Jogja/Maliboro

After spending a few days in Borobudur and Prambanan, we’ve moved to the Maliboro district in the heart of Yogyakarta (Jogja) proper. We’re here to eat food, rest a bit, and people watch. And on a street lined with multi-story malls housing American fast food brands, traditional batik clothing outlets, and pop-up vendors cramming the streets with cheap souvenirs and delicious food, we couldn’t ask for better. Maliboro is an artery for the city’s commuters that thickens to a crawl during rush hour. It’s also where the newly affluent middle class comes to shop, where a panoply of shopkeepers flood onto the streets to sell their wares, where everyone mixes and mingles. There’s always something to see.

Stoytcho and I roam the streets, ducking between people and capturing what we can on a camera with reflexes too slow for life here. On one occasion, I’m staring out into the flow of traffic and watch in awe as a man with a dozen sacks of rice and a crate of fruit on his scooter deftly weaves between cars. I shout to Stoytcho, “WHOA, did you see that?” “No,” Stoytcho replies, “I was distracted by a chainsmoking ten-year-old shopping for a lighter.”

Two girls play near a monument to Indonesia’s revolutionary heroes, along Jl. Maliboro.

Men work in a ditch along Maliboro, further complicating the daily rush hour.

Angklung performers shut down Maliboro as they protest a ban on musical street performances. Their signs read variations of: “We are artists, not vagrants.”

A performer plays the angklung on Maliboro, in defiance of the street performance ban.

Women shop for bridal accesories at pop-up shops in one of Maliboro’s malls.

Our backpacks rest at the Packer Lodge in Yogyakarta.

Stoytcho rests in the lobby of the Packer Lodge in Yogyakarta.

Ojeks and cars crawl along Jl. Maliboro in rush hour.

Two women try to cross the street.

People gather and walk the street in the evening at Maliboro.

The late afternoon sun through a sculpture.

The narrow walking corridor between shop stalls on Maliboro’s west side. Stoytcho towers over everyone here.

A neon sign for a batik clothing store.

A man attempts to cross the street with his food cart.

A scrambled egg fries in a hot wok before rice and seasoning are added to make nasi goreng.

Light and color in the night: the view from a food stall off Maliboro.