Seeing ancient stupas and having supper with Yogyakarta locals

Our final days in Java were spent soaking up the many sights of Yogyakarta, our favourite Indonesian city so far. The city, affectionately known as Jogja to locals, is filled with beautiful street art, good food and a vibrant night life. It's one of the most popular spots on the Java backpacking trail as it is used by many travellers to reach two famous ancient temple complexes, Prambanan and Borobudur.

We stayed on Prawirotaman Street, which is popular with backpackers due to the many bars, cafes and guesthouses that have been set up in the area. We took the train from Malang to Yogyakarta station and once we were in the city everything could be reached by foot, bus or a rideshare service.

We stayed on Prawirotaman Street, which was filled with street art, cafes and cute bars.

Both Prambanan and Borobudur are now closed on Mondays for maintenance so we spent our first day exploring the local museums and learning about Yogyakarta's important role in helping Indonesia achieve independence from the Dutch colonisers in the 1940s.

We ventured out to the ancient Prambanan temple complex on a local bus the following day. It cost about $3 to get to the Marlioboro bus station by Grab and only 35c for the hour-long bus ride to the temple. It was definitely the cheapest and most fun way to get there! According to UNESCO, the temple compounds contain structures that were built in the 9th century AD. The main compound is one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia and the remaining three compounds are all Buddhist temples. Due to a mix of factors, including a volcanic eruption and shift in political powers, the temples collapsed and were abandoned in the 11th century. They were not uncovered again until the 17th century and complex restoration works have continued over the past century.

The temples reminded me of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and were truly stunning to see. It's well worth making your way past the first compound and through to the three Buddhist temples. We virtually had the whole place to ourselves as most people stuck to just exploring the first structure.

After a day of temple exploring we were treated to some lovely local hospitality. One of the staff working at our hostel took us out for some tea and card games. We were also invited to have dinner with a local family who I had connected with through a family friend. Eva's family graciously welcomed us into their home and treated us to a delicious local feed. Her two sons, Jeffry and Jason, were a little shy but happily showed us their artworks and musical instruments while attempting to speak some English. We were also gifted two huge bananas before being driven back to our accommodation. Eva had visited Wollongong in the past and we hope she comes to Australia again so we can repay her kindness!

Dinner with Eva’s beautiful family in their Yogyakarta home.

Our final full day in Jogja was spent exploring the Merapi Volcano Museum and the incredible Borobudur Temple. The Merapi volcano is one of the most active and destructive in the world and the museum was built at the base of the mountain. Many screaming children were running around the museum and provided some good entertainment as we learnt about the region's amazing history and resilience.

We hired a driver for the day so we could reach both places. It was a much more expensive option but was nice to have some flexibility. He was with us from 8am to 5pm and cost $60 (so still very affordable compared to Australia).

We spent an hour weaving our way from the museum through more lush farmland before we reached the start of the Borobudur complex. It was immense.

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world and was also built in the 8th and 9th centuries. It too was mysteriously abandoned and only rediscovered in the 19th century. We had to pre-book the tickets ($45pp) to climb up the temple structure because they now only allow 150 people to walk up the top every hour. It started pouring before we headed towards the temple but the rain miraculously stopped as we reached the base. Borobudur is unlike any temple I have ever seen. The complex looks like a mandala from above and consists of 72 stunning stupas. The surrounding mountains were a vibrant green and covered in a thick mist. It was very peaceful and there was only a handful of other people wandering around. Most visitors try to see the temple in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the harsh midday heat. We were very lucky that the rain had cooled down the temperature and scared away the crowds. It used to be a popular spot to watch the sunrise but it is no longer open that early to help protect the structure from overtourism.

We ended the day having dinner and drinks with a German couple we'd met at a jazz bar earlier in the week. The couple is also doing a world trip and travelling to many similar places, including Sumatra at the exact same time as us!! We spoke about many things, including politics ahead of the German election. We had an amazing time in Yogyakarta and absolutely want to come back one day because there is so much more we want to explore.

Our next adventure was our most intrepid yet. We were bound for Jakarta where we took a 65 hour ferry journey to Medan in northern Sumatra. I'll be writing about that whirlwind of an experience in my next post.

Tips for Yogyakarta, Borobudur and Prambanan:

• Getting to Borobudur and Prambanan: You can easily organise a Grab or private driver to take you to these places. We had considered sharing with the German couple we met to make it cheaper but the timing didn't work out. Otherwise, there are buses to both Borobudur and Prambanan from Malioboro Street. They obviously take longer but are so much cheaper.

• Recommended time: We spent 4 nights which was perfect for exploring the local city sights and getting to the temples. I know other travellers try to fit both temples into one day, which is possible, especially with a tour. However, I think it's better to spread them across two days so you don't feel rushed and have the option to take public transport if you wish.

• Getting around Jogja: You can pretty much get everywhere in Jogja within 15 minutes in a car so it's a very easy city to explore. Just make sure you have a local rideshare app set up and you'll be good to go.