THE INDONESIAN NATURE TOUR

Compared to Prambanan and Borobudur Temples, Ratu-Boko Temple is as well known as both of them. Ratu-Boko Temple or Ratu-Boko Palace, which is situated on a hill, however, hides some tourism potentiality, which both Borobudur and Prambanan don't have. Trekking as a hidden potentiality has now started attracting tourists.
The beautiful scenery and the unspoiled nature in the area have made trekking a new selling adventure. The beauty and natural potentiality for trekking tours has inspired the management of Borobudur, Prambanan & Ratu-Boko to make Ratu-Boko area an impressive cultural adventure site. The effort has come to materialize with the cultural and trekking tour package.
The highlight on this unforgetable tour is the tremendous silk sunrise viewed from Tugel Hill over the colorful of beauty rice field. We don't try to be all things to all people, we only operate in Jogja and we only operate our own unique, quirky style of trips. So right now by visiting this webpage, you are literally holding our world in your hands.
The trek starts from Kraton Ratu-Boko's headquarter at 03:00 pm and return home again at 09:00 am. Having traced the hills of Ratu-Boko up to Gunung Tugel (or Gunung Pegat), the participants can, if the weather is fine, enjoy sunrise while having a rest. The trekking trip is then continued to the nearest temple like Candi Ijo. You may spend the night on your tents, cottages, or if you like, you can stay in the locals' house appointed by us. On the way back to Ratu-Boko, breakfast will be served in the small bamboo hut, on top of the hill, viewing towering active volcanos of Sumbing, Sindoro, Merapi and Lawu. Those taking part in the trekking can also have breakfast while enjoying the ambience of the countryside.
English-speaking guide, light traditional breakfast and mineral water included. Minimum participant to run the tour is 2 pax. We also prepare luxury tent for those who want to camp overnight at our quiet backyard before starting the tour. Here you can watch superb and fantastic sunset and the lava flows from Mt. Merapi.

Yogyakarta Toponym, Tracing the History of Kampongs Naming
Some kampongs in Yogyakarta are unique because of their similar naming process. Some kampongs are named based on the profession of most of the dwellers, kinship and position, the skill of the inhabitants or the name of the troops. The kampongs are especially those around Kingdom area that are divided into two namely Jeron Beteng or those living inside the area of the Kingdom complex and Jaban Beteng for those living outside of the Kingdom area.
The kampongs inside the Kingdom area were mostly named based on the skill of the people most of them served the kingdom to handle the household daily affairs. Walking to the east of the North Square and turning to the right to enter Plengkung Wijilan or Wijilan Gate, you will see Mantrigawen, Gamelan, Namburan, and Siliran kampongs. If you continue walking southwards, you will come to Nagan and Patehan kampongs.
The name of Mantrigawen denotes the position of the officers who worked as the heads of the employees, while the name of Gamelan was taken from the profession of the dwellers that worked as horseshoe makers. Siliran was the dwelling place for the servants whose job was lighting lamps and Namburan was dwelled by the servants whose job were playing traditional snare drum. Patehan was the home for tea makers while Nagan was the residence for Javanese gamelan players.
In the outside of the Kingdom area, you will see other kampongs where kingdom servants working as administrative officers, soldiers, craftsmen, professionals or other noblemen lived. Some kampongs according to YogYES.COM's data are Pajeksan, Jlagran, Dagen, Gandekan, Gowongan, Wirobrajan, Patangpuluhan, Prawirotaman, Mantrijeron and Bugisan. To encircle the areas, you may begin from north side to the south part since the distribution of the kampongs began from Tugu to Panggung Krapyak.
The name Pajeksan was taken since the area was dwelled by prosecutors or jaksa, while Dagen was used because the place was the living place of carpenters or dagi in Javanese word. Gowongan was the home of the house builders and Jlagran was resided by bricklayers. Other kampongs such as Prawirotaman, Mantrijeron, Bugisan, Wirobrajan, Patangpuluhan and Jogokaryan were the places where the soldiers of Prawirotomo, Mantrijero, Wirobrojo, Bugis, Patangpuluh and Jogokoryo troops lived.
Along with the progress and plurality of the inhabitants in Yogyakarta, starting from 1900s other kampongs outside the Kingdom area existed. Generally, the kampongs were divided based on its ethnic so that they were named based on the dominating ethic. Some kampongs that you may visit are Kranggan, Pecinan, Sayidan, Menduran, Loji Kecil, Kotabaru, and Sagan. In addition to functioning as dwelling places, those areas also become centers of economy activities.
Kranggan kampong that is located north of Tugu and Pecinan that is situated to the south of Malioboro used to be dwelled by Chinese people. Sayidan kampong is a place for Arabians while Menduran was the living place of Madurese people. European descendants who mostly were Dutch people lived in Loji Kecil area that is located close to Vredeburg Fortress, Kotabaru in the northeast of Malioboro and Sagan that is close to Solo Street.
Feeling the atmosphere of the kampongs or spending a while to interact with the inhabitants, you will find more about the history of the kampongs naming and the condition of Yogyakarta in the past. You may wonder that some kampongs do not show suitability with their names. However, the changes shall make the kampongs more interesting to visit.
Prawirotaman kampong, for example, is not the dwelling place for the kingdom soldiers anymore; it functions as a tourism area where people open lodgings or souvenir shops. Sayidan kampong becomes more popular as the activity center for street musicians. Kranggan still has its enchantment with its traditional market and the area around Siliran is crowded with murals on the walls.
The traces of the past triumph in those kampongs are still noticeable. Loji Kecil and Kotabaru areas have buildings with Indies nuance as the evidence that those are places for Europeans. Some shops in Pecinan (now it is named Ahmad Yani Street) are still in operation so that they become witnesses of the triumph of Chinese merchants in the past. The kampongs inside the Kingdom area preserve Javanese typical buildings where the kingdom servants are living now.
Those kampongs are located close one to each other so that they can be reached by pedicab or bicycle. You can enjoy riding the pedicab and the romanticism of pedaling bicycle going along those kampongs.

There are different names for Yogyakarta. Senior citizens call it Ngayogyakarta; people from East Java and Central Java name it Yogya or Yoja. Yogya is called Jogja in the slogan of Jogja Never Ending Asia. Recently, there is another name: Djokdja. All of the names refer to the same city. How could those various names for one city appear?
There are at least 3 development periods to be explained. The name Ngayogyakarta existed in 1755 when Mangkubumi Prince whose title was Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I founded the Kingdom of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. The kingdom that was built on the Bering Forest area was a realization of Giyanti Agreement done with Pakubuwono III from Surakarta.
It is unclear when the name Yogyakarta first existed, whether it is a contraction of the name Ngayogyakarto or because of other reasons. However, the name of Yogyakarta has been used formally since the independence of Indonesia. When it became the capital of Indonesia in 1949, this student city had been called Yogyakarta. Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX also used the name of Yogyakarta when he announced that this kingdom is part of Indonesian Republic.
Some other names such as Yogja, Jogja, Jogya and Yogya came afterwards. The variations may exist from different pronunciation of people from different parts of Indonesia. Interestingly, people will refer to the same area when they hear those different names.
For business purpose, the name of Jogja becomes more popular and it is used in the slogan Jogja Never Ending Asia. The slogan is intended to build the image of Yogyakarta as a tourism city having great natural and culture enchantments. The reason to choose the name 'Jogja' is that the pronunciation of the word is relatively easy for most people, including foreigners. Some institutions once replaced Yogyakarta with Jogjakarta.
YogYES.COM uses the name Djokdja in Tour de Djokdja rubric. This name was used during the Dutch colonial time. The proof was the presence of a hotel named Grand Hotel de Djokdja at the north end of Malioboro Street by that time. Now, the hotel is still in operation but the name changes to Inna Garuda. The name of 'Djokdja' is chosen to give an impression of an old city and to invite the readers to fill with nostalgia.
With various spellings and pronunciations, Yogyakarta is the only city with many variations of name. Jakarta only has one variation: Jayakarta, while Bali does not have any other name. Other tourism cities in the world such as Bangkok, Singapore, Cartagena, or Venice do not seem to have variations; neither metropolitan cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and London.Now, you do not have to be confused when you find someone writing the name of Yogyakarta city as the way he spells it. When you browse in the Internet to find out more about this city, you would better use the name Yogyakarta as it is the most commonly used in writing. The second commonly used name is Jogja.

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Remember to read the safety rule before you venture out on the track
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For the Newcomer of the sport or for the younger members of the family, our 460 meters Track is an excellent place to start, with a range of Karts available for rental. Children from 4 years up wards can ride as passenggers in the 2 (two) seat Karts. Our staff will be happy to offer advice on which Kart will best suit your needs.
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Wediombo Beach, Fishing from the Coral Hill
The imagination of very wide, white-sand beach that enables you to see different angles of the beach will rise when you hear the mention of Wediombo (wedi=sand, ombo=wide) Beach. Nonetheless, Wediombo Beach actually does not have such wide spread of sands. The west and east parts of the beach are planked by coral hills so that the spread of the sands is not as wide as the one in Parangtritis, Glagah, and possibly Kuta beaches.
In fact, local people tell that the name of this beach that was given by the predecessors does not represent the real situation. Some people say that more appropriate name for this beach is Teluk Ombo (The Wide Bay), since the beach looks like a wide bay. There are two flanking coral hills with the seawater protrudes to the land but it is wider that common bays.
Apart from the inappropriate name, however, Wediombo still provides extraordinary beach view. The seawater looks clear blue; it is different from other beaches of which seawater looks greenish resulted from water pollution. The white sands with ornaments of the seashells are maintained well. The atmosphere of the beach is quiet so that it becomes the right place to get out of noisiness.
Wediombo is located in Jepitu village of Girisubo Sub-District in Gunung Kidul Regency. If you have come to Siung Beach, you will easily reach this beach. You only have to get back to a T-junction in Tepus before the road leading to Siung Beach, then turn right following the road until you get to a sign board asking you to turn right to get to Wediombo.
The location of this beach is far lower that the surrounding lands. You have to get down by the stairs in order to reach the beach and enjoy the panorama. While descending the stairs, you will be able to see the field, houses and mangrove vegetation on your left and right sides. Some people are seen carrying herbs for their cattle or taking care of the cattle in its stall.
In addition to the enchanting coastal panorama, Wediombo offers a unique tour experience, if not an extreme one, namely fishing from the height of the coral cliff. This kind of tour originating from the fishing habit of local people is popular with fishing hobbyists from Yogyakarta and Wonogiri. The main objective is, according to local people to YogYES, to catch big fish.
It is not easy to reach the fishing location at the top of the coral cliff. We have to walk eastwards through the shore; climbing steep and slippery cliff and sometimes the waves will hit us before arriving at the cliff that directly faces the deep ocean. For those who have been familiar with the route, it will take them one-hour walk.
The difficult way to the cliff, however, is paid well. Big fish are sometimes caught by the hobbyists. At least they will catch fish that local people name it panjo fish. The fish of which size is as big as man's arm are of two kinds, the cylindrical one that exist more during dry season and the flat one during the rainy season.
The baits are small fish that can even be collected at the seashore. We can use either fishing pole or fishnet to catch the small fish. It's cheap and easy, isn't it?
For those who do not dare to get to the top of the cliff, they might just buy the fish they the fishermen catch. They sell the panjo fish at IDR 3,000 one fish, or IDR 20,000 for a string of fish containing 5-6 fish. Some local people are willing to cook them for you if you wish. Otherwise, you can take them home as a gift for your family.
Cooked panjo fish are also available. Served with rice and condiment from chili pepper, fried Panjo fish is sold at IDR 7,000 only. The rice is served in the traditional container called bakul and the condiment is on traditional saucer called cobek. The portion is big enough for two persons. YogYES tried this menu in a warong located close to the parking area. Fried sea urchin that tastes like fried chicken is also available if you want to try.
At certain occasions, you can see Ngalangi ceremony that is held by local people. This ceremony takes place once in a year, just like the labuhan besar ceremony, of which objective is to express the gratitude to God for what have been granted and asking for good fortune for the future. The fortune is mainly good catches in sufficient quantity to fulfill daily needs.
The procession of the ceremony is unique; it begins by spreading gawar - the fishnet made from wawar tree. This kind of fishnet was used to catch fish before the present nylon fishnet. The gawar is spread out from Kedongkowok hill to the area of the rise and fall of the tides in order to trap the fish that are washed away by the waves and that cannot get back to the sea.
When seawater falls, the fish are collected. People are then busy cleaning and cooking the fish. Some of the fish are returned to the sea with some rice ans offerings. Most part of the dish is shared to the families. This ceremony is known as kenduri besar or great shared-meals as the form of local wisdom that fish are livelihood for all people.
In addition to Ngalangi ceremony, the enchantment of the beach can be enjoyed everyday. The entrance fee is only IDR 5,000 for two persons. If you want to spend the night and gather with some of your friends, you can use a small hut located close to the warongs alongside the beach. It is so refreshing to be in this beach.

Wayang Kulit (Leather Puppet), the Masterpiece of Javanese Performance Arts
When you spend the night in Yogyakarta while enjoying leather puppet show, it will feel vivid. The melodious rhythm of the gamelan in harmony with the voice of the female singers will not let you fall asleep. The story presented by the dalang as the puppeteer as well as the storyteller will bring you into being one of the characters in the story. You will soon learn the greatness of Javanese culture in the past.
Leather puppet show is a performance art that has been more than half a millennium of age. Its presence has its own story, in relation with the entrance of Javanese Islam. One of the Wali Songo or the nine pious leaders who spread Islam in Java created the puppet by adopting Wayang Beber or Beber Puppet that grew during the triumph of Hindu-Buddha. Such an adoption was done since leather puppet had been attached to Javanese people so that it became the proper media to spread Islam, while Islam prohibited plastic arts. Consequently, leather puppet was made in order for people to be able to see shadow.
Leather puppet show is done by the puppeteer who is also the storyteller who is possibly considered the best entertainer in the world. All the night, he plays all the characters of the leather puppets forming human characters made from buffalo skin decorated with motif as the product of leather carving. He has to change the voice character, switch the intonation, produce humor and even sing. In order to make the atmosphere vivid, the storyteller is assisted by musicians who play gamelan - the traditional Javanese music instruments - and the female singers called sinden who sing Javanese songs.
The total characters in leather puppet show number in the hundreds. The puppets that are not played are stuck in banana stem that is placed close to the storyteller. While being played, the puppets will look as shadow from rear view of the white screen in front of the storyteller. The shadow is created by the light from the oil lamp placed at the upper rear of the storyteller that is cut off by the puppets being played on the screen.
Each puppet performance presents different story or act. The act variations are divided into four categories namely lakon pakem, lakon carangan, lakon gubahan, and lakon karangan. Lakon pakem is the standard story that entirely originates from leather puppet literature while lakon carangan is only the main story that also refers to the leather puppet literature. Lakon gubahan does not origin from the leather puppet stories but it uses the places in accordance with leather puppet literature; lakon karangan is entirely a free story.
The stories in the leather puppet originated from some old books such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Pustaka Raja Purwa and Purwakanda. Now, there are some books containing lakon gubahan and karangan that have been hundreds years to be liked by the society such as Abimanyu Kerem, Doraweca, Suryatmaja Maling and so on. Among the old books, Purwakanda book is most often used by the puppeteers from Yogyakarta Kingdom.
The leather puppet show begins when the dalang takes out a puppet in the shape of a mountain called gunungan. A nightlong leather puppet show in Yogyakarta style is divided into 3 scenes with 7 jejeran or acts and 7 war acts. The first scene, called pathet lasem, has 3 jejeran and 2 acts of war accompanied by pathet lasem Javanese musical composition. Pathet Sanga as the second scene has 2 jejeran and 2 war acts, while Pathet Manyura as the second scene has 2 jejeran and 3 war acts. One of the scenes that most spectators mostly wait is gara-gara that presents typical Javanese humor.
Sasono Hinggil that is located in the south square is the place that very often performs nightlong leather puppet shows. Usually, the performances are done on the second and fourth weeks, beginning at 09.00 p.m. Another place for leather puppet performance is Bangsal Sri Manganti in the complex of Yogyakarta Kingdom. The leather puppet performance in that place is done on Saturdays, beginning at 10.00 a.m. for two hours at Rp.5,000 for the ticket entrance.

This forest area as wide as 600 hectares was once visited by President Megawati and some important officials of the country. Even, Prince Charles and Prince Bernhard left remembrance in this place. The path they took now becomes favorite path for visitors.
Funds from Silkworm
As long as 35 kilometers journey from the city center, under the hot sun, was quite tiring. Arriving at Gading village, however, the weather began to be cloudy. We turned to the right at the first junctions, passing through a street that only accommodated two cars. Arriving at the T-junction, we turned right and went straight the natural street with fields on both sides. At the end of the street, there was a gate with the writing "Welcome" greeted us accompanied with fresh air.
Wanagama that means Gadjah Mada Forest was only 10 hectares and was on barn areas. The Forestry Department of Gadjah Mada University, initiated by Oemi Hani'in Suseno and Tri Setyo assisted by Wagiran, a local inhabitant, reforested the area in 1964. The main objective was to find a model to cope with critical land in Gunung Kidul to be functioned as education forest and field research for the students of Gadjah Mada University.
The first planted plantation was mulberry (Morus Alba). The leaves can be used to feed silkworm and they do not fall off easily. The leaves are sold at 1 Ringgit (2,50 Rupiah) per kilogram by that time. The management as the buyer used them as silkworm feed. The results of the cocoon sales are used as development fund.
In this forest, there are camp site, lodging, dining room, sport facilities, hall, and - of course - classroom.
Enjoying the Scenery from Cendana Hill
Wanagama is located in Banaran Village, Playen District of Gunung Kidul Regency. There are two entrance ways but end at the same point. Unfortunately, the connecting bridge was hit by the quake and is under reconstruction now.
Going around Wanagama can be done by motorcycle of on foot by choosing challenging route. Riding motorcycle feels like going through the jungle in Jurassic Park film where visitors can only see the border of the forest on both sides.
The trip becomes an encouraging challenge. Groups of sandalwood, teakwood, acacia, mahogany, sengon, and many other trees will accompany your journey.
Climbing Cendana Hill that is higher compared to the others, you can see beautiful scenery of Wanagama forest. The green color of the forest and meadow, and the stream of Oya River of which water flows calmly in brownish color is reflected brightly by the sun. On bright days, the top of Merapi Mountain will be seen; it adds the beauty of Wanagama enchantment.
Sometimes, there are some deer relaxing around Cendana Hill. Visitors can see them clearly if they are lucky.
Relaxing at Oya River
Continuing the trip from west side to the north, visitors will see Oya River flowing beautifully in front of them. They can relax themselves enjoying the bright air and fresh water. Soaking face with the water will be so refreshing. Looking at the dragonflies and hearing the sound of water flowing in a small stream and the chirp of prenjak bird gives quietness to the mind. YogYES gets relax for a while here and breathe in the fresh natural air.
Close to Oya River, there is a waterfall flowing all the time. It is encircled by trees so that it looks like hiding its beauty.
In this forest with more than 65 types of timbers and hundreds of herbs, Prince Charles and Prince Bernhard left remembrance of teakwood (Tectona Grandis). The teakwood planted by Prince Charles is named Jati Londo. This tree becomes more interesting when it dried before reaching 1 meter high. It was coincidental with the publication of his separation with the late Diana Princess. After growing and reaching three meters high, this tree withered and broke. This was coincidental with the publication of his divorce. Then, this tree grew again with two branches.Enjoy the evening while looking at the sun setting behind the horizon. When the sun begins to set in the west, tens of birds fly back to their nest. When night begins to hang in between the trees, the silence will slowly be broken by the choir of crickets. Tiredness of the adventure in Wanagama Forest is redeemed by the peace of nature.