Yogyakarta is the cultural heart of Java, and it still has a living sultan. The Kraton, the sultan's palace, stands at the centre of the city, surrounded by courtyards, pavilions and a walled quarter, and the ruling sultan serves as the governor of the special region, a unique arrangement in Indonesia. The city is also a university town, full of students, art, batik workshops and a famous street, Malioboro, that fills with food stalls and horse-drawn carts in the evening.
To the north, the volcano Merapi, nearly three thousand metres high and one of the most active in Indonesia, hangs over the city and often puffs steam. Its eruptions have shaped the land and the lives of the people for centuries. In the plain around, the fields are rice, with palms and banana trees, and the soil is rich with volcanic ash. The great Buddhist monument of Borobudur, built in the ninth century, stands about forty kilometres to the north-west, and the Hindu temples of Prambanan lie to the east. Pawon, a small temple of brick-red volcanic stone, stands in a line between Borobudur and Mendut and is thought to have been part of a ritual path.
Riding in Java is an adventure of scale. Scooters swarm, buses roar, and everything seems to move at once, yet there is an unspoken order, and traffic flows. Traffic drives on the left. The best advice is to stay calm, ride predictably and give way to larger vehicles. Roads in the countryside are narrower and beautiful, with smooth stretches and unexpected potholes. In the rainy season, from roughly November to March, afternoon downpours are heavy, and the dry months of May to September offer the clearest weather.
Fuel is on sale everywhere, from official stations to roadside stalls, and the food is superb. Try gudeg, a sweet jackfruit stew with rice, eggs and chicken, which is the signature dish of the city, and sip strong sweet tea or coffee. Wear a helmet, carry your papers and respect the customs at temples, where shoulders and knees should be covered. An early start in the cool of the morning is the best way to see the monuments before the heat and the crowds.