Yogyakarta Tours and Trips

Exotic Java and Bali trip was an excellent trip, a nice mix of busy cities and quiet villages as well as traditional culture, wildlife and downtime. Hadi is an excellent guide with deep understanding and care for your travelling experiences and desire to avoid the crowds. He has built strong relationships with hotel, restaurant staff and local guides which makes the experience of travelling even better.

A lovely holiday with a good variety of activities. We were able to explore the different cultures of Java and Bali - the crafts, the history, the wildlife, the countryside and the food. The hotel accomodation was good, and the food was plentiful and good value. (Cheaper than I expected) I particularly enjoyed the visit to Mount Bromo volcano, the tour of Kalibaru spice plantation and the Balinese dancing at Ubud. Our tour leader, Ihsan, was excellent. He was efficient, helpful, enthusiastic and also friendly and chatty.

Nice contrast between Java (with a Muslim majority) and Bali (Hindu), which markedly shapes their character. Not sure i appreciated 4 or 5 muezzins calling me to prayer at 4am in Java, though..:0). Tour leader needs to alter his advice in Ubud: the monkey forest was entirely enjoyable, not the fearsome place he made it out to be... Also needs to advise on other highlights of Ubud, such as the Water Palace, which i discovered by myself.

This was our fourteenth trip with Explore, and once again our trip met all our expectations. Our Tour Leader Hadi was very friendly and very competent, and all arrangements went smoothly. Great variety of activities (batik-making, snorkeling, hiking, bike-riding, cooking opportunities) and wonderful sightseeing - ancient temples, beautiful scenery (terraced farmland, rice paddies, waterfalls) volcanoes (up close!) spice plantations, villages and people. Thoroughly recommend this tour.

Hadi was a fantastic tour leader! He was knowledgeable, informative and very very patient. He made the trip and was a great ambassador for Indonesia. The trip had a great variety of activities and 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites. I particularly loved the trip up Mt Bromo to see inside a volcano and again to see the sunrise - a very different experience than expected but a lot of fun. The only downside was the last hotel had a major reconstruction of its restaurant which could be heard round the pool (I had an email saying it was refurbished and reopened.) It meant people moved to another hotel and split up the group which was disappointing But it was a nice hotel.

We explored and enjoyed this amazing country in 2 weeks. We got to see every aspect of Indonesia both the well-known areas but also the lesser known, off the beaten track. We were impressed with the guide his knowledge and passion shone through continuously. We were engaged and immersed in this cultural experience.