One day trip in Yogyakarta with limited budget

Indonesia has a lot of beautiful scenery and attractive places. If you are a beach person who like to tan under the sun and surfing or even diving, you can visit Bali island, Lombok, Ambon, Makassar, Flores, Raja Ampat and more. I could even say that there is too many beautiful beaches in Indonesia which is more mesmerizing than the famous "Bali Island".

Yogyakarta offer different attraction, it's special region in Java, Indonesia. It's full of intellectual heritage such as Candi Borobudur, Candi Prambanan, Taman sari, fort vrederburg and Keraton. You need to book your hotel in advanced, or you won't get good stay since many popular hotels which offer great hospitality with reasonable price is fully booked on high season.

Highlight:

- Most of the food taste quite sweet for my taste, but it's still delicious. I find that they like to use sweet black bean sauce (kecap manis) in their traditional food.

- Everything is relatively cheap, at least if you compare Yogyakarta to other cities like Medan, Surabaya, Makassar, etc.

- You will experience the culture and the friendliness of Yogyakarta's people.

- It's really hard to get a taxi on the road (or I am just not lucky?), I suggest that you order your taxi via hotel, or you need to make a call yourself. You can use another transportation too, ex: ojek (motorcyle driver) or becak.

- it's a wise thing to rent a motorcyle, a bicycle or even a car (for big group) to go around Yogya. In 2016, the price to rent a motorcyle for one day is approximately 150k IDR to 250k IDR, for a 7-seater-car it's about 400k IDR to 500k IDR. (Depends on the type and season). You can also ask your taxi driver to be your private one day/half day tour for 600k IDR. I negotiate with one of the ojek driver to give me a return ride to Borobudur with 150k IDR. (6 hours)

If you only have one day in Yogyakarta and like to see antique ruins and heritage, you can go with Borobudur + Prambanan tour for about 250k IDR per person. The mini bus will pick you up at your stay.

I stayed either in Santika hotel, 101, or Grand Zuri in Yogyakarta. It's walking distance to Malioboro. To be honest, I found that the price in Malioboro is more expensive than in other places.I talked with few shopkeeper there. Basically, there are 2 shifts (Day and Night), every shift is ran by 2 persons. Most of the store in Malioboro bought their products from another store outside the area. Actually you can find much cheaper store if you are willing to take more walk around the city. I accidentally found one store that have similar (or even identical) product that I have bought in Maliboro, but with half price. Half price from something that I need to bargain a lot when shopping in Malioboro. Let say I bought a shirt for 50k IDR after I ask some discount from the shop keeper in Malioboro (The open price is 100k IDR). The next day I find same shirt in another store, but only cost me about 30k IDR (fix price).

BUT wait, I am not saying that you shouldn't shop in Malioboro. Shopping there will give you special experience that you can't get, and it will effectively save your time because you can just go there and find a lot of diverse things. Most of the seller / shopkeeper is friendly and nice people too. It's still a good deal, and much cheaper then buying it in Jakarta.

Almost forget, I recommend "Taman Pintar" as a place you must go if you bring children. It's very educative, entertaining and offer you a lot of things to do. (from 4d cinema, robotic corner, big aquarium, jurasic park, science, and more!)