Yogyakarta is the main tourist hub of the island of Java in Indonesia. A place of peace, tranquillity and the warming hospitable smiles you will have come to know if you have travelled through other parts of Indonesia. Here the pace of life is easy, it is on Indo-time, with not the rushing around in some of the larger Asian towns and cities but just a meandering flow on foot, by bicycle, in a traditional rickshaw or even on the back of a horse cart! 

The main thoroughfare of Malioboro Street is bustling though and offers a great shopping experience and lots of stand up food stalls to whet your appetite, particularly at night. Then there is Yogyakarta’s main tourist attraction, the Sultan’s Palace, known locally as ‘Kraton’, a complex of decaying buildings in which the current Sultan still resides. It is a walled city within a city and is a highlight of any trip to the region. 

Many of the locals earn their living in the rice paddies, with the lush green hues painting a beautiful landscape against the backdrop of the Merapi Mountain. Then there are the temples, exquisite and abundant and over a thousand years old. Not to mention the beaches south of the city. 

Yogyakarta may not have moved as heavily with the times but you can’t help but sense that this simple way of life provides great happiness to the inhabitants of this region. Feel the infectious joy of the street musicians and watch the artisans at work on their local handicrafts and you begin to wonder if there is greater satisfaction than the high end high pressure consumerism enveloping the world elsewhere. 

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