7 Hours Solo Travel to Yogyakarta Part 1

7 HOURS SOLO TRAVEL TO YOGYAKARTA PART 1

City of Yogyakarta / Jogjakarta also known as “Yogya” is the capital city of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province, Republic of Indonesia. There are many travel destinations in this city, such as Keraton Kesultanan Yogyakarta (Royal Palace), Masjid Gedhe Kauman (Mosque), Malioboro street (pedestrian tourism street), historical buildings, temple, and other awesome travel destinations.

This is the story of my journey. One day, I was in Malang-East Java for a work affairs there. After the work was done, I had to go back to my home town, Jakarta. But I remembered that I still have 1 day of free time left. Suddenly, I really wanted to transit and also traveling to Yogyakarta before returning to Jakarta. And then, I decided to buy a train tickets from Malang-Yogyakarta and Yogyakarta-Jakarta. Based on train schedule, I could transit in Yogyakarta for at least 7 hours. So I wished I could find out what tourist destinations could be visited in less than 7 hours of journey. I also wished to get to witness some unique moments that could be captured in photos and videos while there.

One day before the journey, I prepared all my travel needs, such as learning Yogyakarta’s Map to determine some tourist destinations, collect money cash (IDR / Rupiah), and packed the clothes I brought.

It's time to go. I left the Hotel to Malang’s train station by online transportation (a.k.a Ojek Online) because it was easy to order. I departed from Malang’s station to Yogyakarta’s station by train transportation. Why did I choose the train? Because, I could see the amazing landscape of Java forests, rice fields, rivers, etc from train’s window. Natural landscape made my soul peaceful. Besides that, the location of Yogyakarta’s train station is in the downtown of Yogya’s city, where the access from that point is close to many travel destinations. So I could enjoy the atmosphere of Yogyakarta and I could visit many destinations by walk. FYI, Yogyakarta’s station is the closest way to go to the Malioboro street and Keraton Kesultanan Yogyakarta. The train journey took about 8 hours from Malang and I arrived in Yogyakarta’s station around 3 pm.

From Yogyakarta’s station, I walked towards the East to the Malioboro street for 300 meters and it tooks about 15 minutes. In fact, Malioboro street is just a public street for vehicle and pedestrians, but it has been famous for a long time ago among Indonesian people as one of beautiful pedestrian street in Indonesia. Whats the reason? Because, especially on pedestrian street, it has been designed with Javanese ornaments and its surrounded by historic classical buildings with European architectural designs. Besides that, there were a lot of local street seller on the side of Malioboro pedestrian street, such as authentic Yogyakarta souvenirs, local street food and beverage, traditional clothes, etc. Malioboro street connects between Yogyakarta’s station and Keraton Kesultanan Yogyakarta, and also connects to others tourist destinations.

On Malioboro street, tourists usually take a leisurely walk on pedestrian street, taste traditional street food, and buy some authentic Yogyakarta souvenirs for family gifts. Moreover, we can enjoy various entertainments from local musicians, traditional dancers, and other street performances. FYI, you can watch these street entertainments around 3 pm to 9 pm.

Local performance at Malioboro

When I walked on Malioboro street at 03.15 pm, it wasn’t crowded enough by tourists. So, I could walk leisurely and enjoy the atmosphere at the same time. But, I planned not to stay for a long time on Malioboro street because I had to go to visit Keraton Kesultanan Yogyakarta. Actually, pass through the 1300 meters along Malioboro street only takes about 20-30 minutes. Didn’t realize that I had spent 60 minutes just walking for ¾ of the way. Why so long? Like I said before that the atmosphere of Yogyakarta made you enjoyed. Everything I had seen was very fun and entertaining. So, I really satisfied walking the street.

Then, I continued walking towards to the South. Suddenly, I stopped for a moment after 15 minutes of walking. I saw an interested museum on the left side of Malioboro street. It was the Museum of Benteng Vredeburg (Vredeburg Castle) which made me interested to visit it even though it wasn’t my journey destination. Unfortunately, the museum was almost closed for visit. I thought I didn’t have enough time to explore the museum further. After that, I decided to take a rest for a while at the outside of the museum. When I took a rest, I checked my destinations list and sometimes I talked with other tourist.

After took a rest for 30 minutes, I had to continue walking towards the South to the crossroads. That crossroads known as “0 Km of Yogyakarta”. At that place, I also saw a historical monument. How lucky, there was a beautiful rainbow had appeared behind the monument. It’s name is Monument of Serangan 1 Maret 1949 which is on the South side of Benteng Vredeburg Museum. Spontaneously, I captured some photos and videos of those beautiful moments. I also captured some photos and videos around the 0 Km Yogyakarta crossroads because the sky view was awesome.