Young traveller Siobhan Jones tells Traveller Australia about her batik horror story during her travel to Yogyakarta, one of Indonesia's busiest tourist destinations, taking a close second to the island paradise of Bali, located in Indonesia's Western territories. Yogyakarta, in the center of Java, is known as one of its historic centers for tradition and education.
According to Jones, she and a colleague were in Yogyakarta for a business trip, and when they had some free time, they decided to go to Jalan Malioboro (Malioboro St.), a 24-hour shopping street and one of the city's best tourist attractions. Jalan Malioboro is a known bazaar, famous for delling souvenirs, t-shirts, jewelry, handicrafts, and other souvenirs and crafts.Of course, Jalan Malioboro offers batik, Indonesia's famous patterned cloth, something the city of Yogyakarta, in particular, is famous for.
Jones and her colleague were eager to buy some batik that they could bring home, and they ventured through many long and narrow alleys, enamored by the plethora of colorful fabrics surrounding them. Within just minutes, a broad-grinned man had approached them, asked them where they came from, and offered to lead them to some of the best batik stalls in the area.The man pointed to many other stalls and dubbed them "too expensive", the man also said, "My friend is an artist, he receives money from the government to teach batik. Come visit his gallery. I would like you to see real batik."
Despite the fact that he was leading them towards some backstreets, and straight to an unmarked shack, they trusted him because it was a tourist area, and they felt this would be a great cultural experience from a well-meaning guide.
When they went inside the shack, the artist was indeed there, and showed them the wax and dye used in creation of the batik, as well as his own creations. Jones and her colleague were given a list of prices for the artworks and display and were encouraged to take their time. They were even offered some complimentary water bottles, so they felt they had to really buy something. A pattern with cats caught Jones' eye, and she felt it might cost about $30, but she had a hard time making sure because of the currency conversion involving thousands of rupiah.
Eventually, the man allowed her to pay half price, and when she didn't have enough cash, even offered to accompany her at the ATM. Later on, after she had returned to hotel, she realized that she had spent more than $100, a huge sum compared to the cost of other things in Indonesia.In addition, she looked up Jalan Malioboro again and saw, "Beware of Batik scam". Based on what she had gone through and what the guide said, this was a common practice, and it was likely that the batik she bought was a screen-printed fake.
Currently, she came home from this ordeal with the mindset of always doing your research beforehand, being skeptical of people who appear too helpful, and familiarizing oneself with the currency conversion. She also came home with her cat-patterned batik which hangs on her wall.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
