Using an eSIM in Yogyakarta

What Yogyakarta is like on a phone

Yogyakarta is a university town and the centre of Javanese culture. People come for the two great ancient monuments that lie on opposite sides of the city, and for access to the volcano and the limestone coast to the south. Travellers here wake earlier than elsewhere, because sunrise excursions are the main event. The city is compact and well covered; what needs planning is leaving it before first light, the hour when you most want certainty and are furthest from town.

When you land

The city's international airport sits a good way to the west — not the old field next to town. Turn the line on before leaving the building, because you have to choose between the airport rail link into a central station and a road transfer that takes considerably longer at rush hour. The train is usually the more predictable option and has service the whole way. The other common arrival is by long-distance train from Jakarta and Surabaya into the two central stations. Rail tickets here often need a code shown on screen, so screenshot it in case the line is slow when the hall is busy.

Where coverage changes

In town, around the main shopping street and the walled palace quarter, coverage is consistent: flat ground and continuous building. The two monuments outside the city stand on open plains, so the terraces around them are no problem — except in the pre-dawn hour when several hundred people gather for sunrise at once and speed falls for that window only. North, where the road climbs the volcano's flank, the line thins with altitude and disappears on the jeep tracks over the volcanic sand. South, in the limestone hills, the caves have nothing and the twisting roads between the ridges cut out in patches.

What a day here costs in data

A day here comes to about 800MB to 1.5GB, because you book motorbikes through an app often and keep the map open walking around town. Translation gets more use than in the bigger tourist cities, since plenty of small places have no second-language menu. Sunrise days are usually light, because you are out of town and photographing rather than uploading — and then the whole batch goes up when you get back, which makes the allowance look like it vanished mid-morning.

Districts travellers ask about

• Malioboro — The main street of shops and stalls; good the whole way, though in the evening when both pavements fill, calling a ride and scanning to pay both take longer than usual.
• The Kraton and Kotagede — The walled palace quarter and the old silversmith lanes; the streets work, but in the enclosed courtyards of the old buildings and the alleys between high walls it weakens.
• Prawirotaman — The guesthouse and cafe district where most travellers stay; consistent, and where people settle their pre-dawn tour bookings before going to bed.
• Sleman, to the north — University campuses and villages running up toward the volcano's foot; good near the city, thinning steadily the further north and higher you go.

Day trips out of the city

• Borobudur — An hour out of town before first light, with service the whole way; the terraces work, though during the sunrise gathering itself the crowd slows things enough that a photo will not send immediately.
• Prambanan — On the other side of the city, out on an open plain with good coverage throughout; if you want the evening performance, buy tickets ahead, because seats fill and the system slows as everyone arrives at once.
• The slopes of Merapi — Jeeps run up over the volcanic sand with long stretches of no service on the way. The volcano's status and which zones may be entered change with the monitoring agency's assessment, so check the latest official notice before booking.