Griya Harja Homestay – Java Indonesia Near Borobudur

Following a taxi driver out of the tiny terminal, we both had the same fear silently running through our heads of, “did we just make a huge mistake flying to Yogyakarta?” The imposing figure of a volcano was exciting as we landed, but now we were driving deeper into the jungle, passing by increasingly more decrepit looking buildings. Luckily, Yogyakarta turned into one of our favorite spots. So much so, that we wish we could keep it a secret.

Griya Harja Homestay – Java Indonesia Near Borobudur

Deciding upon Yogyakarta was part of a much larger plan of stringing together the cheapest flights to eventually land in Cyprus. Briana had found it one day, and we were interested in it because of the weird name. Turns out, it had some cool temples and was actually a really interesting place. The temple of Borobudur was our main interest and we settled on this homestay because it was cheap and close by. This area was far outside of the central city, and could really only be described as rural country.

Upon arrival to the airport, we were picked up by a “friend” of our host who doubled as a taxi. The ride was about 2 1/2 hours from the airport and cost 250,000 IDR (~$19.00) which really is a pretty good price. Luckily, he took us to an ATM along the way because there wasn’t one in the airport.

We arrived at night, so we really weren’t able to get a good look at the place until the next morning. When we walked in, we were greeted by the host and his friends and family and given fresh tea and cassava chips (very similar to potato chips). We talked for a few minutes, and then we ordered dinner from them which they got from town. We got Gado Gado, which was pretty good – tofu and vegetables with rice puffs and a sweet peanut sauce.

 

First Impressions of Griya Harja

While we were waiting for dinner to arrive, we checked out the room. It was a little “rustic”. At the time there was no sink or mirror in the bathroom but it looks like they may have that now! There was a desk in the room and we could also work out in the main living room or on the patio. We enjoyed the sounds of the lizards at night. 

Volcanos in the Distance

Waking the next morning provided us with a great view of the area. The homestay was situated along a nice rural street near rice paddies with a clear view of Mt. Merapi – when not obscured by clouds – and Borobodur. A beautiful garden with a great porch was out front for us to enjoy the passing storms and roaming chickens.

 

The Guest House

The home was divided into two parts: the guest area, which was made up of five rooms, some of which shared a bathroom – our’s had a private bath – and a large living room which contained two tables and some sort of general laying platform. The other part of the home was for the owners themselves, accessible through a door, and kitchen use.

There were several other travelers who came through the homestay while we there. We only had light conversation with them, however, and by the end of our stay, we were the only ones left. One of the couples had actually recently broken up and were from Scotland and Amsterdam, but had already booked the trip and decided to just go anyways. Another couple was on their honeymoon.

Amenities and Perks

Our host provided us free of charge the ability to use the motorbikes and regular bikes which were quite nice. On the first day, we used it to go into town and visit the local market. We had up to this point avoided the local markets, because we hate haggling and dealing with the language barriers. However, we had no choice here so we gave it a shot, and it went quite well.

We went vendor to vendor buying individual items, fruits, and vegetables until we had enough to last us.  Even if we were getting ripped off (I don’t think we were), the price was great so we really couldn’t complain. I can’t remember specifically what we paid, but it came out to something like $6.

Simple Yet Satisfying

Our hosts were also quite nice and were pleasant to talk to about the region. They did inform, and apologize for the weather. It rained extensively during our stay, not normal for the time of year, but climate change was throwing things out of whack according to the locals. Not that it was a big deal to us, we enjoyed the frequent showers.

They also provided us with a complimentary breakfast every morning, which came out to fruit, and chocolate toast. We could have got fried noodles but we just don’t want that for breakfast – though I did just once. As well, we could get tea or coffee at any time.

There was plenty to do near the Griya Harja Homestay, and if we had spent more time there we could have found even more things to do.

• Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and one of the highlights of our stay in Java. This massive construct rises out of the jungle adorned with thousands of Buddha statues, stupas, and carvings.
• Menoreh Hill – just one of many hikes in the jungle mountains of the region. We didn’t intend to take this hike – in fact, we got lost and accidentally hiked it – but it was one of our favorite hikes ever.
• Camera House – a quirky and fun cafe and interactive art gallery run by a local artist. The focus is on taking pictures in rooms that mess with perspective.
• Pottery Village – this is literally a small village of under 100 people that specializes in producing pottery the old way.
• Mount Merapi – one of the regions numerous volcanos. It is one of the most active in the world and regularly erupts every dozen or so years. It is climbable with a guide, but unfortunately for us, the weather was not permitting.

Despite the initial shock, it was a wonderful stay and we definitely would recommend a stay at Griya Harja homestay.

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