Textiles of Indonesia

Meet Pat and your tour manager at London Heathrow airport for your flight to Yogyakarta on the island of Java, via Singapore.

This morning, our flight lands in Yogyakarta where we will be greeted by our local guide and transferred to our hotel in the city. You will have the rest of the day at leisure to settle in and explore the hotel, whether that is relaxing by the pool or enjoying the spa.

Today we will visit the Sultan Royal Palace, where court retainers still wear the traditional dress of dark batik sarongs and batik head wears. You will explore the palace as well as the nearby water castle – a maze of underground passages and pools. We will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before continuing our city tour to Prambanan Temple, the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia. The World Heritage-listed temple is one of Southeast Asia’s major attractions.

Later this afternoon we will transfer back to the hotel where you’ll have the evening at leisure.

Today we will discover and learn about Batik, an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java. First, we will visit the Batik Museum where approximately 1200 pieces are held, these include batik cloths, batik tools and equipment.

This afternoon we will drive to Giriloya village, a centre for hand drawn batik in Yogyakarta. Here, you will learn how to make and practice batik.

Today we start on our projects with Pat and enjoy a full-day workshop at the hotel.

Borobudur Temple is the world’s largest Buddhist temple and is located in Central Java. This morning we will visit the temple, built from two million blocks of stone. After, we will visit the Gereja Ayam, which translates to ‘chicken church’ – due to its unusual shape which resembles a hen.

This afternoon we will explore the richness of Candierjo village and gain and insight into the daily local community and traditions.

Today we will drive to Solo, also known as Surakarta – Yogyakarta’s sister city. Upon arrival into Solo, we will visit the Mangkunegaran Palace with its fascinating display of gold-plated ornaments, jewellery and wooden masks. We will then visit Batik Museum of Danar Hadi, built in 1967, to see its collection of the best batiks from a number of destinations including China, Hokokai Javanese and Sumatera.

Later, we will visit the Laweyan Batik Village, Solo’s oldest and most famous Batik village. Here, you will learn how to do batik.

We continue with our projects at the hotel today with a full-day workshop led by Pat.

After breakfast, we will check out of our hotel in Yogyakarta and head to the airport for our flight to Bali.

Upon arrival into Bali we will enjoy lunch in a local restaurant before heading to the Threads of Life gallery. Here, there are a variety of textiles and artefacts, and we will be guided through by one of the gallery staff, teaching us about the textiles arts, their cultural roots and the important of the gallery’s work to rural livelihoods across Indonesia.

Later today we will check into our hotel in Ubud.

We start our day with a guided visit to the extraordinary Setia Darma House of Mask and Puppets in Mas. The collection consists of approximately 5900 masks and puppets from Indonesia, Asia and Africa, which are stored and beautifully displayed in four different traditional Javanese antique houses.

We then go to Tenganan, a village in east Bali, famous for its geringsing double-ikat textiles made using a technique employed in only three other places in the world. We will meet weavers in their homes, discover the complexities of making double-ikat, and see the best pieces the weavers have to offer. During a guided walk of the village’s backstreets, we will learn about the community’s history and unique culture, seeing a side of this famous community that few visitors witness.

In the afternoon we visit the charming village of Sidemen, in the heart of the panoramic valley of the Unda River and home to three of Bali’s most important textile traditions. We will see the production of endek weft ikat in the Pelangi workshop and, at the homes of weavers in the village, we will meet women who use backstrap looms to produce the sumptuous songket supplementary weft patterned textiles used across the island as wedding dress for both bride and groom.

After an early breakfast at the hotel, we will set off for our hotel in Nusadua, an area known for its beautiful beaches. Arriving at the hotel, we will check in and then enjoy another workshop with Pat.

Enjoy a day at leisure. There is the opportunity to visit the famous Kuta beach for shopping or relax at the pool.

For our last day in Bali, you can relax before transferring to the airport later in the day for your overnight flight to London.

Arrive in London this morning.