The idea to travel to Yogyakarta had been on our family agenda for almost three years. Time and time again, another holiday destination would present or we just decided to stay in Jakarta for some quality family time without the hassle of travel, inconvenience of hotels, transfers and sightseeing.

After only a week of preparations, our family was on its way, finally, to visit what is better known as Indonesia’s Cultural hub, Yogyakarta. Our aims were simple - visiting the Sultans Palace, a Ramayana Ballet performance, Temple visits, a silver factory visit and of course, in between having some time by a pool so the kids didn’t have to spend the entire holiday in a car travelling to and from sights.

To help us achieve our busy four-day, three-night schedule (Thursday afternoon – Sunday evening), we enlisted the help of Mr. Weidy Antara from Borobudur Tour & Travel who we found on the ever resourceful tripadvisor website. I am sure that our travel arrangements involved a few little extra costs but when you travel with children, it often becomes necessary. I emailed Weidy with all my holiday expectations, and together we worked out a manageable, affordable, itinerary which included “pool time for the kids/cocktail hour for parents”.

Upon arriving, at Adisucipto International Airport after a very reasonably priced Air Asia flight, we were met by a six-seater-mini-van and our driver, Rudy, who would be our designated driver for the duration of our stay in Yogja (as it is also affectionately called). Our three-year-old was quite concerned that she didn’t have a car seat, so if you or your kids are sticklers for car seats, bring your own or find a tour company who can provide a car seat for your stay. We drove 25 mins to the Hyatt Hotel, which would be home for the first two nights. At check-in, we were met by our travel arranger Weidy who went through our itinerary, and gave us the option to pay via PayPal or cash.

We spent our first night just walking around the hotel and had dinner by the pool. Water slides were visible from the restaurant and the kids’ excitement for time by the pool on day two was growing. After a great sleep and a beautiful buffet breakfast the next morning we were ready to begin the day with a visit to the Sultans Palace. Rudy was waiting for us at 9:30am and in less than 20 mins through the main streets of Yogja, we walked straight in to the Palace grounds for our tour, with tour-guide pre-arranged. The tour lasted around 1.5hrs and although our three-year-old found it a little trying towards the end, our eight-year-old enjoyed every minute. Next stop was the Sultans Summer/Water Palace, which we all found very interesting as we ambled through secret tunnels and temples. As you can imagine, the children found the ice-cream afterwards the most impressive part of this tour!

We made it back to the hotel and by the pool by 1:30 and we were able to enjoy the slides for an hour before the rain rolled in. The hotels staff was very good to move us and all our things into the restaurant for the remainder of our lunch.

After a relaxing afternoon and another reasonable dinner at the hotel we all piled into the van with Rudy for a half-hour drive to visit an outdoor amphitheatre for a performance of the traditional Javanese love story, Ramayana. This beautiful, colourful and engaging dance was an incredible sight for the children and before the show, we were invited to go backstage to meet with the stars of the show as they prepared. It made such an impression on the children and even after two hours of dancing, gamelan and fire on stage, the children were talking about the characters Shinta and Rama for weeks afterwards. I honestly thought we would be walking out half-way through the show as our three-year-old has never sat still through anything. We were all mesmerized and thoroughly enjoyed our little slice of Indonesian drama.

Day three began with another wonderful buffet breakfast and a traditional horse & cart or Andong ride through the local kampung. It was really lovely to see so many happy faces waving at us and getting to see countryside, off the beaten track. We took the tour through the hotel as a free service and the children loved it. The later part of the morning was time by the pool and lunch before we checked out of the Hyatt. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Hyatt. The only downside was only one restaurant on the grounds but the menu was quite diverse and there were different options for the kids too. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this hotel as the price, service and amenities were all spot on. And if you enjoy Golf, this hotel reminded me of The Nirwana in Bali, with a course on ground.

Our first stop after leaving the hotel was a silver factory. Again, our three-year-old wasn’t that impressed although she was right on top of trying to buy a bracelet from the get go. It was incredible to see the craftsmanship which these workers have developed. Intricate details which are repeated time and time again in differing pieces of work. Our eight-year-old couldn’t believe her eyes. We have previously visited a similar factory in Bali so if I had my time again, we probably would have skipped this part of the tour and gone straight to the largest Hindu temples in Indonesia, Prambanan. However, arriving at the temple grounds just before sunset was a magical time to take photo’s of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Upon leaving we also went through a labyrinth of market stalls which were also worth a visit.

We were then on our way to the next hotel, The Saraswati, which would put us almost at the doorstep of our final destination, Borobudur. Bear in mind from Prambanan to the hotels closer to Borobudur, the distance amounts to between 1 – 1.5hrs drive. We didn’t arrive at our hotel until just after 7 pm and the children were shattered. We had a lovely dinner by the poolside and the luxury of this hotel was quite impressive. Originally we had tried to book at the hotel which is on the Borobudur grounds, the Manohara, which not only allows you unlimited access to Borobudur & is also much cheaper, however they were fully booked. Instead we stayed at the Saraswati, a two minute drive down the road, which suited our cutting down on travel time for a scheduled 4:30am Sunrise tour of Borobudur.

While showering the kids that night, the bathroom began to flood, which was the last thing we needed so late in the evening but we dealt with it the next day. Our bedding & room also smelled quite musty and so even though the hotel seemed quite grand, we weren’t feeling it. I believe my husbands last words before going to sleep that night were, “Thank goodness we are here only one night.”

After a 4am wake-up-call, we all got ready and met our tour guide in the lobby with Rudy our driver. We drove to the Manohara hotel, on the Komplex Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur and checked in at the tour office to receive our torches before beginning our tour. The 9th Century Buddhist construction is just magnificent and I can’t rave on enough about what a beautiful site it is, especially as the sun rises. There are 150 steps to climb to reach the main level where you sit amongst 72 Buddha statues inside perforated stupas. With a little help even our three-year-old found it manageable. Our tour guide was very informative and overall the experience was breathtaking and awesome - especially to see in the distant skyline, an active Mt. Merapi smoking in the morning light.

After the tour we were able to sit and have breakfast at the Manohara and enjoy the views of Borobudur from a distance. In full light it is just as romantic and we decided that we would just spend the rest of the morning swimming and then try to have a sleep before lunch and checking out of the Saraswati to eventually end our trip at the airport in the late afternoon.

Although there were a few more things we didn’t get a chance to do, like explore the main Jalan Marlioboro & see the handicraft & batik markets, Yogja was a very lovely place to visit & it was a hit with the children. Make sure you do a little research into what you would enjoy as a family and email back and forth with a few travel agents so you get what you are looking for. Borobudur Tour & Travel gave us exactly what we needed, a flexible agenda, a car & driver on standby for our four days, much like we are used to in Jakarta and pre-arranged all tour entries and guides. All we had to worry about was the head count and snacks for the days activities. For more information visit www.borobudurtourandtravel.com.

Words & Photos _/_ Dianne Newton