Yogyakarta Transportation Tips by kokoryko Top 5 Page for this destination

Argo Dwipangga luxury (?) train

The train station in Jogja is conveniently located at the northern end of Malioboro, and from there you can easily reach your hotel if you plan to stay near the city centre; a good reason to take the train to go to Jogja (from Jakarta, or from the east (Surabaya. . ), but the best reason is to enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Java and the atmosphere of an “exotic” travel by train.
I travelled with the “Argo Dwipangga” a semi-luxurious train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, leaving Gambir station at 8:00 am and arriving at 3:15 pm; so, a bit more than seven hours with an “executive” train; the “regular trains” are a little bit cheaper and take between 15 and 16 hours to make the travel; check the websites, there are 4 “executive” trains per day.
The trains I took was comfortable, I enjoyed a free breakfast, and the atmosphere in the train was very relaxed, the co-travellers sympathetic; what more do you need?
A drawback, in some way, was that as the coaches are air conditioned, you cannot open the windows and the landscapes are not as beautiful as if seen without the smoked glass windows; I “corrected” this imperfection by walking along the train, and finally found the employees coach, and there, not only the windows were open, but also the doors of the coach, as was the heart of the employees who appreciated a lot a client shows some interest in what they do and who they are! (next tips!).
In this overpopulated island which Java is, when you come early at the train station, it is by contrast very quiet and peaceful (picture 1), but when time of departure approaches, like everywhere, the crowds are there (picture 2)! And there goes the trip! We have a stop in Cirebon (picture 3), in Purwokerto (picture 4) and a number of other places. . . The train did not stop in small places like the one on picture 5, and you also can see on that picture that not only the windows are closed, but some are also crazed; that gave me the idea to walk along in the train to find better places to enjoy the landscapes (following tips).

Jakarta-Jogja; fare, one way: 240.000 rupiah (about 25 US$), including breakfast and water bottles; I had an extra meal (seven hours trip!) for 15.000 Rp.
“Regular trains”: 190.000 rupiah.

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Type: Train

Have a chat and some fun with the train employees!

The Javanese politeness and reserve is legendary, but the Javanese are also very curious and friendly, so, when you are lucky enough to smoothly break the ice and come over the language barrier, you can have some funny, enjoyable very nice experience with locals. Here in the train, the employees were quite curious about that “Bule” (foreigner) trying to make some photographs through the open door of their coach. After the politeness words I began to have a chat with a waitress and a security attendant; just usual questions and answers and. . . big smiles! (Where from? Weather always like that? Always working in the train? Happy with your job? You like photographing? Etc. etc. ). We eventually ended with a photo session in the coach corridor; I was not scared lending my camera.
So here are a few of the pictures we took.
Ah! The cook was a bit shy and tried to hide his cigarette (picture 5).
Being polite and empathetic with “orang miskin” (small people) is for me a normal thing, and it is rewarding you with better knowledge of the place you visit, rather than keeping sitting in the air conditioned compartment of your coach!

Jakarta-Jogja; fare, one way: 240.000 rupiah (about 25 US$), including breakfast and water bottles; I had an extra meal (seven hours trip!) for 15.000 Rp.
“Regular trains”: 190.000 rupiah.

http://www.kereta-api.com/

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Type: Train

Find a place to enjoy views and wind!

Airplane is fast and comfortable, but you cannot enjoy the landscapes and views of the cities; you can enjoy landscapes and some freedom in a car, but you do not have control on other drivers and safety is a real serious issue on Javanese roads; at the end of the day you can be exhausted by hours of driving. In the train, you can enjoy the landscapes, meet people and arrive relaxed at destination!
It rained almost all time during the trip from Jakarta to Jogja, and I share here some views of “Java Tengah” (central Java) you can enjoy from the train; the pictures have been taken from an open door of a coach.
Rice fields, mountains and low dark clouds (picture 1) are a typical landscape of Java, the rivers bordered by rice fields (picture 2) are well seen from the train, and sometimes you can see loneliness in the fields (picture 3), but not for long, villages are never far (picture 4). Ah, the train, you have to lean out of the door , wait for a turn on the tracks, and enjoy the wind. . . (picture 5).

Jakarta-Jogja; fare, one way: 240.000 rupiah (about 25 US$), including breakfast and water bottles; I had an extra meal (seven hours trip!) for 15.000 Rp.
“Regular trains”: 190.000 rupiah.

http://www.kereta-api.com/

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Type: Train

Fly with the Lion!

There are 7 Lion Air flights per day linking Jogja to Jakarta, for one hour flight. The Economy class on this company is rather comfortable, and for one hour, my long legs could endure it. If you are on a hurry or want to spend as much time as possible in Jogja, the plane is convenient.
I took the train to go to Jogja and returned to Jakarta by air.
Adi Sucipto airport of Jogjakarta is located about 9 km from the city centre and can be reached in less than 20 mn; you have to check in one hour in advance; there are a few shops for those who have a last minute shopping urge. In many Indonesian airport are “VIP (haha, who is important people?) lounges” you can access by paying 20.000 rupiah; soft drinks, food and a fluffy armchair.. . . . arrival at Soekarno-Hatta local arrivals in Jakarta; DAMRI buses or taxi to go to the city; here, it takes one hour or more to get to the city, as Jakarta is just one of the traffic jams capital city of the world!
The fare Jogja-Jarkarta was 269.000 Rp, promotion price you can get if you book more than 3 days in advance; regular price is 429.000 Rp; check their website or as your travel agent.
Garuda, the national airline of course also has flights between Jogja and Jakarta: 9 per day, regular fares are between 428.000 and 560.000 Rp.

I read sometimes on the VT travel forum about “cheapest” mean to here or there. . . . Of course travelling on budget, people count every dollar, but I think that has to go to some point! Transportation in Indonesia is very cheap, and I do not understand spending hours on internet or with travel agents to save 5-10 dollars (50.000-100.000 Rp) for a trip across Java (or whatever trip). The hours lost in “saving” these dollars are lost for relaxation, reading, getting documentation about the trip, trying to know about the destination. . . . Well, matter of priorities. . .

http://www.garuda-indonesia.com/

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Type: Airplane

Becak is the popular transportation means here.

Apart your feet, you certainly will use the becak (Indonesian version of rickshaw) to get around in Jogja; among locals or tourists, it is a very popular and convenient transportation means. Sun, rain, wind, this is an all weather vehicle and the driver (pedal pusher) will take you where ever you want, in the narrow streets, on the wide avenues (picture 4), up hill, down valley, and most important, the drivers know their city very well and take you where ever you want. Just be sure to fix the price before you start, if you ask “berapa?” (how much?) only on arrival, you may spend lots of time trying to reduce the price of the fare which will be astronomical figures, if not worse. . . ; so, agree on price before start! It is not because they are tired (second picture), or they look old and tiny (picture 3) that the “tukang becak” (becak drivers), are not strong and hard in business! Agree on price before you start your trip!
Goods and passengers are well protected when it rains, as you can notice on picture 5. Becak is a very good, cheap transportation means; for 5000 Rupiah (1/2 dollar) you can make two times the long Malioboro street, to give an idea.

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Try all transportation means

If the becak is the favourite transportation means in the city centre, if you want to go to the suburbs of Jogja, or even further, you may either take the taxi, or if you are really on budget, or like me, you like to travel with locals and feel a bit the local atmosphere, you can use mini buses or buses.
Mini buses (picture 1 and 2).
Most mini buses would not be allowed on the streets of western Europe or North America, but what? No problem here, and it is not because they look sometimes like rolling ruins, are in miserable condition that it is unsafe to take them! The drivers and the passengers do not want to die, so, at least they are not suicide cars, you are safe! Safe also because they generally do not drive fast, stop every half km to load new passengers, unload others, and it is just nice to be among all these people! The biggest difficulty with the mini buses is to figure out their routes, and generally, you have to find them on the main road leading to the destination, and change bus at the road crossing if you leave the main road. . . To go to Kali Urang, for instance, you have to find them on Jalan kali Urang, and then, enjoy your ride; 5000Rp, for 20 km.
Buses (picture 3)
In Jogja is a modern bus system, and they are easy to use, as there are route maps at the stations; most of them go through Jalan Malioboro, and there you can board them for destinations in the outer area of the city; 2500Rp

Taxi (picture 4)
Very easy, wink on the road side, they stop and get you where you want, given you tell the name of the destination in Indonesian (except for most tourist spots); just make sure the driver puts the meter on, as some have the tendency to “forget” to put it on and then may “calculate” for you, “good price mister”! Metered taxis are cheap: 10.000 Rp (1 US$) for about two km.

Dokar (picture 5)
Ah! There are still horse carriages in Jogja! I did not take one, but it looks very nice and exotic to travel in the traffic in a horse carriage; a bit “romantic” may be? More expensive than a taxi , but with fine weather it must be very enjoyable, and doing it once is certainly a must do for a small group of travellers; locals still use it.

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