Yogyakarta (Jogja) is a busstling city in Java and used to be the capital of Indonesia (now it is Jakarta).Jogja is a Special Administrative Region, which means that Jogja is headed by a monarchy (Sultan). There are many palaces, kraton, in Jogja, and the biggest and most famous one lies in the center of the city.
Jogja lies very close to Borobudur and Prambanan, which makes the city an ideal place for tourist from Indonesia and the rest of the world. Walking down Jalan Malioboro (Malioboro Street) is an experience of its own. Everyone collects here, tourists and locals. This street is lined with shops, restuarnats, and vendors/kiosks. Not only that, but there are street performers, becaks, scooters, cars, horse carriages, as well as the pedestrians, EVERYWHERE! It’s so crazy, so much going on, night and day! You have to take a ride on a becak when you are in Yogyakarta. There are not very many places that still have them, so use the opportunity in Jogja.
To get away from all the action, we found a hotel a bit further away from Malioboro Street and found a guest house not too far away from the Sultan’s palace. Which brings me to the local fair. This fair if “hosted” by the Sultan for his citizens, only once a year, around December. And we just happened to be there!
One evening, we decided to check it out. There were so many people and food and rides. The rides though…many of the rides we saw were manually operated! A type of merry-go-round swing thing really caught our eye, we stood there watching for about 1 hour. So here is how it goes down: a group of about 4 guys operate it. To get the guests to their seats, one guy holds a ladder, while one or two other guys pull down the seats so that guests can sit. Once the ride is full, the guys pull the ride and run around in circles until the ride is fast enough. Then they take a break for a minute or two and then they run around in circles again. While pulling and running around in circles, the guys do accrobatic stunts through the poles and in between the seats!! It is AMAZING!! Seriously! I have never seen anything like that! And to top it off, one of the guys climbs the tent pole, goes all the way up and lights a firework for the grand finale! Oh, did I mention that they smoke cigarettes while doing all this? If you happen to be in Jogja in December, ask when the fair (close to the Sultan’s Palace) is. You have to check it out!
moments to create 