Batik Factory Visit

Every single shop we passed thru in Yogyakarta is closed. We roamed around Malioboro with the slightest hope of seeing an open souvenir shop but to no avail. We also checked if  the Sultan's Palace and Taman Sari (Water Castle) were open that morning but we were faced with the same reality. Just as were about to call it a day in frustration and just stay in our hotel, one of the batik factories was open. So we went in.

Most batik factories are found in the city center with most of them having shops in the front. Wisnu took us to Batik Rara Djonggrang without explaining to us why. According to what I've researched, Rara Djonggrang has been in the industry since 1958 and it prides itself for being included in the top list of tourist attractions in Yogyakarta. 

Almost all stages of the development of batik are manual process.

Everything starts with tracing of patterns...

Applying wax using tjanting...

or metal tjap stamps to easily create repeating patterns...

tjaps

The fabrics are either dyed before or after waxing depending on how many layers of colors or design.

The fabrics are then washed and hanged to dry.

We went inside the shop to check out the finished products but the prices are beyond our budget so we didn't purchase sarongs or table cloths.

Dell (my now fiancé) got himself a pair of bedroom slippers for 35,000 IDR or roughly around 130 pesos.