Bali + Yogyakarta: an island and the greatest temple in Southeast Asia
Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world, and it is an hour's flight from Bali. Flying halfway across the planet and not seeing it would be odd.
Why add Java
Bali is wonderful and monotonous: beaches, rice terraces, cafés, surf. An hour away on Java lies Yogyakarta, Indonesia's cultural capital, with two UNESCO monuments beside it: ninth-century Buddhist Borobudur and Hindu Prambanan. Add active volcanoes you can climb. That half of the route stops the trip from being purely a beach.
Borobudur and Prambanan
Borobudur is a stepped pyramid of two million stone blocks with reliefs that read like a book if you walk the tiers clockwise. Sunrise from it is Indonesia's signature image, but early-entry tickets are limited and must be bought ahead, and access to the upper tiers is capped for conservation. Prambanan, twenty kilometres away, has sharp Hindu towers dedicated to Shiva; in the evening they sometimes stage the Ramayana ballet in the open air.
Yogyakarta: four days
The Kraton, the palace of a sultan who still governs a special region. Malioboro street with batik: this is the local craft, and workshops show how the wax drawing is done. The Merapi volcano — jeep tours across slopes where the traces of eruptions are still visible. And if you have the strength for a night climb, Ijen in eastern Java with its blue sulphur flames, or Bromo with sunrise over the caldera; both need their own day and a flight or a long drive.
Bali: eight days
It is sensible to stay in two places: Ubud in the centre of the island — temples, rice terraces, the monkey forest, craft villages — and the coast: Canggu with surf and cafés, Uluwatu with cliffs and its sunset temple, or the quiet east. One separate day for Nusa Penida with the Kelingking cliff. Another for the sunrise climb up Batur, which is easy and beautiful.
When to go
April–October, the dry season on both Bali and Java. In the rainy season from November to March Borobudur is often in mist and volcano climbs are cancelled. July–August peaks for people and prices; May–June and September give the same weather more calmly.
The volcanoes of Java
Ijen in the east of the island is famous for its blue flames — burning sulphur glows blue in the dark, so you climb at night to catch it. There is also an acid lake of an unreal turquoise and miners who carry sulphur out by hand in seventy-kilogram baskets. Bromo is a caldera with a sea of sand, where you descend to the cone and meet the sunrise from the Penanjakan viewpoint. Both need an early or night start, warm clothes and a mask: the sulphur gas here is real, not decorative.
Batik and what to bring home
Yogyakarta is the centre of batik, and the difference between the real and the printed matters: hand-drawn batik tulis is applied with wax through a canting, a scarf takes weeks of work, and the price reflects it. Workshops show the process and let you try. Besides fabric, people take silver from Kotagede, leather figures for the wayang shadow theatre, and Javanese coffee. Bali has its own trades: wood carving from Mas, painting from Ubud, jewellery from Celuk.
Practical matters
Indonesia issues a visa on arrival with the fee paid at the airport; check the rules before flying. Domestic flights between Denpasar and Yogyakarta are frequent and cheap. A sarong is compulsory in temples and handed out at the entrance. And one warning: traffic on Bali is chaotic, and renting a scooter without an A-category licence voids your insurance — the most common problem travellers have here.
Moscow → Denpasar → Yogyakarta
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.