Why this ride
From Yogyakarta it runs 266 km to Yogyakarta; allow about 3 h 59 of riding. On the way it passes Mendut Temple, Sangiran Early Man Site and back through Mendut Temple. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it and Sangiran Early Man Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 266 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 59
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it
Yogyakarta was laid out along a line. In the eighteenth century, Sultan Hamengkubuwono I founded the city on an axis running from the smoking cone of Mount Merapi in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south, with the Tugu monument, the Kraton palace and the Panggung Krapyak stage pavilion placed along it, embodying Javanese ideas about the cycle of life and the relation between people, ruler and the cosmos. The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and its Historic Landmarks was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2023, and the sultanate still functions: the sultan is also the governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
Read the complete The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it is where the day begins. Next is Mendut Temple.
2. Mendut Temple
Mendut is the small, elegant temple that most visitors pass on their way to Borobudur, and that is a mistake. Built in the early ninth century under the Sailendra dynasty, it stands about three kilometres east of the great monument, on a straight line that also passes through the tiny Pawon temple, and scholars believe the three were connected in a ritual sequence. Each year, at the Buddhist festival of Waisak, monks walk in procession from Mendut through Pawon to Borobudur, carrying candles and chanting.
Read the complete Mendut Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mendut Temple comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sangiran Early Man Site.
3. Sangiran Early Man Site
Half of what we know about Homo erectus in Asia seems to have come out of the ground near this village in central Java. Sangiran is a dome of eroded earth, a few kilometres across, in which stream cuts have exposed layers of volcanic ash and river sediment that built up over about two million years, and in those layers the bones of early humans and extinct animals have turned up. The first finds were made in the 1930s, notably by the German palaeontologist Ralph von Koenigswald, and the site has since produced the remains of some fifty individuals, about half of all known fossils of its kind in the world. UNESCO listed it in 1996.
Read the complete Sangiran Early Man Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 132 km into the recorded legs you reach Sangiran Early Man Site. Next is back through Mendut Temple.
4. back through Mendut Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mendut Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mendut Temple, late in the day. Next is The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it.
5. The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it to Mendut Temple
The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it → Mendut Temple is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mendut Temple to Sangiran Early Man Site
Mendut Temple → Sangiran Early Man Site is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sangiran Early Man Site to back through Mendut Temple
Sangiran Early Man Site → back through Mendut Temple is 94 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mendut Temple to The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it
back through Mendut Temple → The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and it is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.