Tom On day 2 of our travels in Yogyakarta, we did the touristy thing of catching sunrise at Borobudur! We also took the opportunity to check out other attractions such as the Chicken Church, Ambarrukmo Mall as well as natural formations at Kedung Pedut Waterfall and Kailbiru. The evening ended with yet another massage – 4 hands massage to be exact, back at Greenhost Boutique Hotel…
Borobudur Sunrise Tour
Borobudur is a buddhist temple built in the 9th century and is arguably the most visited attraction in Yogyakarta. This time, we joined the sunrise tour at Borobudur to the tune of 450,000 IDR per person ($40 SGD) – which was pretty expensive. The price includes early entry into Borobudur, torch or scarf (as souvenir) as well as a snack (coffee, goreng pisang and local pastry) at Manohara Hotel. Later, we found out that there’s another destination to head to (FOC) that allows you to catch Borobudur with sunrise at the background – Punthuk Setumbu. If you do a quick google of “Punthuk Setumbu Borobudur Sunrise”, you’ll be able to see beautiful pictures of Borobudur being illuminated by the sunrise. Of course, if you’d like to be AT Borobudur during sunrise, then the Borobudur Sunrise Tour is the one you should consider…
To join the Borobudur Sunrise Tour, you’ll have to wake up early. REAL early. For this trip, we woke up 2:45am and Arif (our driver from Yogyakarta Drivers) picked us up at 3:30am. Along the way, we saw that many people were already up and about. From whole-sellers in markets to delivery man, there was already life in Jogja in the wee hours. We also saw revelers only beginning to head up after a night out. This led us to observe that Jogja is generally safe. On our last couple of days walking about town, we were able to do so pretty much with ease.
It took us an hour to travel to from Greenhost Boutique Hotel to Borobudur Temple Complex. Upon arrival, we headed to the only hotel within the premise – Manohara Resort. There, we made our payment of 900k IDR and received a sticker (to indicate that we’re on the tour), torch light (to illuminate our way up in the darkness) and a map of the Borobudur temple complex…
The air was a little chilly in the morning. Probably in the low twenties, high teens (degrees celsius). Following the crowd (no guide at all throughout), we entered the temple complex via the north entrance. Do note that the steps are quite steep – though it takes only about 5 minutes to reach the top. So if you’re tired, just take break. No biggie.
After we reached the top, we noticed that everyone was seated facing a general direction. Hence, we gathered around the same area. As twilight arrived and more and more tourists gathered, the park rangers started to request for visitors not to sit on the relic. Soon, at about 6am, the sun rose. Unfortunately for us, it was foggy at first…
As twilight came, we could see the bells (domes) at Borobudur clearly and also the mass of people that gathered. The hotel must be earning tonnes from the visits daily. After an hour or so later, the sun eventually rose above the fog and revealed itself…
Then, it was time to move around to capture other views. With the temple complex well illuminated, we realised how MANY people there really was…
Of course, we managed to catch some shots without people as well (Kate’s favourite)…
One of the unpleasant thing we met with was during the descent from Borobudur temple. Many people like to take photos from the top of the stairs, downwards…
As we approached to use the stairs, we were jeered at by several of these tourists, simply because we wanted to use the stairs to descend and thus they were not able to take a clear shot. Thought that it was unnecessary. Hence, be considerate when you’re enjoying the Borobudur Sunrise Tour!
As part of the package, you can enjoy breakfast snacks of goreng pisang (fried banana fritters) and local pastry with coffee and/or tea at Manohara Resort’s cafe. The full length windows provide views over the complex, making it quite chill to have a break there before you leave. However, we decided to head to the elephant sanctuary and enjoy our breakfast with the gentle giants!
Borobudur Sunrise Tour
Price: 450,000 IDR ($40 SGD)
Opening Hours: 6am to 5pm (earlier for Sunrise Tours)
Chicken Church (aka Pigeong Church) Yogyakarta
After Borobudur, it was still relatively early. Hence, we did a quick google and found an attraction nearby to visit – Chicken Church…
Built originally as a Catholic Church, Chicken Church was introduced to us as Pigeon Church saying that it is a building meant for all religions. To get to Chicken Church, you have to climb a relatively steep slope…
The climb is less than 200 metres, with steps all the way through. However, if you need transport up, a Jeep runs up and down regularly for 7,000 IDR ($0.60 SGD) per trip. Inside, there are some exhibits and an really interesting opening in the centre of it that allows daylight to shine through…
Heading up, you can enjoy views at the “head” and “tail” of Chicken church…
Included in the cost of the ticket is a snack of fried casava (a starchy root). Really crisp and delicious…
Chicken Church
Price: 30,000 IDR ($3 SGD)
Opening Hours: 5:30am to 5pm (earlier for Sunrise Tours)
Natural Attractions Yogyakarta – Kedung Pedut Waterfall
Our next stop was Kedung Pedut Waterfall which Kate found out from her friends. The ride from Chicken Church to Kedung Pedut Waterfall took close to 2 hours. Enroute, we came across a paddy field…
In the region close to Kedung Pedut Waterfall, there are actually several privately owned waterfalls. If you know of any beautiful waterfalls in Yogyakarta, let our readers know about them in our comments section below.
There are 2 cool parts about Kedung Pedut Waterfall. Firstly, there is a little “theme park” where you can go for a swim or leap from from a “helicopter-like” structure. Secondly, the water from the waterfalls is so blue!!!
If you intend to swim, lockers are available for 5,000 IDR ($0.45 SGD). After a steep (and tiring) climb back up (yes! you must climb all the way up to the entrance!:O), we left for Kalibiru at 11:30 and reached at about 12pm…
Kedung Pedut Waterfall
Price: 20,000 IDR ($2 SGD)
Opening Hours: 7am to 5pm
Natural Attractions Yogyakarta – Kalibiru
Kalibiru National Park is known for its many platforms where you can take photos from. Especially shots overlooking Lake Sermo…
Kalibiru
Price: 20,000 IDR ($2 SGD)
Opening Hours: 9am to 5pm
We also paid 35,000IDR for photos to be taken from a platform where we could do jump shots. The photographer was professional in that he knew what poses to do (as we really do not know how to pose) and took high quality shots For the price, we were able to jump on the sturdy platform and take home 8 soft copies of the photos taken. For 15,000 IDR, there are also platforms that allows you to take photos from but these are not meant for jump shots though. At 12:30pm, we drove 1.5 hours back to the shopping mall – Ambarrukmo Mall.
To end off the evening, we had a lunch of bakso, mee goreng and stir fried beef for 105,000 IDR. We also did hairspa (for Kate) and haircut/wash (for Tom) at a total of 270,000IDR. Dinner included Peking Duck (350,000 IDR) and other dishes that came up to a total of 650,000 IDR.
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Lastly, we took a 40,000 IDR Grab ride back to Greenhost Boutique Hotel (which allowed us to see that Grab is very aggressive in Yogyakarta – trying to make inroads into the city). Heading back to Tea Spa, we were able to book a 4 hands massage for the both of us! Each person costs 390,000 IDR ($35 SGD). The experience was amazing as both masseuse were able to coordinate their movement in a continuous flow of motion. Shiok!
Stay tuned as we continue to discover more amazing attractions such as Pindul Cave in Yogyakarta!
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