"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

In Jogya, short for Yogyakarta , it always starts with a big, friendly smile and then, "Hello, where are you going?". These are the words of the famous Indonesian becak drivers. We fell in love with these poor, gentle souls that stand out side of the hotels and line every street desperately vying for your business. They will take you anywhere, any time, no matter how far, for a meager 25,000 rupiah, a whopping $2.50. Shortly after arriving at the hotel Mike couldn't take it anymore and hired us a becak. Off we went to the Sultan's Palace, Water Palace, bird market, and the silver factories, which are a couple of miles outside the city , where it got a little hilly. On more than one occasion we looked back to find our driver off the bike pushing us in the becak up the hill. These guys are unbelievable! We were hooked. Over the next five days we became friends with every driver on our street spreading the business around as much as we could.

Our Top Three in Java
3. Prambanan Temples- These 9th century Hindu Temples, found in ruins, went through a hundred year restoration only to be knocked down again by the earthquake in 2005 and are now partially restored. Our guide, the foremost expert on these temples, he wrote the book, couldn't resist pointing out all the sexual innuendos carved into the stone base. He felt the women back then were quite aggressive. Check out the photos , do you see anything?
2. Four hour bicycle tour on the outskirts of Jogya through traditional Javanese villages- Our twenty-three year old university student guide took us all over the place. We were put to work in the rice fields, planting rice (which we're sure they replanted when we left), harvesting the rice, quite a challenge when done by hand and even making bricks from mud, which I must say Mike was pretty good at. If the elevator business doesn't survive we know he has a back up career here in Indonesia. Under a big shady tree we took a break, ate a homemade traditional snack and talked in depth about the people, economics, religion and culture of Indonesia. Loved it!!!
And here it is, number 1...
BOROBUDUR , one of the 7 Wonders of the World WOW! We got up at 4 a.m., that's right, because one of our travel experts, Dukie (Marcia) said it was a must to be there for the sunrise. The morning began with a little hitch when our taxi driver showed up 30 minutes late. After seeing the frowns on our faces he proceeded to finish getting dressed while driving, raced through the streets and turned an hour into forty minutes. Needless to say we ran with camera in hand, in the dark, up the not so well marked footpath, not to mention the plus or minus 250 steps to the top where the sun was just beginning to rise. We sat in awe with fifty of our closest friends. (Mike thinks that's funny, I don't get it). Absolutely breathtaking! Dukie and Gerri, thanks! Just for a little info, this Buddhist temple was built sometime between 750 and 850 A.D. from two million blocks of stone. The name in Sanskrit means " Buddhist Monastery on the Hill". The amazing part is that it was buried under layers of volcanic ash and not discovered until 1815.
To close, our 6 day stay in Jogyakarta, Indonesia, a place that Mike still cannot pronounce correctly was extraordinary.

One gigantic hug-filled shout out to Hannah and Jess who we love and miss everyday and of course our angel who is with us always.