Mr. Carey gave the lecture in the middle of Alun-Alun Lor

We started our third and last day of the tour very early (read our first day here and second day here.) Woke up at 4.30 a.m. and ready at 5.30 a.m., we went straight to Gusti Yudho's house. From there, we walked to Plengkung Anom, then to the North Square (Alun-Alun Lor) of Keraton.

Morning briefing at Plengkung Anom

Quick briefing before crossing to Alun-Alun Lor

We walked all the way from North Square to the South Square!

The pilgrimage followed the chronology of the British troop's invasion to Yogyakarta's Keraon back in 1811. It was really fun how we could trace it back step-by-step, along the route.

Stopping by at Prasasti Geger Spei

Prasasti Geger Sepoy -- the inscription of Sepoy Incident

 

Catching up with history on this cute village road

It was barely 7 a.m. and the sun was rising

Carried on -- we left those flowers behind

Arrived at the southeast corner of the Keraton fort

Pojok Benteng Wetan -- the southeast fort corner

Margie and I -- we were roasted hot, literally!

Walking along the fort

The stairs at Plengkung Gading

The lecture above the Plengkung Gading

The view inside the fort from Plengkung Gading

Plengkung Gading

Becak (rickshaw) is the traditional transport that is well-preserved in Yogya

Walking to the South Square

The lecture in South Square

Don't we love seeing Mr. Carey's passion in Javanese history? It really questions our interest on our nation's past!

The situation of South Square --  I haven't been here in day time!

Crossing through the Plengkung Gading tunnel

Plengkung Gading, seen from the south/outside

See Mr. Jongkie looks so happy riding with becak

We arrived at the South Square (Alun-Alun Kidul) at 8.30 a.m. and went by bus to the West side of Keraton complex to have breakfast at Soto Pak Marto. It was a nice breakfast, after burning so much calories by walking so many kilometers that morning.

Soto Pak Marto at Jl. Mayjend S. Parman

The interior of this warung soto

The soto contains beef, beansprout, and other vegetables with broth soup

After the meal, we went to Taman Sari just to get the feel of how it was back then; the beautiful water palace had once been a place for gunpowder and weapons. Kinda hard to imagine, isn't it? This was also a place where Prince Panular hid the crown prince when the war went on. Check out more about it on Mr. Carey's book Inggris Di Jawa.

We walked about 200 metres from the bus parking spot to Taman Sari

The entrance to Taman Sari

Mr. Carey gave the briefing before we enter the water palace

What a refreshing sight!

It was weekday but lots of visitors were seen on site

Once, King's concubines would swim in the pool and the King would peek from this tower and throw a flower to the chosen one (to spend that night together)

The inner courtyard

The wayang kulit maker

The inner courtyard

Local community live side-by-side with the tourism destination

We explored what's on the other side of this Gerbang Carik

And found this old building across the local village

The old well would look spooky at night!

The abandoned part of the complex

Back to the pool

The inscription in front of the Taman Sari gate

To close our morning session, we went to Fort Vredeburg. Although I've passed this fort so many times, this was my first time entering it. Inside, school children were around--perhaps on a class tour or something--but it was too hot at 11 a.m. so Margie and I went to Indische Koffie instead.

Arrived at Fort Vredeburg

The entrance

The entry fee is free during the independence month!

School girls on tandem bike

The front building, seen from inside

Statue of General Soedirman

One of our tour participant, Mr. Tjahjono and his camera

The inner courtyard

One of the buildings at the back

The inner courtyard

A cannon

After a while, the rest of our group joined and we had a review about the tour. For myself, this tour is a great idea to promote history to those who don't like to read--or to those who want to relive the events from the past. Together we discussed how this could be developed, enhanced, and enjoyed by everyone. I hope you'll join the next tour, too!

The café signage

Can you imagine sipping coffee in the afternoon here?

Indische Koffie

The door

The outdoor seating

Our snacks -- bitterballen and tempe mendoan

The interior of Indische Koffie

Filling in review form

We got about 1.5 hour to shop and get ready before check out, so I made a quick trip to Hamzah Batik Malioboro to buy a friend's souvenir, but didn't have time to get anything for myself. With Bu Ratna, the only participant who went for shopping, we went back to hotel and I took shower. At 1.30 p.m., we were all set.

Malioboro street -- tho I spent just half hour here, it's a must!

Me and Bu Ratna, riding the motorized rickshaw

I just found out that instead of pedaling now rickshaw rider has motor to ease their job

I was ready to go! (bought the batik shirt at Semarang Restaurant the other day)

We departed to Warung Bu Ageng at Jl. Tirtodipuran for lunch, and there was already Romo C.B. Kusmaryanto, another writer of PBK. We didn't stay long at the lovely open-space and wooden restaurant because we didn't want to be late for our flight. But before, we made our last stop at Jejeran.

Inside of Warung Bu Ageng

The open kitchen

Chit-chat after meal

Lunch was great here!

Bu Ageng's signature mixed rice

The backyard of Warung Bu Ageng

Yogyakarta is famous for its art and here drawings of local 'heroes' are displayed

The farewell poetry

We had to come to Panglima Sumodiningrat's tomb at the cemetery ground behind the mosque. After giving his last lecture in the tour, Mr. Carey went into the small and only housed tomb and made a small ceremony to apology on behalf the British troop of what had happened back then.

Walking to the Sawo Jejeran Cemetery

The arched gateway

The bridge's sign

The walk was about 300 metres from the main road

Nice joglo corner of the street

The mosque in front of the cemetery complex

The tombs of the regents

The tombs from 18th and 19th century

Mr. Carey and his students

It was a touching moment how he'd have the heart to make the apology, while he himself wasn't involved in the war at all. But then again, it's the secret of life how he could be interested in studying about Javanese history despite his Caucasian ethnic.

The low house of the tomb

The tomb of Panglima Sumodiningrat

The situation inside the tomb house. Image via @eldidito

Mr. Carey just finished performing the ceremony. Mas Jipi was spreading the remaining flowers to other tombs

We said our farewell to Romo Kus, and headed to Adisucipto Airport. The bus couldn't get inside, so we had to walk all the way from the bus drop off to Terminal A and on to Terminal B -- while carrying our heavy luggage! What a poor facility of the airport; I hope they'd take notice and would fix this soon.

Me and Romo Kus

Adisucipto Airport Terminal B

Our flight was supposed to be 6.25 p.m. by Sriwijaya Air, but we had a little delay. It was not too bad actually -- I slept almost all the way home. We arrived in Cengkareng at 8.30 p.m. and made our own ways home. I shared a taxi ride with Mas Didit, a writer for Kompas.id and arrived home at around 9.30 p.m. 

One of the unique street music art we'd find in Yogyakarta's roads

It was a full, tight-scheduled and such an exhausting trip, but I didn't regret it a bit. I had experienced so much in those 3 days, and am so grateful for the chance I got with this tour. I hope I'll be able to join their next tour on November, and I hope you'd join us too! Read here why. (And check out more pics on my Instagram!)



P.S. It was so funny how I happened to meet a relative in this tour. This man, Benny Satrio, is my the cousin of my uncle's wife. So, yeah, we're related in an extended family line, but it's always hilarious when you find out how large (and random) a family could be.