Yogya, Yogya, Yogya

Today is my first day alone. I start the day calmly, have a nice breakfast and write on my blog. At 10:30 am I finally leave the guest house, stroll through Jalan Malioboro and buy the last souvenirs for my loved ones at home.

At lunchtime, I look for a place, which is again difficult in light of Ramadan. Finally, I have a pizza at the Vredeburg Museum which is a former colonial fortress who was built in 1760 as requested by the Dutch governor of North Java, at that time. Then I let myself drive from a rickshaw driver to the water castle, called Taman Sari.

Taman Sari is the site of a former royal garden of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. Built in the mid-18th century, Taman Sari had multiple functions, such as a resting area, a workshop, a meditation area, a defense area, and a hiding place.

I stay there for quite a while, before I head off to the guesthouse with another rickshaw driver. There, the wife of an employee is already waiting for me. She has agreed to sew something for me – from pieces of fabric that each CSC team member has gotten as present from our second Community Service Day.

After the clothes fitting, I take a quick shower and get ready for the Prambanan Ramanyana ballet performance. Unfortunately, I’m 15 minutes late. The ushers lead me still friendly in the performance hall. Quietly, I sit down and watch the ballet performance in front of the backdrop of the Prambanan Temple. It looks fantastic and somehow pretty mystical …

During the break, I exchange my drink voucher and buy myself a bag of tortilla chips for dinner – very healthy 😉

After the end of the performance, I am a bit alone and lost in the parking lot area … I just want to order a Grab taxi when I am approached by a man who seems to belong to a group. As it turns out, it is a group of 11 priests who have chartered a minibus together with their father and they offer to give me a lift back to my guest house. Oh, how happy I was about this nice opportunity – thank God!