The Kraton, Yogyakarta

Due to our time difference, it seems like every other time I talk to 'Tut, he's at our fave nasi campur warung. So since we speak several times a week, several times a week I end up with a craving for nasi campur made just the way I like it. I would love to have some right now, as a matter of fact. This place is outside Ubud near Pengosekan and has absolutely nothing to do with this post, except when he called from there yesterday, 'Tut mentioned something about our trip to Yogya a couple months back. That reminded me I had not posted about the Kraton, which I've been meaning to do.

Yogyakarta in general kind of struck me like a bigger Denpasar; not sure what I was expecting. The Kraton, of course, is the palace complex where the sultans of Yogya lived - and there is still one in residence when he's not busy other places.

We got there early in order to beat the heat ("mad dogs and Englishmen" and all that) so the exhibits were not quite open. But no surprise that some shops right in the Kraton were. We ended up in this kris shop where the owners live in back.



The two photos above are 'Tut examining a couple of the kris, checking them for beauty, and much more importantly, power. As it turned out, the more attractive ones that day were not all that powerful, so he did not make a purchase. 'Tut comes across so westernized I forget sometimes that at his core he's Balinese.

Finally the various exhibits opened, and I snapped a few photos in a building of carriages owned by the sultans. The one above was one of the oldest - 17th century, I think. Seemed like from a fairy tale.

For some reason 'Tut wanted me to snap him in front of one of these carriages, and then I noticed most of the tourists there were also positioning themselves for photos where the horse should be. No idea what's up with that, but I took the photo above. I see now 'Tut looks tired with red eyes, because he's so exhausted from all the cremation ceremonies he had been part of in Bali for the preceding month and a half.

Later in the day, we took a becak (basically an Indonesian rickshaw) over to the Water Palace. 'Tut loves these things. I prefer the little horse-drawn carts myself.