Jogja Self Guide Online personal tourism guide of Yogyakarta

If you visit Jogjakarta, you will see — not everyday, of course — some demonstrations. Many people gather in some place, bringing many posters and other attributes. Do not worry, it’s fine. This kind of demonstration is not only happened in Jogjakarta, but also in other cities, even in the world. This May, for example, there are many demonstration because the govt raises the fuel price. I agree that it’s not a good decision because it brings many impacts for the people.

I took the picture above on May 21st, 2008 at Gedung Agung (in front Vredeburg Fort), Jalan Malioboro. There are many college students and policemen. I also saw that there were some tourists seeing it.

Probably, the biggest impact — because of the demonstration — is the transportation situation. There are many buses having routes to Malioboro streets. During the demonstration, usually the street was closed for public. If you want to go to Malioboro using public transportation, you can park you vehicles at the parking lot in Malioboro. If you use taxi, the taxi driver will tell you that you — probably can’t go into Malioboro street. He will tell you that you need to take another routes, or find you the nearest location (from your final destination, if you want to stop near Malioboro street).

This year (October 7th, 2008), Jogjakarta will celebrate its 252th anniversary. There will be many events hold in Jogjakarta city, e.g. food festival, mural competition, photography contest, fashion show and also Jogja Java Carnival. This is a good opportunity to see many tourism attractions in Jogjakarta. Sometime, it’s not easy to reach the food, and other attraction when you visit Jogjakarta. But, if there is a big event — like the city anniversary celebration — we can see lots of interesting agenda.

Usually, the celebration takes place on Malioboro street. So, if you come to Malioboro, just head to Jogja Tourism Center to get the event schedules. Just to make sure that you won’t miss any special events.

Yes, a good news for Indonesian tourism. Starting from May 23, 2008, the travel warning released by The US govt had been lifted. What does the travel warning said, anyway. According to The United States Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs:

This Travel Warning updates information concerning the security situation in Indonesia and urges American citizens to evaluate carefully the risks of travel to that country.  This Travel Warning supersedes the January 9, 2007. Travel Warning for Indonesia.

Due to the possibility of terrorist attacks directed against American or other Western citizens and interests, the Department of State urges American citizens to evaluate carefully the risks of travel to Indonesia.  The October 1, 2005, terrorist attacks in Bali, in which suicide bombers killed 20 people and injured more than 100, are a reminder that terrorists remain active in Indonesia.  Similarly, during the three prior years, there were three significant terrorist attacks in Indonesia, two in Jakarta and one in Bali.  During 2007, the Indonesian police and security forces disrupted a number of cells linked with Jemaah Islamiyah, a U.S. Department of State-designated foreign terrorist organization.  The existence of additional cells intending to carry out future attacks in Bali, Jakarta, or other areas of Indonesia cannot be ruled out.

This decision — travel warning lift — were taken because of the improvement of security situation in Indonesia. As another note, this year (2008), Indonesia has a tourism program called Visit Indonesia Year 2008. The government of Indonesia set a target to bring 7 millions tourists to Indonesia. Let’s see the results later.

Read more about this news at USAToday.com.

This November, it’s almost raining everyday. I personally like the weather. before the wet season came, the weather is soooo hot, even at night! For farmers, this might be a good news because they can water their sawah.

But, bad things also happen. More problem on the electricity. For some areas (at mine, for example), it has become a daily problem. Well, probably it’s too rude to say “daily”. Okey, it’s a common problem. I think my area is quite busy. I mean, there are many business activities. Three schools, internet warong, salon, TV/electric shop, etc. And, it has been happening for few years. I think the electricity quality service from the electric company for some areas is not satisfying at all. So, if you’re in Jogjakarta, and you find the lights went out, you know why. It’s an electricity problem. And it just happens.

“Becak, Sir?”, “To Malioboro, Sir… Five thousand rupiah, Sir?”, “Need hotel? I can help you find one!”. If you go to Jogjakarta, you will find those greetings. I mean, many people will offer their “help”. But, I am sure that not all people will consider this as helpful offers. Some will consider them as ‘interupting’ or ‘disturbance’. I just read an interesting story from Pete Ellison:

In Yogyakarta, the streets are littered with becaks. The becak is a tricycle in reverse, with the two wheels supporting a passenger seat in the front. The first thing to note is the sheer number of them. Dozens line every street, awaiting a fare. It is an incredible excess, and business is so slack that most drivers spend their day sleeping on them. I would say that becaks outnumber tourists by a factor of at least 20-1, and this is no exaggeration! The other thing to note is the persistance of the drivers in trying to attract a fare. another prambanan temple the workmanship was impressive, especially considering this was built in 800 AD “Bechay!” they cry (this is how another prambanan temple the workmanship was impressive, especially considering this was built in 800 ADbecak is pronounced). A chorus of bechay, bechay, bechay greets you down every street. Or “Hello mister! Transport?” Some of them leap off their becak and follow you asking “where are you going?”. When I first arrived I would respond to “where are you going?”by pointing to a shop a few doors down and say “I’m going THERE”. Otherwise they will not stop pestering you. But eventually the continual hassle of dealng with becak drivers on every street wore me down, and I would just march past them and ignore them. Harsh but necessary.

But, seriously… It’s probably the best example of dealing with this kind of hassles. I believe that people are friendly. Tourists are still a human, when he/she had his/her own definition of “being friendly”. So, if you’re facing the same experince like what Pete Ellison wrote there, you know what to do: ignore them. Becak drivers, local food sellers, tourist guides are just want to ‘work’, get some money for their living. That’s all. But, of course, not all of them have a good strategy in selling their services/products.

Last October, I went to Surabaya by train. Because I need to arrive at Surabaya in the morning, I decided to took early-morning train. The ticket said that the train from Jakarta would be arrived at Tugu Station at 1 AM. I don’t know, when I use train, “it’s must be late” always comes to my mind. Seriously, not only the departure time, but also arrival. Okey, it’s probably not always, but… it happens.

Continue reading »