:: Jogyakarta - Central Java Travel Guides ::
Yogyakarta
is
both the name of a province Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY),
literally the Special Area Yogyakarta, and the name of
one of DIY's 5 Districts, Kota (or city) Yogyakarta'.
The other districts are Sleman on the slopes of fiery Mt
Merapi to the North, Bantul all the way to the sea to
the South, the hills of Gunungkidul to the East and the
low lands of Kulon Progo to the West
One of Indonesia's few Special regions (another being
Aceh), the Yogyakarta Special Region owes its special
status to the sultanate of Hamengkubuwono, which has
ruled the area since 1749 and steered the state through
difficult times of occupation and revolution. When the
central government tried to weaken the sultan's power by
calling a direct election for the state leader, present
sultan Hamengkubuwono X was chosen by an overwhelming
majority.
Today's Yogyakarta is a bustling town of some 500,000
people and the most popular tourist destination on Java,
largely thanks to its proximity to the temples of
Borobudur and Prambanan. The town is a center of art and
education, offers some good shopping and has a wide
range of tourist facilities.
HOW TO GET THERE:
By plane
Yogyakarta's Adisucipto International Airport (JOG),
8 km east of town, is a small but busy domestic hub
presently (2005) undergoing renovation and expansion.
There are near-hourly connections on Garuda to Jakarta
(50 minutes) and Denpasar, while other domestic airlines
service major cities in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and
Sulawesi.
There is a tourist information desk, ATM and taxi stand
in the arrivals hall. A metered taxi to the city or
direct to Prambanan costs about Rp 20,000. A departure
tax of Rp 25,000 is charged for domestic flights.
Another option is to take a direct flight from Kuala
Lumpur to Solo (SOC) with the discount airline Air Asia.
There are bus services connection Solo to Yogyakarta. A
direct taxi costs around Rp 300,000.
* Bandar Udara Internasional Adisucipto (Adisucipto
International AIrport), Jalan Solo km9, Yogyakarta
55282, +62 274 484261 (fax: +62 274 488155).
By bus
The main bus station is Giwangan, 4 km to the southeast
of the center. There are regular services throughout the
island, including Jakarta (9 hours), Bandung (6 hours),
and Surabaya (8 hours).
* Terminal Penumpang Giwangan (Giwangan Bus Terminal).
Jalan Imogiri, Giwangan, Yogyakarta 55163, +62 274
378288, 7482222 (fax: +62 274 7483333
By train
Trains to Jakarta take between 7 to 12 hours from the
main Yogyakarta station, commonly called Tugu Station.
The Argo-class trains (Argo Lawu and Argo Dwipangga) are
the best of the lot: most comfortable and fastest.
Taksaka is almost as good. These expresses connect
Yogyakarta and Jakarta in 7-8 hours, either at daytime
or overnight. The line between Kroya and Prupuk, where
the railway crosses the main backbone mountains of Java,
is scenic.
Passengers to/from Bandung should take the Argo Wilis or
Lodaya expresses which traverse a scenic part of Java
during daylight hours, with rice fields and mountains.
The fare is Rp155.000 including lunch.
Passengers to Surabaya are served by the twice-daily
Sancaka service departing in the morning and afternoon.
Yogyakarta and Solo is connected by the five Prambanan
Ekspres trains. Despite the name, the train does not
stop at Prambanan, and even if it does make an
unscheduled stop, the station is rather far from the
temple complex of Prambanan.
* Stasiun Tugu (Tugu Central Railway Station), Jalan
Mangkubumi 1, Yogyakarta 55232, +62 274 589685. The main
central station, serves big city destinations such as
Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Solo.
* Stasiun Lempuyangan (Lempuyangan Railway Station),
Jalan Lempuyangan, Yogyakarta 552224. Serves economy
class trains and small city destinations.
CENTRAL JAVA
Central Java (Indonesian:
Provinsi Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia. The
administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six
provinces on the island of Java. The province of Central
Java is 32,548.20 km2 in area; approximately a quarter
of the total land area of Java. Its population is
32,864,000 (As of 2009[update]), making it the third
most-populous province in Indonesia after West Java and
East Java, and constituting a bit less than one quarter
of the crowded island's population.
Central Java is also a cultural concept that includes
the Special Area and city of Yogyakarta. However,
administratively the city and surrounding region has
been part of a separate special region since Indonesian
independence.
Geography:
Located in the middle of the island of Java, the
Central Java province is bordered by West Java and East
Java provinces. A small portion of its south region is
the Yogyakarta Special Region province, fully enclosed
by the Central Java province. Yogyakarta is historically
and culturally part of the Central Java region, although
it is currently a separate political entity. To the
north and the south, the Central Java province faces the
Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. Central Java also
includes offshore islands such as Karimun Jawa Islands
in the north, and Nusakambangan in the southwest.
The average temperature in Central Java is between 18–28
degrees celsius and the relative humidity varies between
73–94 percent. While a high level of humidity exists in
most low lying parts of the province, it drops
significantly in the upper mountains. The highest
average annual rainfall of 3,990 mm with 195 rainy days
was recorded in Salatiga.
The geography of Central Java is regular with small
strips of lowlands near the northern and southern coast
with mountain ranges in the centre of the region. To the
west lies an active stratovolcano Mount Slamet, then a
bit further to the east is the Dieng Volcanic Complex on
the Dieng Plateau. At southeast of the Dieng plateau
lies the high plateau of Kedu Plain, bordered on the
east side by the twin volcanoes of Mount Merapi (the
most active volcanoes in Indonesia) and Mount Merbabu.
At the south of Semarang, lies Mount Ungaran, and to the
north-east of the city lies Mount Muria on the most
northern tip of Java. To the east near the border with
East Java lies Mount Lawu, where its eastern slopes are
in the East Java province.
Due to active volcanics history and therefore volcanic
ash, Central Java is a very fertile region for
agriculture. Sight of extensive paddy fields is common,
except in the southeastern — Gunung Kidul region —
partly due to the high concentration of limestone and
its location in a rain shadow from the prevailing
weather.
Two major rivers run through Central Java; Serayu in the
west, which empties in the Indian Ocean, and the Solo
River (Javanese: Bengawan Solo), which flows to the East
Java province.
Adminitration Devision:
On the eve of the World War
II in 1942, Central Java was subdivided into 7
residencies (Dutch residentie or plural residenties,
Javanese karésiḍènan or karésidhènan) which correspond
more or less with the main regions of this area. These
residencies were Banjoemas, Kedoe, Pekalongan, Semarang,
and Djapara-Rembang added with the so called
Gouvernement Soerakarta and Gouvernement Jogjakarta.
However after the local elections in 1957 the role of
these regencies were reduced until they finally
disappeared.
Nowadays Central Java (excluding Yogyakarta) is divided
in 29 regencies (kabupaten) and 6 cities (kota,
previously kotamadya and kota pradja). A regency can
also be called a rural district while an autonomous city
is an urban district. Below are regencies and autonomous
cities of Central Java:
* Regencies: Banjarnegara, Banyumas, Batang, Blora,
Boyolali, Brebes, Cilacap, Demak, Grobogan, Jepara,
Karanganyar, Kebumen, Kendal, Klaten, Kudus, Magelang,
Pati, Pekalongan, Pemalang, Purbalingga, Purworejo,
Rembang, Semarang, Sragen, Sukoharjo, Tegal, Temanggung,
Wonogiri, Wonosobo
* Cities: Magelang, Pekalongan, Salatiga, Semarang,
Surakarta, Tegal
These contemporary regencies and cities can further be
subdivided into 565 sub-districts (kecamatan).
Furthermore sub-districts are subdivided into 7,804
rural communes or "villages" (desa) and 764 urban
communes (kelurahan).
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