Yogyakarta and Central Java Tourist Attractions
Yogyakarta (Jogja) and Surakarta (Solo) are the centers of classical Javanese culture, kept alive by the patronage of the royal families of the two cities. Gamelan orchestras, sultans’ palaces, graceful dancers, buffalo-hide puppets and batik decorated with spiritual motifs all play important roles in the lives of even the most modern Javanese.
The highlands of Central Java are rich with historical and archeological sites, and more ruins are uncovered each year, usually by farmers plowing their fields. The magnificence of Borobudur monument in Magelang is an unequaled example of Buddhist architecture.
In western Central Java, the cool mists of Dieng Plateau surround silent temple ruins, smoking volcano craters and steaming geothermal energy. In 1891, at Sangiran (near Solo), archaeologists discovered remains of one of mankind’s early ancestors, Java Man. There’s a small museum there housing bones and fossils.
Not largely promoted, but growing in popularity is the “other side” of tourism in the Yogyakarta / Central Java region: early-morning lava watching at Mount Merapi, volcano climbing, caving, river rafting, and bicycling through small villages. The south coast, shrouded in legends of the mystical sea goddess Nyi Roro Kidul, houses beaches where freshly-caught fish are cooked on-site to diners’ specifications. And off the north coast, in the Karimunjawa Islands, PADI certification and scuba diving are relatively undiscovered.
For the less adventurous, Yogyakarta and Central Java Provinces offer a wide range of starred hotels and resorts, spas, golf courses and fine dining. There are many fine language schools in Jogja, attracting students of Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Jawa (Java) from around the world.
