Yogyakarta Off The Beaten Path

Inside the Karaton, lies a museum dedicated to the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, the father of the present Sultan. Besides fighting for independence the late Sultan was a good cook who could whip up a mean soup Buntut (ox tail soup). Curiously enough, even his royal oven mitts are on display, to prove the point that he could cook!

Right in the heart of Jalan Marlioboro, Yogyakarta lies a cavernous old market. Within in, you'll find everything for sale under the sky, clothes, meat, spices, flowers, fruit. You name it, they have it. This market is at least 3x the size of Ben Tanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City.

A lady lumbers along, the precious fruit in a basket strapped to her back. Round, prickly crowns of green with seeds of golden flesh.

Where:Pasar Beringharjo, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Entrance

Bouquets of of tart-green Pisang Rajah ( Translates to Banana King literally) lies on a table for sale. Take your pick and the lady will present you a green bouquet in a handwoven brown basket.

Where:Pasar Beringharjo, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Fruit section, back of the market.

Cockerals rests in ratten baskets by the sidewalks. Their colourful tail feathers peek out their ratten carriers. These highly-prized birds are reared only for fighting and are pampered by their owners. Other than the occasional stroking, these birds are taken for walks and placed along the sidewalks so that they are constantly amused by the noise of street activity.

Where:The Bird market (Pasar Ngasem), west of the Kraton, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

As I could reccomend for any town you visit for the first time, the local market is a place that can give you an idea of where you are much more than the most important monument and sites the colours, the smells often remain in your memory much longer than the history of a statue of a painting.
I didn't meet any tourist around Yoyakarta market which is a place where to meet local daily life, full of people and some weird birds species.

It is told in the Indian Epic of Ramayana that Sita once spotted a golden deer outside and asked Rama to bring her the deer. He went out for the deer, leaving his best friend to look after Sita. It all was a set-up to kidnap Sita by the bad Demon-king Ravana ...

On the Borobudur you'll find at the second floor, at South Gate, this beautiful relief of a girl and deer. It is the Bodhisattva who rescued it and, the stories have such great similarities ...

The Palace of Ngayogyakarto Hadiningrat is now habitat to Sultan Hamengku Buwono X and the family. See this painting inside of the Palace. It is Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X who became Sultan at 1989 March 7th. Watch your flash-light when taking a photograph!

Actually his name is >>>
Kanjeng Sultan Hamengku Buwono Senapati Ingalaga Ngabdurahman Sayidin Panatagama Kalipatulah!

Keep in mind: >>>
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
At 09:00 AM
Anniversary of the Inauguration of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X at Kencono Hall of Yogyakarta Royal Palace.

A very special place to me is the TAMAN SARI, the Water Castle. Once this was a pleasure park built in feudal splendor between 1758 - 1765 for, and built by the Sultan Hamengku Buwana I. Taman Sari once had lighted underwater corridors, cool subterranean mosques, meditation platforms in de middle of lily ponds, gamelan towers, and galleries for dancing, all in mock Spanish architecture. Princesses bathed in flower-strewn pools, streams flowed above covered passageways, and boats drifted in man-made lakes. As well the Javanese War ( 1825-1830 ) as the earthquake of 1867 destroyed this romantic fairy-like place.

The Water Castle is also like a meditation place where the Yogya Sultan offers to the spirit of RATU KIDUL, the legendary Spirit-queen Of The South Sea. Some says that Taman Sari just looks like the Palace of the South Sea Goddess. She kept Her promise to Sultans ancestor, Panembahan Senopati, to guard Mataram Kingdom, the Sultans and their family and people from evil calamity. You still can see a bricked up cave which once led to the Indian Ocean by subway-tunnels ...