Lesehan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

In June 2009, my girlfriends and I had a vacation in Yogyakarta for a few days. Like eating hot dog in Manhattan, you don't want to skip the experience of lesehan in Yogyakarta. 



DAY # 1

GETTING THERE

Mia & Kania checking in for us at the Soekarno Hatta Int'l Airport

We arrived at 7 PM at the Yogyakarta’s Adisutjipto International Airport by Lion Air, costing us Rp 600,000 / pax, there and back.

One taxi for the ladies, please

Taxi airport to Agus Salim street Rp 55,000, ordered the taxi at a booth just outside the exit door. What’s on Agus Salim street, by the way?

FREE LODGING

We were so lucky to have a friend, Windy, who has an unoccupied house in Jogja (short for Yogyakarta). And although she couldn’t join us in the trip, she kindly let us stay in the house instead of having to pay for hotel rooms. The house is on Agus Salim street, a quiet neighborhood with strong Islamic influence and located in the Kautaman area, near the Keraton (the sultanate palace). Definitely we couldn’t pass such a generous offer like that.

Sultan Agung street - this pic was taken in the morning of Day #2

A rocking chair in Windy's room. Classic!

LESEHAN DINNER

After putting our stuff at Windy’s house, we went walking to have dinner at Malioboro street at some random street stall. The walk to this main avenue of Jogja took about 30 minutes, no rush, passing by the Alun-alun Kidul (South Square) while enjoying the relax atmosphere of Jogja.

The food stall was typical of Jogjanese style, lesehan, that’s where you sit on the matted floor with your legs crossed, and food is served on a low table.

Lesehan stall on the side of Malioboro street

The menu that we chose:
Pigeon, fried Rp 19,000, grilled Rp 20,000
Duck, fried Rp 12,000, grilled Rp 13,000



BECAK AND TRAFFIC

Too tired to walk home, we took becak about Rp 5,000 – Rp 7,500 / vehicle, max 2 adults. Becak is a very common way of transporting in Jogja. For me who lives in Jakarta where becak is banned due to the traffic convenience, riding a becak wherever I could is such a joy. You should try it, but don’t haggle too low. The heavier you are, the harder the becak driver works, means the more energy they have to put out. And many of them are old.

As for the most common private transportation in Jogja is motorcycle. Before experiencing the streets of Vietnam, I thought Jogja had the most awful traffic because they have soooo many motorcycles on the streets. I don’t have anything against motorcycles, but it’s how they’re ridden that can be so scary. Because they’re small, slim, and can go fast enough, they can sneak up on you, suddenly show up so close to you from the right, left, or behind when you cross the street or – in the typical cases in Indonesia – when you have to walk on the asphalt because the sidewalks are occupied by street stalls.. or where there’s no sidewalk at all.