Jakarta and flight to Yogya

The hour long flight to Jakarta brought another meal and then we landed at the airport. After a good night’s sleep at a hotel close to the airport, we woke the next day to get ready for our short flight to Yogyakarta, the Javanese cultural center of Indonesia where our tour was to begin. Breakfast was a combination of local Indonesian cuisine and Western fare and it was delicious. Nasi goring (fried rice) is everywhere in Indonesia and this was an excellent rendition with shrimp and chicken. Also very good were vegetarian fried noodles and a selection of fruit on skewers – with chocolate for dipping! No durian fruit in sight. The flight on Garuda Airlines (Indonesia’s national carrier, means “bird”) was short and pleasant. Yogya’s airport is small, with one runway, and the plane had to make a U turn to return to the terminal after landing. Inside, a young woman was demonstrating the batik technique on fabric. Colored wax is applied with a stylus. We’ll get a chance to see more batik on our tour. We took a local bus to a stop within walking distance to our hotel (or so we thought) and ended up taking a taxi the rest of the way, since it was pouring down rain. This is the start of the rainy season in Indonesia. The day started out sunny, but then black clouds formed and it rained steadily from 2 – 7 pm. We learned that most days will be like this, through February. So our activities will take place mostly in the mornings!