Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 187

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
The tiny village of Dieng skirts Jl Raya Dieng, which runs
along the plateau's eastern edge.
Gunung Mas Jl Raya Dieng 42 T 0813 2702 7929.
Spotless, if spartan, rooms with hot water and breakfast.
The shared, second-storey balcony overlooks a small
courtyard removed from the noise from the main road
(but not the call to prayer from the adjacent mosque).
Rp200,000
Homestay Bougenville Jl Raya Dieng T 0813 2707
2112. Friendly little place in the centre of town, near the
entrance to the Arjuna temple complex. There are five well-
kept rooms with comfy beds and decent hot showers on
the second floor of the owner's home, tea an d coffee on tap
and a cosy shared sitting room and balcony. Rp150,000
Mbak Mien In the square behind Hotel Bu Djono . The
best of the warung here, offering cheap Indonesian fare
( nasi goreng Rp8000) and the hot herbal drink purwaceng
(Rp10,000), which locals call the “Javanese Viagra”. Daily
7am-9pm.

the Dutch. he eight temples left on
Dieng today are a tiny fraction of
what was once a huge complex built
by the Sanjayas in the seventh and
eighth centuries.
Of these temples, the five that make
up the Arjuna complex (daily 6.15am-
5.15pm; Rp20,000) standing in fields
opposite Dieng village, are believed to be
the oldest. he northernmost of these
two-storey temples, the Arjuna Temple , is
the oldest on Java (c.680 AD), and was
dedicated to Shiva. Next to Arjuna stands
Candi Srikandi , the exterior of which is
adorned with reliefs of Vishnu (on the
north wall), Shiva (east) and Brahma
(south). Candi Gatutkaca overlooks the
Arjuna complex 300m to the southwest,
and twenty minutes' walk (1km) south of
here stands the peculiar-looking Candi
Bima , currently under renovation.

DIRECTORY
Banks There's a BNI with an ATM just north of Gunung Mas.
Internet Clinic Computer, just north of Bougenville, has
an internet connection (Rp3000/hr).

The lakes
From Candi Bima, you can continue
down the road on foot for 1km or so
to Telaga Warna (Coloured Lake; daily
8am-5pm; Rp15,000), the best example
of Dieng's coloured lakes, where
sulphurous deposits shade the water blue,
from turquoise to azure. Adjacent to the
lake is crystal-clear Telaga Pengilon ,
which makes for beautiful photos in
nice weather.

4

YOGYAKARTA
YOGYAKARTA (pronounced “Jogjakarta”
and often just shortened to Yogya, or
“Jogja”) ranks as one of the best-preserved
and most attractive cities in Java, and is a
major centre for the classical Javanese
arts of batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry
and puppet shows. It is also the perfect
base from which to explore the temples of
Borobudur and Prambanan, or take an
early morning hike up Gunung Merapi .
Tourists flock here, attracted not only by
the city's courtly splendour, but also by
the cuisine and shopping, and the various
language and cultural courses on offer. As
a result there are more tourist-oriented
hotels in Yogya than anywhere else in Java
and, unfortunately, a correspondingly
high number of touts, pickpockets and
con artists.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono I (also known
as Mangkubumi ) established his court
here in 1755, spending the next 37 years
building the new capital, with the Kraton
as the centrepiece and the court at Solo
as the blueprint. In 1946, the capital of
the newly declared Republic of Indonesia

The craters
Around 2km from Candi Gatutkaca is
Sikidang Crater . his volcanic bowl has
numerous hot springs that have appeared
through the bubbling mud. Behind the
black spring is a walking path that has
a great vantage point of the area. here
are no safety rails and the path can get
slippery when it rains, so take care not to
fall into the scalding mud ponds.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By bus Buses connect the Dieng Plateau with Yogya,
for which you'll need to change buses several times.
From Yogya's Jombor terminal, first head to Magelang
(Rp10,000), then to Wonosobo (Rp15,000), and finally to
Dieng itself (Rp10,000). The complete journey takes
roughly four to five hours. From Jakarta, head west to
Purwokerto (5-6hr by train; 9hr by bus), from where
frequent buses connect to Wonosobo (Rp20,000).