Java & The Indonesian Paparazzi

From Jakarta, we headed by train to Yogyakarta, another major city on the eastern side of Java. At the train station, we were confronted by the Indonesian Paparazzi. A group of people lined up to have their photo taken with us (huh?).

Yoga was a nice change from the big city but we were slightly overwhelmed by the pushy sales people trying to get us to go to their "one day only" art exhibit. I did end up buying a batik (traditional Indonesian art) which was inspired by Koh Phangan's full moon party.


We checked out two major temples Borobador and Prambanan, Buddhist and Hindu. Borobador was huge and full of intricate detail and a great place to get some photos, but near the top we had our second encounter with the Indonesian Paparazzi. This time it was an English class trying to practice with tourists. The students were so sweet, asking for our photos, giving us treats, and asking us about Obama!



One girl in particular asked me if I liked to dance. I said yes and she said "ok I teach you," and pulled out two scarves from her bag and I found myself doing an Indonesian dance at the top of a temple. Then she pulled out a wooden carved candle holder and a cup and gave them to Carlos and I and said "these gifts are for you." So Sweet!




Prambanan, the next temple was also beautiful despite many parts of it being ruined by the 2006 earthquake. We got stuck in a rainstorm and had to hide inside the temple til it cleared. On the tour we met some great people and met up with them later for dinner!