DAY FOUR, part 2: Sultan's palace, etc.

After Prambanan, we pressed on to the sultan's palace. Jogjakarta is the only province in Indonesia whose sultan holds the office of governor. The official residence of the sultanate is open to tourists. After we parked, we took a bathroom break, and while we were waiting in the courtyard leading up to the entrance, I was approached by an Indonesian family. A woman asked me--in perfect English--"Excuse me, would you mind holding my baby?" If this ever happens to me in America, I'll definitely be suspicious. Had it happened to me our first day in Bali, I would've been a little leery. But for some reason, having been around the people for three days, and looking at the woman smilingly offering me her baby, I let my guard down. I was still confused, though. She explained that she wanted to take a picture. Zoe and Rachel were just barely within earshot, and so they came in closer to see. I of course accepted, and asked that they take a picture with my camera, and that Zoe and Rachel get in the picture too. She had no problem with it, though Zoe later told me she could tell the lady didn't seem to care too much about the two of them.

Without hesitating, the lady handed me her son. He couldn't have been more than two years old, and he was adorable. He didn't say anything. He didn't freak out, start crying, wet his pants, throw up, or even squirm--those were all of the worst-case scenarios I had running through my head. He just sort of looked around blankly, giving me the impression that his mother does this often. The woman's mother joined in the picture. Afterwards, she traded me my camera for her son, thanked me, and we all went our separate ways.

The tour of the palace costs about $10, and that includes an official guide who accompanies you throughout. I can't really remember much about it, apart from it being beautiful. Just past the gate was a courtyard with a stage. On one side of the stage were seats for us, and on the other was a gamelan. The sound somehow perfectly fit my stereotype of southeast Asian music. Have a listen here. The stage itself was beautiful polished marble, and our guide explained that the sultan hosts special events there. There was a prominently-displayed sign that plainly stated "don't touch the stage," but that didn't stop a group of whities near us. As I lined up for this picture, I noticed they were speaking French. I leave the decision of this fact's significance up to you.

The rest of the tour included lots of exhibits about the royal family, and views of the beautiful marble construction around the palace. We were permitted to walk around the grounds, but the polished marble walkways were cordoned off. All in all, it sounds a lot cooler in the retelling than it was to be there, but that's probably because there's a lot that would seem mundane right after a 1,200-year-old Hindu temple complex.

After the palace, we visited a nearby castle once used by the sultan. Called the Tamansari, the castle contains large pools, and according to Lingga, the sultan would invite prospective ladyfriends to bathe there. I get the feeling it functioned as an all-around spa: Lingga showed us a room she's convinced was used as a sauna. Anyway, there's a tower about 30 feet up with a perfect view of the pools. From here, the sultan would observe the ladies. When one struck his fancy, he'd send for her, and then I guess they'd go out for Coke floats.

I had a great idea for a picture: I would go up to the top of the tower, just like the sultan, and then the girls would all stand down by the pool! It'd be just like back in the old days! I talked myself out of suggesting it, though.

We left the castle and went on to lunch. Lingga took us to a buffet of local food. We gorged ourselves on food that, once again, will sound boring: rice, noodles, soup, and various kinds of meat. I promise it's not that I don't know how to describe food. It's just that, as I said before, most of the spices here only exist in Indonesia, so I gave up trying to learn their names, because I've never heard of any of them. Lunch was every bit as amazing as the other Indonesian food we'd eaten.

We finished eating, left a tip (which made me feel so much more at home than when I'm in Japan), and continued our adventure.