88%
Time spent in Yogyakarta: 1.5 months
1. Introduction
I was looking very hard to find a city on the island of Java where I could spend a longer time as a digital nomad. This is could sometimes be a very hard job, and I eventually selected Yogyakarta. This is a city which is large enough to have all the modern infrastructure you may need, and also has quite a lot of sights to keep you busy when you are not working. I definitely think that Yogyakarta is the best place in Java, and one of the best places in Indonesia as a digital nomad destination.
This is a post written for digital nomads. If you are interested in a guide on what to do and see in Yogyakarta, see my other post here.
2. Internet: 9
I was staying with a local family in their private home, where I had a room to myself. Wifi was good, although not awfully fast, but it was perfectly fine for my Skype calls, watching online videos and doing my everyday job.
Of course I had my own local SIM card with a decent amount of data, which I didn’t have to use a lot – actually, I was only using it when I was walking in the city, for calling a Grab bike or checking something on the internet.
I was staying in an area next to a large university, so maybe that was the reason why it was easy to find places with good and free Wifi and nice tables with powerpoints to work. My favourite was a place called Stereos Coffee, which was clearly expecting students with their laptops and people like myself, digital nomads. Every table was perfect for working, there were powerpoints everywhere, and their Wifi was perfect. Their prices were much higher than at other places, but then it is just normal, since they had to deal with guests who will sit at a table for hours and hours with only a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of food options, but they have snacks.
I also used the terrace of Pizza Hut, which also had excellent Wifi, good tables and powerpoints beside the table. They didn’t care either when I stayed there for several hours while only ordering one coffee. But they only had a few customers every time I went there – well, their prices are again not the lowest in Yogyakarta…
Why I didn’t give it the maximum score is because I had some weird connection problem: I just couldn’t connect to the online services that I need to use for my job. I have no idea what the reason was, because I could use absolutely every other online service or site perfectly well. At the same time, however, when I left Yogyakarta, the problem disappeared. I have the feeling that the problem was on the online service providers side, and it had nothing to do with internet connectivity in Jogja or Indonesia, but still, the problem was there. (I am using online services for my work which are basically shit, regardless of where in the world I am…)
3. Prices: 9
Prices in Indonesia (except for Bali) are very reasonable. Food and transportation are cheap, especially if you use Grab. I as a solo traveller always used Grab motorbikes, and paid little more than 10k from my home to the city centre, a good half an hour ride.
Clothes shopping, should you need to do some, is also very cheap, and you can buy data for your local SIM card for almost nothing.
Accommodation, however, is much more expensive, at least compared to the prices of everything else. I made a rather bad choice on Airbnb, and booked a room in a private house, hoping that this way I would be able to learn much more about the local people and their way of life. The one month spent in their house was not good at all, especially because there was one family member, a guy, who was continuously staying at home watching TV or playing games on his mobile. This would be no problem in itself, but for some reason, he didn’t seem to like me. This is always a risk. So the lesson I learnt is this: if you want to stay with a family, make sure your room is very well separated from the rest of the house to make sure you have your privacy. This way, you don’t have to meet the family if you don’t want to. Anyway, even this room was quite expensive for my budget.
Another expensive thing was the medicine that I had to buy, because I had just run out of my hypertension drugs. At home, the price is shared between me and the social security system that I pay quite a lot for every month, so 30 pills would cost me about 3 euros. Here in Jogja, I had to pay about 15 euros for 10 pills! I am also advised by my doctor to take something to control my cholesterol level, which again was awfully expensive here, but the pharmacist was so nice that she was looking hi and lo and eventually found a local equivalent, which was already much cheaper. (Read my post about how to travel with medications here.)
4. People & communication: 10
People in Yogyakarta were so nice and welcoming and helpful, that I felt I had to write a separate post about it. Read that post to learn more about why I loved the people in the city.
Although not many people speak English, and although this would normally subtract at least one point from this score, the people were so extremely kind there, that I must give them the maximum 10 points. — And this was a good reason for me to start learning Indonesian more seriously 🙂
5: Sights and things to do: 8
Yogyakarta has a few very interesting sights in the city, you can read more about it in my guide to Yogyakarta here. There are also two hugely famous sights just outside the city: the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. There is a nice little town not far from Jogja called Solo, which is a nice place to do a day trip to. Have a look at some of the street art photos that I took in Solo.
6. Walkability: 7
Walking is perfectly fine in the city centre, but it will be difficult a little further. I was living in the north, in the area of Pandega Marta, where it was very often problematic: smaller streets don’t have pavements at all, and after a heavy rain, it is especially to walk there.
One important factor in this category is whether it is basically worth walking or not, or whether there is anywhere to walk to at all. In this respect, I must say Yogya is fine. You will want to walk in the centre, where there are nice streets and things to see. Outside the centre, I also liked walking, although there are obviously fewer highly interesting things to look at there.
7. Safety: 10
I felt that Yogyakarta was completely safe. Wherever I went, even at night, I never felt danger, and during my stay there for almost two months, I never encountered any problems at all.
Indonesia is a muslim country, so women should dress appropriately. If they don’t, some local bad guys may think that the too revealing clothes are an invitation, and women will think you are one of those bad girls.
Scams are very rare if they exist at all (they must, but I never experienced any).
8. Food. self-catering: 7
Food in Jogja is good, but nothing exceptional, I should say. The city has a very famous local food, gudeg, which I tried once and never again… However, you should try it, maybe you will like it more. Another famous food that I first tried in Indonesia is gado-gado, a vegetable stew with peanut sauce and other ingredients, but it is available all over the country. Another first in Yogyakarta for me was martabak, but again, I realized later that it again is available at lots of other places in Indonesia and elsewhere.
Jogja has a lot of Padang style restaurants. These are self service places, with all the food laid out like in a buffet style, and you help yourself to whatever to want to, then pay for what you have placed on your plate. I am not sure if the name refers to Padang food or not, but anyway, Padang is a city in Sumatra, where I also spent a good month (read my city rating of Padang here), and there, the food is really special, and the serving style is not less so. Read about it in more details in my guide to Padang.
Why I gave 7 points only in this category is that after a few weeks, I felt a little bored o the usual fare, and I started to feel that the options are not varied enough. I was also missing the soups.
9. Infrastructure and services: 9
I didn’t really miss anything while I was in Jogja. Shopping was OK, and this time, I didn’t need to buy good quality ground coffee, because I got free coffee at my Airbnb home, and anyway I was drinking a lot of espressos in Stereos Coffee, where I went to do my work every day.
There was one occasion, when I needed medical help, but that was arranged by my insurance company, so I didn’t have to find a clinic. The one that my insurance company selected for me was (of course) a private clinic, where everyone spoke excellent English, everyone was super polite and super helpful, although I am not sure how professional my doctor was altogether. But he was young and cute, at least. You can’t be smart, experienced and beautiful at the same time, can you?
Bus service is good and cheap, once you learn how to use it. There are trains connecting Yogyakarta to other major cities on the island, and the airport is a major hub, too.
10. Visa: 7
The score for the visa is for Indonesia in general. You can stay in the country without a visa for one month, but if you want to stay longer, you need to buy a visa on arrival (38 USD or 500.000 IDR), and you can extend it for another 30 days for another 38 USD. You can find a more detailed post about how to extend your Indonesian visa here.
11. Overall impression: 10+2
Yogyakarta is one of my top choices as a digital nomad destination, and I am sure that it would be a favourite for many of you, too. I have only met one European digital nomad in Jogja, in the Stereos Coffee café, who liked the city as much as I did. In fact, he returned to Jogja after spending a year there before as a student at a university with a scholarship.
The best thing about Jogja is its people. You never run out of kindness and smiles from local people wherever you go (except perhaps the very touristic Malioboro street, where lots of people will try to sell you batik shirts).
The atmosphere of the city was nice and quiet, especially if you choose to live a little further away from the very centre. You will find cafés where you can do your job comfortably if that is your thing, but internet connection will be good even with your mobile data (I did try it). The cultural treasures that you will be able to see, the performances, the dances, the wayang shows, the museums – all of them will keep you entertained when you have free time.
12. Practical info
12.1 Getting there and away
Yogyakarta has an international airport, which at the moment (2020) is very near the city, and this makes it easy to get to and from the airport. But the new airport, Kulon Progo, or Yogyakarta International Airport, is now ready for operation, and some flights already use the new airport.
Yogyakarta also has a train link to many other places in Java, even all the way to Jakarta. The trains are comfortable, cheap and fast. Buses of course connect Yogyakarta with just about any place on the island of Java. They are also cheap, but how comfortable they are depends on lots of factors – but they are to be expected much less comfortable that what you would expect in Europe.
12.2 Accommodation in Yogyakarta
Jogja is prepared for visitors very well as far as accommodation is concerned. There are hotels all over the city, not only in the centre, and you will be able to find hotel rooms for a reasonable price. Airbnb options are also available, although my least enjoyable stay was exactly in Yogyakarta. I rented only a room in a private family home, hoping I would be able to experience local life and culture. I did, but the stay was terrible. But there are many other options. My advice is that you shouldn’t book for a very long time initially, and then you can decide how much you like the place and if you want to book longer or not. Read my post on digital nomad accommodation for further tips and advice.
It is also a good idea to book a hotel room just for a few nights, and then look around and check out the options yourself. Here is a map for you to find deals in Yogyakarta on Booking.com:
Booking.com
Check out my other Digital Nomad City Ratings. Some of the latest posts:
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Da Nang
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Chiang Mai
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Yogyakarta
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kandy and Colombo
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Bukittinggi
Digital Nomad City Ratings: Padang
