Little trips round Yogya -- 3 -- Kasongan
by prudence on 21-Apr-2013
We walked there this morning. Round trip of 12 kilometres, or 7.5 miles. Not bad for a hot climate.
As always, the walk took us through all things rice: a row of planters working their way systematically along a paddy-field, while classical Javanese music poured from the loudspeaker behind them; a threshing machine set up by the side of the road; tarpaulins covered with rice that had been laid out to dry.
Sunday is the day when the women seem to go to the mosque (and today is Kartini Day, so maybe that's another reason). Our local mosque was full of women praying, and we later passed various little processions of them heading back home.
Big cows in the farms on our route today. You don't see them around "our" villages.
Kasongan is famous for its pottery. I was struck by the variety. Some outlets offer plain household pots made of cheerfully ruddy clay. Some offer what can only be described as ceramic art. And there's everything in between, it seems.
A cursory glance didn't reveal the cat-for-the-porch that I'd vaguely aspired to, so we bought nothing other than soto ayam and es teh. But it was a nice objective (and our cheapest outing yet, at a mere 18,000 rupiah). Fascinating to see bicycles and motorbikes moving cargos of pots -- far more pots than you could ever imagine being accommodated on any single vehicle, especially one pushed by a distinctly elderly lady. And interesting to see, close up, the feisty clay eagles that adorn so many roof ridges around here.
As always, the walk took us through all things rice: a row of planters working their way systematically along a paddy-field, while classical Javanese music poured from the loudspeaker behind them; a threshing machine set up by the side of the road; tarpaulins covered with rice that had been laid out to dry.
Sunday is the day when the women seem to go to the mosque (and today is Kartini Day, so maybe that's another reason). Our local mosque was full of women praying, and we later passed various little processions of them heading back home.
Big cows in the farms on our route today. You don't see them around "our" villages.
Kasongan is famous for its pottery. I was struck by the variety. Some outlets offer plain household pots made of cheerfully ruddy clay. Some offer what can only be described as ceramic art. And there's everything in between, it seems.
A cursory glance didn't reveal the cat-for-the-porch that I'd vaguely aspired to, so we bought nothing other than soto ayam and es teh. But it was a nice objective (and our cheapest outing yet, at a mere 18,000 rupiah). Fascinating to see bicycles and motorbikes moving cargos of pots -- far more pots than you could ever imagine being accommodated on any single vehicle, especially one pushed by a distinctly elderly lady. And interesting to see, close up, the feisty clay eagles that adorn so many roof ridges around here.