Sultans Palace and Hindu Ballet

This morning began before it was light enough to even call it morning, as I once again went to the airport for a flight.  This time the drive was a short one on the dark, empty streets, and I discovered that they have a nice, relatively new domestic terminal with comfy benches you can sleep on while waiting for your flight.

Fun fact about Indonesia:  all domestic flights are either to or from Jakarta.  This means the fares are competitive, and convenient if you are in fact going to or from Jakarta.  However, it also means that if you want to go any other route it’s less than ideal.  Imagine flying from Houston to New Orleans, but all the flights go through New York City; it’s a little like that.  Thankfully I never had to worry about it, though.  This flight was less than an hour, perfect for someone who wanted to maximize sightseeing and was growing weary of transport.

Yogyakarta’s airport is a bit closer to the town, and it was short taxi ride to my boutique hotel on the outskirts.  They cater to a European crowd, and the décor was quite stylish and calming (old school, plantation Indonesian) around a tempting pool.  I could’ve easily hidden away there the whole time, but that wasn’t my objective so I set down my bags and caught a ride to the historic downtown.

First stop:  the Sultan’s Palace.  It was interesting to compare it with the sultan’s palace in Istanbul.   Heck, it was interesting just to realize they both had sultan’s palaces!  The biggest difference is that this one still has a sultan living there.  He’s the 10th sultan, and by default is the governor of this province (so it’s really a sultanate).  We didn’t get to close to his apartments, but toured the rest of the complex to see the large, open pavilions where guests were received, banquets were served, and concerts were held. 

Pausing for a break with the Palace Guards

They also had several exhibits that gave great insight into their culture and past sultans, including an area where they demonstrated how batik is made.

My favorite takeaways:  the 9th sultan was big into Scouting (kinda like my dad), and they had a gazebo with stained-glass pictures of modern musical instruments like the saxophone.  The latter was interesting in contrast to the guards who wore traditional uniforms and the gamelan orchestra.  After my tour I was treated to a concert on these traditional percussion instruments.

 

Not usually my musical taste, but in that sweltering heat I enjoyed those gongs and xylophones for longer than normal.  On my way out, I was surprised with the number of Indonesian students that were there on a field trip and wanted their picture with me.  Unlike that guy in Sumatra, these kids didn’t even bother trying to practice their English with me—they snapped the photo and were done, content to post a picture on facebook of their encounter with a white woman.

From there I decided to take a bit of a walking tour to the Bird Market.  Naturally, I got lost on the mostly-unmarked streets but along the way saw some interesting snippets of daily Indonesian life and shops.  My favorite was a cool bike shop.   My least favorite might have actually been the market itself, because it seemed like the animals weren’t treated very well, and I was grossed out by seeing all the live bird food (bugs) for sell.  On the walk back, I got a break from the heat courtesy of an unexpected downpour.  The hotel was kind enough to lend me an umbrella, which was no match for the slightest wind, but I trudged on since I was already wet and got even more stares than usual from the locals.

Next task:  buy and send postcards.  You’d think I would have stopped after my attempt in Bandalampung, but I kept at it, mainly because my tourist map indicated an actual post office.  They were friendly and actually sold me postcards and stamps—success!  I was surprised to see signs for Harry Potter stamps, but I’m starting to think I shouldn’t be surprised at seeing such things.

Nearby was a batik school, and I dropped in to see a bit more of the process and the art that’s currently being produced.  The palace was making very traditional designs so it was interesting to see a wider variety and more modern motifs.  The process reminds me a little of dying Easter eggs—you draw a design in wax on both sides of the fabric and dye it, then draw a design on it again before dying it another color, and repeating until you’re finished.  So the more colors they use, the more complex the process by orders of magnitude.  Their work was beautiful, and like every handicraft I see when I travel, I come away with such a deep respect for their craft.  However, like great works of art I’m content to view it like a museum without needing to own one.   They did manage to sell me a small sample of their work for my desk, though.  Back on the main drag, it was time to do a bit of souvenir shopping.  I was overwhelmed by choices, but ended up buying a batik prayer rug.  It seemed the perfect way to remember the traditional arts and crafts I’d seen and the predominant faith here, plus it’d come in handy when my Muslim friends come over.

By this point I was exhausted, and took a cab back to the hotel for dinner and freshening up for the evening.  My cultural event for the evening was a Ramayana ballet performed on the grounds of an ancient Hindu temple.  In the rainy season they perform in a covered theater, which we were all grateful for when it started to pour during the performance.  This style of dance in many ways reminded me of the dancing I saw in Cambodia and Thailand—slow, graceful movements like the dancers were recreating tableaus.  The costumes were gorgeous and the movement required so much control.

It was interesting to see that the evil characters had a totally different style of dance:  very energetic, with some pop and lock moves that seemed straight out of a hip hop number.  They told an abbreviated version of the Ramayana, and it was a good thing to have the program notes and a basic understanding of the plot beforehand.  A really great performance and a perfect way to end the day.