One of my favorite kampongs includes the area east of the Water Castle and the Pasar Ngasem market, an area infiltrated by some tourist shops but still lovely and various in its architecture as it bumps up against old royal walls and buildings. The other is the kampong near the Masjid Ghedhe Mataram mosque in the old-city area of Kotagede. This 18th-century mosque, the oldest in the city, should be seen for the architectural stylings of its gates and walls, which incorporate Hindu motifs that have long influenced Javanese design.
Then walk east and south through a warren of homes. The kampong begins wealthy (try a fancy coffee at the Longkang Kotagede cafe, or find the funkier, banyan-shaded Legian cafe), and then drifts south into an area of trees, animals and shambolic shared spaces, where it evokes a timeless country village.
Having seen the temples, sampled the warungs, walked the kampongs, and imagined the Cosmological Axis, you are now a certified Yogya visitor. As one world-traveling local resident, who lived in Sacramento and Chiang Mai, Thailand, among other places, told me, “The tourists who do come to Yogya come back.”
It’s Yogya’s universe, we just visit it.
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