Yikes! Yogyakarta

The main base for visiting Borobudur and Prambanan, Yogya sees a lot of tourists.

There's no getting around that fact, nor the consequences. Walk around the streets, and you will be assailed every ten feet with the calls of "Taxi, taxi," or "Where are you going?" or "Hello, batik?"

It will get very wearying within the first few hours.

The main roads are filled with rushing traffic, dust, and becak drivers. Stick to the backstreets as much as possible.

There are some nice corners of the city to wander in, and the old water palace is attractive, and there is some good eating (although, with the amount of sugar involved, staying here long-term would probably cause diabetes).

Signposting is frequently almost non-existent, making it sometimes quite difficult to find your way about, especially around the Water Palace and underground mosque.

The Water Palace (Taman Sari)

Inside the Sultan's Palace

Traditional dance display in the palace

Finding your way to the underground mosque (Sumur Gumuling)

When you leave the water palace, ask the staff at the exit to point you in the direction of the mosque. When you follow their directions, you'll see the dome of the mosque. What you probably won't see is any way to get inside. The entrance is pretty well hidden, with no signage.

Continue walking past the dome, and you'll see an alleyway on the right with a clump of trees on the corner. If you look closely, you'll see a small red arrow on one of the trees. Immediately next to the clump of trees is a narrow path heading slightly uphill towards what appears to be a crumbling ruin. There's a bit more greenery on the other side of the path, and a small yellow building.

Take the path, and follow it around to the right, ascending for another 30 feet until you see some steps leading down to an entrance. That's how you get in.

Inside Sumur Gumuling

This is the path that leads to the entrance

Getting to the city from the airport

There are a couple of transport counters in the terminal that offer taxis, but I didn't recognise any of the company names and had no idea how reliable and honest any of them were (no Bluebird here). I certainly wasn't going to trust the dozens of taxi touts who hang out in front of  arrivals and descend on white faces like a pack of hungry wolves (I had one of them following me for 50 feet, still trying to convince me to get in his taxi, after telling him emphatically no).

But you have options, although none are as quick as taking a taxi. First you have the TransJogja city buses. They run a couple of routes from the airport to the city centre (1A runs down Malioboro, past the backpacker area, and then passes the north end of the Kraton, before looping back towards the airport. 3B heads south to the Giwangan bus terminal before running west along the top of the Prawirotaman area). The buses have conductors on all routes that speak English and are very helpful at ensuring tourists get on the right bus. Many bus stops also have uniformed staff who will tell you which bus to catch. Buy your ticket from the staff at the stop, or from the conductor when you board at non-manned stops. You can find route maps online (Google map's route maps are not 100% accurate).

Your other option is to catch a train from the airport station into the centre. Please note: ticket booking sites and the railway's website only show the intercity trains that use this stop. However there are also regular Prambanan Ekspres trains (known as Prameks) which stop at this station and run about every 90 minutes, and are not listed online. Google maps will show the schedule. Depending on when your flight is scheduled, trains may or may not work for you.

To get to the train station or bus stop at the airport, look for an underpass in terminal one (it's towards the right side of the terminal, when you're standing with your back to the secure section). If your flight arrives at terminal two (Air Asia uses two) you will need to walk out of the terminal, turn right, and walk 100m along the street to terminal one, then go inside to find the underpass.

Yes, I did eat all that ice cream.
Yes, I did pay for it later.

Sugar rush part 2: gudeg with krecek at Gudeg Yu Djum