I pretty much spent the first day at Jogya - strolling the streets. The Malioboro street is quite a place to shop for Souvenirs. While at Jogya, you can get easily annoyed by touts that hang around in every street corner asking you - “Hey mister, where are you from? Where are you staying? etc. etc.”
There are genuinely nice people as well. Some are like the *Angels* that provide you with information that the salaried folks at Government Information desk might sometime not care to provide you with. When you are out of your hometown, you sense that good information is a premium and when it comes for free - there is nothing like it! Again, as a good traveller you have to trust your instincts and not just blindly follow every piece of instruction.
Jogyakarta is the center for Batik Art work. It is a fantastic piece of art work performed with the help of dyes, paraffin and bee wax on cloth material. Depending on the creativity of the Artist, a painting can be done in N different ways on cotton or synthetic silk. The latter being quite expensive.
You can also watch a daily evening puppet show at the Sonobudoyo Museum (nearby the NW corner of Sultan Palace Grounds). It is the Jogya’s version of Ramayana. Jogya is quite an interesting place and i suppose most travellers end up spending more time than the original plan. I would advice at least four to five days at Jogya.
You can visit Borobudur and Prambanan. To head to Borobudur, take the shuttle 2B towards Jombar Bus Station. If you stay nearby Jalan Sosorowijayan, the nearest shuttle stop to Jombar is the one located at Jalan Tentara Pelajar. From Jombar there are minibuses to Borobudur. It shouldn’t cost you more than IDR 10,000. If the conductor of the bus charges you more then probably he is trying to make some profit out of Tourists.
Borobudur (as of writing) charges an entrance fee of USD 12. If you are a student, you might get a concession fee of USD 7 (check at the reception desk). You also get a free refreshments (don’t be dreaming too much) and of course access to free internet (kiosk style). If you are on a crowded day - forget about it.
I will sign off here…I might be headed to Prambanan.