finishing the tour at Borobudur Temple.
They visited Borobudur Temple for about 2 hours and we headed to the next destination, Bhumi Merapi in Sleman, Yogyakarta. During the trip to Sleman, Melissa and the others asked me to stop for lunch. I took them to a local restaurant on the same road as Sleman, Yogyakarta. Mbah Mo’s roast chicken stall was the place.
The chicken here uses free-range chicken and is cooked by braising it in a wok and cooking it with firewood. So the taste of the roast chicken here is different from other places and has a delicious taste. They really enjoyed their lunch here, they also invited me to eat together. After finishing lunch, we continued our journey to Bhumi Merapi which took about 1 hour. Bhumi Merapi is a place to take photos and enjoy Mount Merapi from a fairly close distance. The air in here is also cool and beautiful.
After visiting Bhumi Merapi, we continued our journey to a hotel in Yogyakarta. After checking in, they planned to visit Malioboro Street for photos or dinner. While on Malioboro Street, they split into several groups, because they really enjoyed shopping and wanted to buy some typical Yogyakarta batik. After finishing exploring Malioboro Street, we decided to have dinner at the Raminten restaurant and Melissa invited me to eat together. While enjoying dinner, we also enjoyed a dance performance presented by the restaurant for all the guests who came. The second day ended on Malioboro Street and we returned to the hotel to rest.
City tour of Yogyakarta and Gunung Kidul area
On the third day, we will explore the city of Yogyakarta, visiting Taman Sari, Prambanan Temple, Pengger Pine Forest, and staying at Jungwok resort Gunung Kidul. We started our journey from the hotel around 8:30 a.m. and headed to Taman Sari Yogyakarta. Since it was Monday, the number of visitors to Taman Sari increased. This is because temples and museums are usually closed on Mondays. They really enjoyed every moment and loved taking photos at every tourist spot.
After enjoying Taman Sari, we moved to Prambanan Temple. This temple is one of the favorite tourist destinations in Yogyakarta. Some of them had been to Prambanan Temple before, but they were still enthusiastic about visiting again.
After about 2 hours, they explored Prambanan Temple, then we continued to another tourist spot, the Pengger Pine Forest. This is actually a good place to take photos at sunset or at night. But because we were going to enjoy the sunset at the Jungwok Hotel, we only visited this place briefly.
Oh ya, before going to Pinus Pengger, we stopped at a local stall selling chicken noodles [ mie ayam ] and meatballs [ bakso ]. They were eager to try it because there were many people selling them on every street. It turned out that all the guests and Melissa were very happy and enjoyed eating the chicken noodles.
Enjoy the beauty of Yogyakarta from the hill
Sunset time arrived and we had arrived at the Jungwok Resort in Gunung Kidul. But unfortunately, when we arrived there, it was cloudy and the sunset was not visible. But we were all entertained by the beautiful views of the ocean and mountains. While enjoying the huge waves of the South Java Sea. At night, we enjoyed music at the beach club while enjoying beer. We had fun together and sang together.
Gondola and suspension bridge at Timang beach
Explore the beauty of Yogyakarta entered the fourth day. After enjoying Jungwok Beach and the facilities at the resort, we continued our journey to Timang Beach.
Before heading to Timang Beach, we stopped for lunch at Pak Sis’ Lopster restaurant. A local restaurant that serves seafood and lobster as the mainstay of the food here. It turned out that out of the ten guests I accompanied, only one could eat lobster.
But it didn’t matter because other dishes were also available here. After lunch, we changed to a jeep for transportation to Timang Beach. We rented 3 jeeps and I also accompanied them to Timang Beach. Coincidentally, at that time the waves were so big and they canceled their intention to ride the gondola.
But my brother Nick, curious about the sensation at Timang, finally decided to cross the suspension bridge that crossed over the big waves. I really admire and am proud of my brother Nick’s courage. Because not everyone dares to do it, considering the strong wind conditions and big waves. It was already evening and it was time for us to leave Timang for Yogyakarta city to check in to the hotel.
Batik class and silver jewelery making class
On the last day of the explore the beauty of Yogyakarta, this time we were more relaxed and easy. We only watched the silver making process, painted batik, ate chicken noodles, and dropped them off at Yogyakarta International Airport. We checked out of the hotel at 8:30 a.m. and headed straight to the silver jewelry making place in Kota Gede, Yogyakarta.
In addition to the silver making class, they also sell various kinds of beautiful silver jewelry with high artistic value. Kota Gede is also the central area for silver jewelry makers in Yogyakarta, which still survives today. They were very enthusiastic about watching the jewelry making process.
After seeing the silver making process, Melissa had the opportunity to meet my wife, Rita Marita. Previously, Melissa ordered local lapis legit and Rita took her to Kota Gede. After meeting and taking pictures together, we continued to see the batik making process. They also had the opportunity to paint their own pieces and take the results home as souvenirs. Most of them also bought some batik cloth to take home as souvenirs.
Time flew by and it was time for me to take them to Yogyakarta International Airport in Kulon Progo. Before that, they asked to stop at a chicken noodle stall before going home. The explore the beauty of yogyakarta end. Thank you so much Melissa, and everyone, you are all amazing. May you always be given health and happiness, see you next time!
