Audioguides Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta is one of the few places on earth where a hereditary sultan still rules in a meaningful, constitutional sense. Sultan Hamengkubuwono X governs the Special Region of Yogyakarta as both its hereditary monarch and its elected governor, and his Kraton, the walled palace complex at the city's center, is not a museum but an active royal court. Walking its shaded pavilions, you pass gamelan instruments that are still played for ceremonial occasions and wayang puppet collections that link back to traditions older than the palace itself, which was founded in 1755.

The city sits in a corridor between two of Java's most extraordinary landmarks.

To the northwest, Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, a 9th-century stone mandala rising in terraced circles from the jungle plain. To the east, the Hindu complex of Prambanan dates from the same era and its three main towers dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva still reach 47 meters into the sky. Above it all, Mount Merapi watches from 30 kilometers north, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Meanwhile, Malioboro Street at dusk fills with batik sellers, food carts serving gudeg (a slow-braised jackfruit stew native to this city), and the constant gentle percussion of becak drivers weaving through the crowd.