Cultural Villages

These villages are located around the centrum of Yogya, i.e. the Sultan Palace, where each village has its own uniqueness to offer to visitors, like the architecture of the buildings, the daily life and activities of its people, such as farming, animal husbandry, and cultural activities , including traditional dancing performances and arts exhibitons.




Some ot them are, Tembi Village, located about 8 km south of Yogya, where visitors can stay in a home stay runs by villagers and enjoy traditional performances and art exhibitions.
Kebon Agung Village, it is located 17 km southeast of Bantul Regency, where visitors can observe farmers' daily activities like cultivation and animal farming, they also offer traditional performance and food festival as well.



Sleman Regency has Tanjung Village, located 10 km north of Yogya, where visitors can enjoy the Javanese hospitality while feeling the sense of living in a village inside the 200 year old traditional Javanese home. You might learn how to do rice farming or duck shepherding as well.

The River of Code

Unlike The Thames in London, The Seine in Paris and The Tibre in Rome, the Code river is not just a river which cuts through the city, it is actually a home, a community of the poor, who have nowhere to live and stay in a formal living spaces. Most of them are migrant workers, included an ex criminals, buskers, pickpockets, pedicab drivers, even prostitutes, and perhaps many more unusual positions, you just name it.
It also become a centre of activities and life as well where despite of the dark grey-brown with buoyed rubbish, they use the water of the river to bath and wash the cloth. Miraculously, they're well so far, thanks God ! (probably not yet get the disease, who knows ?).
This community also contains some small scale industries, like tofu home industry, and herbal traditional medicine makers. All of them exist here, people who escape from social expectations and mostly have unconventional jobs.
Everything has its own good and bad side, and the Code river might be the ugly side of the city of Yogya, where you won't go fishing here, will you ?

Cave exploring

Here in Yogya and surrounding areas in Java, caves means magical and mystical as well, where many of them have been used for religious purposes for centuries, and still continue then.
For those who would like to explore, Yogya offers caves accessible to all of you which have a variety
purposes. Beside for recreational adventures and ecological as well geological, historical and scientific data, caves play an important role and both cultural and social heritage.
In a hilly areas of Menoreh, about 9 km northeast of Borobudur Temple, there is a famous cave named Sendang Sono , it's a sacred cave for Catholics where you may find a statue of Virgin Mary in the hillside. To be there, you have to go through a narrow trail as the "Crucifixion Path", to reach the Holly Spring, where water is taken to the Virgin Mary to be blessed. It's believed that the water can heale diseases, purify soul, and bring peaces to all people.

At Dieng plateau, beside the eight Hindhu Temple from 8th century, it might be the oldest in Java, surrounded by boiling mud volcanoes, colored lakes, sulphur outlets and undergrounds channels, there are at least three caves, i.e. Semar Cave, Sumur Cave, and Jaran Cave. Inscriptions dating to 1210AD have been found here.
About 35 km south of Yogya, located in a densed hills of Menoreh there're at least two caves, believed to be the Royal food storage and also a battlefield as told in the Ramayana Epic, which can only be reached by crawling. Sumitro Cave known as the place where the Mahabharata hero medication place, where a lot of people who still believe the magical power of the caves do meditation to gain for fame and fortune.
Selarong Cave located in Bantul Regency, 13 km south of Yogya, which was used for guerilla warfare zone by one of the National Hero of Indonesia, Prince Diponegoro (1825-1830) during the fight against the Dutch colonial government.



In most all caves you will find faunas which are different, like bats, swallows, which produce nests favored by Chinese to be an expensive gourmet soup.
Whoever are exploring caves and regardless of the reasons, they should be careful not to damage cave walls and fragile formations, which take centuries to build. The ecology and the life population should not be disturbed.
Please appreciate and preserve them for many purposes, since they preserve many values of hidden worlds.

Cave Diving

It actually is not for family fun holiday, since it needs an experience, special equipments, and not to mention a brave heart. Extreme adventures can be found at Pegunungan Sewu, Gunung KIdul Regency, where a chain of some 50.000 karsthills perforated with fast caverns, fissures and underground streams, which stretched about 85 km along the south beach of Yogya by The Indian Ocean.
It's named a World Natural Heritage Site in 1994 by The International Union of Speleology 'the exploration and study of caves'. The scientists also discovered nearly 500 caves and tracers of ancient life as well, and concluded that there was a settlement here in The Mesolithic Period (10000 yrs ago ).



Even an Hippopotamus fossil were founded here in Sengok Cave.
For spenlukers, Jamblang Cave and Grubug Cave in Gunung Kidul will be very challenging and thrilling \, since the first chamber to visit is about 75 m drop by rope, after reaching the floor, you will follow the tunnel leading to stalactites and stalagmites as well to a second chamber.
At the bottom of the cave, about 125 m drop, is a rapid river which is heading to the great ocean, The Indian Ocean, where the imaginary Princess of The South is living in her eternal palace.

Running and Trekking

Try to find out the timetable and the locations as well to joint the activities of Hash House Harriers Club, where you can run in the recreational parks with a tract at Kopeng or Kaliurang.
Or, if you want to satisfy your wild imagination by trekking and climbing the mountains and enjoy the mystical volcano of Mount Merapi and view from a close distance.
You can chose whether gazing at spectacular lava views or visit the observation point for a closer view, or probably just take a stroll through friendly villagers and thousands variety of plantations and chat to local villagers.
After all it's your choices ! Have a nice day !

rafting

Yogya has at least three area rivers to do this activities for those who love challenges and enjoy spending times to tame wild rivers in a breathtaking scenery and surrounded by mountains. For beginners, try Elo River just close to the Borobudur Temple, or Progo River for advanced rafter, and Serayu River for more adventurous rafting experiences. Have a good day guys !

The Merapi Volcano

It just like a smokey sleeping giant, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, camouflaged in a sleepy and tranquil forest. Beyond this, you would find a vast stretches of deserted land laying deep in the steep valleys trailing amongst the hills.The pines and wild grass are the dominant vegetation.
During the resting time between the volcanic activities, a lot of hikers, nature lovers, environmentalists climb and observe the mystical and magical mountain to feel and experience as well the magical pulling power and enjoy the abundance of both flora and fauna, and also the natural beauty.
Watch the Merapi from the observation point at Plawangan, reached via a forest trail from Kaliurang to see the incredible views of molten rocks, bubbling mud and hot lava pouring forth and leaving a long trails of smoke. You might visit Trumpon Point to find out children park, running track, and artificial lake.