i was supposed to go there 31st oct - 5 nov.. changed my flight to may next year.

any suggestions on hotels there? I'm going in mid may. I have no idea of the lodging and itenary yet.

thanks for the recommendation on hotel.. looks good and they have a 'package' consisting of free tours. i just submitted an enquiry for a stay from 17th may to 21st may.. hope to hear from them soon.

What interesting souvenirs can we get there

i'm now in jogja. Went for a borobudur (excellent) and dieng day tour. Dieng i think you need one whole day to cover. In the morning i reached there 1 and half hour only from borobudur but dieng was a bit rushed. Also, it was too foggy by the time i reached there, couldnt really see anything. Telaga warna also a let down because so many kids loitering around the area playing loud music. The guide (so mahal, sohai and refused to nego his price) wasnt bothered to take us all around, kept telling us that one day is not enough to bring us around dieng. its true, but dieng was dissapointing for me.

If you are at borobudur, look for a guide named Hari. He cannot speak english well, just indonesian and japanese, but he is very funny, informative and knows how to take a damn good picture! If you're going to dieng skip telaga warna (can only see the colour if you hike up the hill) and go for telaga menjer instead.

Candi arjuna no need for guide, but telaga warna i think will need a guide to bring you to the spot on top of the hill to see the different colours of the lake. Otherwise it is just a green pond. The guide also told us about the legend behind the lake and the meditation caves and all that, but didnt bring us there.

I didnt get to stop by telaga menjer, read some reviews on the internet saying that telaga menjer is better because its not as famous as telaga warna. When i went to telaga warna there were a few tourists but the young locals, lepaking playing loud music and all that really spoilt it a bit. Didnt go to menjer because the guide kept saying not enough time. i was quite unhappy. I think its relatively a big place for you to explore on your own.

I went to monosobo for lunch but didnt try their mie onglok ( i must have missed this recommendation) but i was brought to the 'best' restaurant allegedly, the menu was normal, food was normal (ayam bakar, ikan bakar was their specialty but the ikan was nice, ayam was so small and over-bakar) but their sambal goreng was good. because we were a bit dissatisfied later we went to a warong to eat their bakso. haha. I brought along pills for food poisoning from malaysia just in case (had a bad case of food poisoning in sri lanka so this time better prepared) but didnt suffer any problems this time.

i give the kraton guide 2k only. he thought i was joking but i walked away. lol