Also spelled Yogyakarta, but always pronounced Jogjakarta, this city is the cultural capital of Java Island.  Not to be confused with the actual capital of Indonesia, Jakarta (which they are thinking of moving to a more central location in Borneo), Jogja is a former capital.  The city itself is an unplanned Indonesian mess.  Visitors from Bali will not be surprised when they see the motobike traffic and broken sidewalks.  The famous water temple and old city give the city its charm. 

The main square is a muddy, empty lawn with the lackluster governor's palace behind it (with the sad staircase to nowhere).  Funny sides and urban Jogja below:

The insane Malioboro shopping street will make your eyes pop out of your head with the sidewalk reconstruction, heat and hagglers trying to get you to buy art in their stores.  Luckily, there's a mall.

Two famous UNESCO World Heritage sites are outside of the city: temples Borobudur and Prambanan.   They are both from around the year 800 AD and have hybrid Buddhist and Hindu features.

Borobudur

Prambanan

Most visitors don't typically drive around the countryside in Jogja and I certainly was not planning on doing so.  When I arrived at the hostel, I met a new friend right away.  We ended up spending two solid days together.  He wanted a buddy to ride around the countryside with.  That ended up being me.   I guess there's a reason why most backpackers don't make stops around the Jogja countryside.  The mountains were beautiful but the nature stops were either dried out or non-existent.  The Blue Lagoon was kinda blue?  The mountain roads were curvaceous and scary.  We were driving really fast.  The great mountain shots you see below were sometimes taken while I had the iPhone in one hand while the other hand was grabbing the back of the seat and we were moving along highways.  I can't even believe I did all of that but it's real!

I was in Jojga during Ramadan.  The prayers could be heard all over the city.  They usually overlapped each other and created a cacophony of noise.  I went to the mosque my first night and was given dinner to break the fast.  I spoke my broken Bahasa Indonesia to the locals to tell them where I was from and to wish them a Happy Ramadan.  This helped break the awkward tension.  I'm glad I did it though.  I felt closer to Jogja.  I felt like I understood it more.  I feel like I saw both the cool, modern part of Jogja and the historical countryside.  This was my last stop in Indonesia.  I did not make it to Sumatra to see the Orangutans.  I'll have to go next time.