Djogdja

So how do some places brand themselves as a "thing to do for sunrise? I've been to a few around the world and they pretty much always disappoint. The latest was Borobudur. Don't get me wrong the temple was nice enough but there really wasn't a reason to see it at 5am. All that does is tinker with your jetlag. And jeepers creepers was it expensive. In a country where most things are super cheap the cost of this made me do a sick in my mouth. And I was done before 6.30am. That's bananas.

Whilst we're talking about overpriced temples let's not forget Prambanan. I mean, at least I'd heard of Borobudur. At least Borobudur is a thing. Prambanan is just a heap of pointy Indian temples set amidst a herd of children saying "can I practice my English with you?" And it costs more than twice as much as the Taj Mahal.

We tried to climb a volcano. We'd heard that Gunung Merapi was the most volcanic volcano in Indonesia so thought we should pay it a visit. What we hadn't heard is that the only reason anyone goes there is to go offroading, this meant our quiet walk was not quite as peaceful as imagined.

Anyway, back in Yogyakarta / Yogya / Jogja / Djogdja I've learned the very important lesson that my carefully honed Indian spice tolerance counts for nothing.  There every time I didn't opt for the spiciest option I regretted it. Here the spiciest option may kill you.

Weirdest thing eaten: gudeg. The "Can I practice English with you" brigade raved about Gudeg, saying "the colour is burnt and the taste is sweet" which more than summed it up. Rarely has a local speciality looked less appetising but cripes was it sweet. It was a bona fide egg but with the sweetness of a Creme Egg. It made me pull this face (you're gonna have to imagine it because I didn't take a picture. I'm not that guy).