Exploring the City on Foot

The NGO girls and Bila at the king's palace

 Believe it or not today was the first time we really got to explore the city by foot. We spend a lot of time in the car here driving to and from work, but we haven't actually walked around a lot. All of the girls working for NGOs had the day off, so my buddy Bila took us around. We first took the public bus to the palace. The bus is called TransJogja and is quite the experience. First of all it's the equivalent of 30 cents to ride the bus. Buses only come every 15-20 minutes and we had to wait for 2 buses until one was empty enough for us to fit on. We were then crammed like sardines standing for 45 minutes until our destination. It was hot and smelly. Not sure we'll be riding the bus again anytime soon...

After about an hour and a half of transportation we arrived at our destination, the palace. Jogja is a special region of Indonesia because it has a king that rules as a governor. We toured the palace for about an hour with an English speaking guide. Then the guide took us to a small batik art gallery. We got to try making batik!

After doing some serious shopping on Malioboro street, which is the most famous street in Jogja, we rode in pedicabs for the first time! It was a great way to see the city! We only paid a dollar fifty each for a 20 minute ride.

I've included some photos I took today. Hopefully it gives a better picture of what the city is like!

This is one of the pillars at the palace. The green represents Islam, the pink lotus is for Buddhism, and the blue elephant's foot represents Hinduism. 

The group at the palace 

Courtney learning to make batik. 

Katarina and I riding in a pedicab for the first time!!