Great trip today to Candi Ijo.

We took what my late father would have called a "devious route". That was family code for getting lost a few times. And then the road up to the temple was rough and steep. Not for nothing is it billed as the highest place in Yogya.

Here's Rufus resting at the top:



But wow, was it beautiful. We could almost reach out and touch Mount Merapi. From the temple's serene and lofty vantage-point, the long, gradual slope that leads from the volcano to the city is clearly visible. And the airport looks microscopic from up here, its planes like toys.

The temple buildings themselves, of course, are really impressive: the fine stonework, the cute nandi, the gracefulness of the eternally dancing apsaras, and so many more pleasing little details.

We sat for a while on the warm stone terrace, our backs to history, listening to the cicadas and the birds, and watching the butterflies.

From here we had been planning to go to Sendang Sriningsih. Completely failed to find it. But while we were searching, we got more fine views of this exceptionally rugged little stretch of Yogya's hills. (If you want to know EXACTLY how rugged, you need to ask Ruf...) It's such a different world up here.

Serendipitously, on descending, we found Yogya's dome houses, which are described here.

This is the dome mosque:



And, to round off this most epic of little trips, we found a nice new place to have lunch. The Warung Ndas Manyung. Not far from us, and not expensive. We thoroughly recommend their ayam penyet, and their eggplant with sambal and smoked fish.