Sunday-dressed villagers smiled and waved their hands at thousands of participants running and walking along rural paths and lush paddy fields around Borobudur temple…
YOGYAKARTA/MAGELANG- Sunday-dressed villagers smiled and waved their hands at thousands of participants running and walking along rural paths and lush paddy fields around Borobudur temple over the week-end for the big sport event Interhash 2012 which took place from May 25 to 27 in Central Java. They even saw Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono accompanied by his wife walking along a 4.2 km trail near Borobudur temple.
The event was indeed a fun moment without any competition which brought over 4,600 participants from fifty countries –including some 1,300 Malaysians-, who were happy to discover Central Java beautiful landscapes, the famed temples of Prambanan and Borobudur as well as the historical city of Yogyakarta. It was also an important moment to promote the region. “It is difficult to dream of a better place than Central Java and Yogyakarta. It has nature, culture, heritage, history, culinary traditions and above all wonderful local people who will leave a memorable impression to all Interhash participants,” said a smiling Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu to a cheering and joyful crowd during the inaugural ceremony. It also demonstrates that Yogyakarta and the neighbouring district of Magelang (where Borobudur temple is located) are well prepared to receive large international groups of travellers.
Interhash 2012 was indeed the right moment to officially launch ‘Central Java Visit Year 2013’. Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo indicated in his speech to expect many visitors from all around the world to discover the region, hoping that Interhash participants will then be the ambassadors to the event in their countries. Central Java and the gateway city of Yogyakarta are in fact one of the most prominent destinations in Indonesia. The area has three international airports with both Yogyakarta and Semarang being linked by daily flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore b y AirAsia and Garuda while Solo has a daily flight to Singapore. Both Yogyakarta and Solo have luxury and first class hotels with over 500 rooms as well as conference facilities for up to 2,500 people. Infrastructure projects include the construction of a new air terminal in Semarang and the completion of a tollway all across Central Java/Yogyakarta.
Highlights to the region are of course both temples of Prambanan – Southeast Asia grandest Hindu sacred site- and Borobudur – the world’s largest Buddhist temple- which attract every year three million visitors including 350,000 international travellers. Other interesting sites to visit in the area include Yogyakarta Sultan’s Palace, UNESCO listed old royal spa of Taman Sari and Yogyakarta old town; Solo own Sultan’s palace; colonial architecture in Semarang with Indonesia’s largest baroque church (Gereja Blenduk), Dieng Plateau with its temples and tea plantations as well as Merapi Volcano.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
