Kota

Jogja, it turns out, is the Budapest of Indonesia, at least in terms of street art and graffiti. After a heaping plate of my favourite food, chicken sate (for only $1!!), from two gossiping street vendors we wander the streets killing time until our night train rolls into town.

I

 I stop to take a picture of a mural on the wall of some stairs that lead down to the river. A group of kids at the bottom spot me and call up, "Hey Mister, Mister picture us picture us."

After I show them their picture they giggle and scamper into the dark past a giant green tent that serves as a temporary shelter for the refugees of Mount Merapi. A poodle sized rat scurries past my feet in the opposite direction and I follow it down the alley to discover an entire neighbourhood covered in murals.

At the end of one alley we meet some industrious ladies who tell us the entire neighbourhood worked on the murals together. It isn't the best art I've ever seen but knowing a community came together to make it made it possibly the most beautiful.