Merapi Garden in Selo Boyolali, the Northeast of Jogj

Hello readers! How was your weekend? Was it lovely? My weekend was filled with works but luckily I could have time to pick some photos from the time when I was in the northeast of Jogja and I can’t wait to share it all with you today! Yay!

So, long before covid-19 pandemic was in my beloved country, about a few months ago, I went to a city nearby. I was in Boyolali in Central Java. I was in this northeast of Jogja for a couple of days and stayed in a lovely area between Mount Merbabu and Mount Merapi named Selo. I stayed in a small backpacker's hotel with a great view of Mount Merapi. While I was staying there, every morning, I always took a moment to stare at the mountain blissfully. God is great. Nature’s beauty is really beautiful.  Sometimes I wonder how it feels to live in such a lovely place and let the chill wind in the morning caresses my hair every single morning.

Selo, the northeast of Jogja, has some touristic places to visit. It takes about one and a half hours to Selo from Jogja. This place is pretty famous amongst climbers for they can climb both Mount Merbabu Mount Merapi from this area. There’s also a place which has a camping area. Besides, this place also has places for you who just want to chill and enjoy the day.

I arrived at the backpacker's hotel at 10 AM. It was fantastic! My hotel room had an excellent view. I could just open its door and windows and voila…Mount Merapi was there, right in front of me. It was freaking awesome!!! After being mesmerized by the view in front of my hotel room, the first touristic place I visited was Alam Sutra. 

Alam Sutra? What is that, Eunike? Well, if you love the deck view sort of thing, this could be your place. It has a building made of bamboos and woods which looks like the famous Eiffel Tower. This place once was so viral in social media amongst the youngsters here. The tower is built pretty close to the edge of a cliff but still in a safe distance of course. There was no other visitor when I reached this place. Frankly, it made me happy because I could sit on one of the decks which were pretty close to the cliff. Sitting there put me at ease. I could hear the sound of the wind danced between leaves while the bird chirped happily and hopped from one branch to another one. The fresh air touched my nostrils and I was in a feeling of total peace.

Welcome to Alam Sutera in Selo Boyolali in northeast of Jogja

Feeling at ease sitting on the deck of Alam Sutra's "Eiffel Tower"

Look at that! Mount Merbabu looks awesome, doesn't it?

After having a nice moment at Alam Sutra, I started off to Merapi Garden. This touristic place was built in 2018. Paying IDR 5,000 for its entrance ticket, you are welcomed by a combination of a lovely garden and a great panorama of Mount Merapi. When visiting this place, what I really liked was its flowers and plants. They made me want to have a green thumb! I liked finding out some plants had their own name planks. Unfortunately, not all plants got it when I was visiting this place. It would be cool if each planted plant has a plank to describe it. My next favorite thing is—I am sure you know what it is—the scenery of Mount Merapi seen from Merapi Garden! Yay! Let’s give applause to the mountain!!! OK, that’s a bit too much…and I, FYI, understand why many youngsters go for Merapi Garden. This garden has multiples photo spots that would look cool for their Instagram feed.

Welcome to Merapi Garden

Taking picture at Merapi Garden

Mount Merapi and Merapi Garden. Can you find me there?

Purple flowers and Mount Merapi

My first day in Selo was perfect. If you are in Jogja and you would like to climb Mount Merapi or Mount Merbabu you can go to this northeast of Jogja. If all you want is just a relaxing vacation on the weekend, this place is okay as well. Make sure you visit this place in summer so you can see the two mountains better. Many homestays are available here. During my visit, I didn’t see a lot of restaurants but there were some that served Indonesian food. If you want to get some snacks, there are few mini markets as well in the area.

The view in front of my backpacker's hotel room in Sel

I’d share with you about my second day in the northeast of Jogja in the next blog post. For now, tell me about your favorite place to visit for a relaxing vacation. Why do you like going there? Please share on the comment section below. I’d love to read it!

Thank you for reading this blog post and visiting my blog. I really appreciate that. Hopefully, someday you can visit Selo, readers! Enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe!