Malioboro

Who doesn’t recognize this legendary street? Well, if you don’t know, I suppose at least you wouldn’t really find it sounds much unfamiliar. It is Malioboro. This renowned trademark of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is a main street located in the center of the town, also known as the kilometer 0. Most of the time, this main street is appeared to be pretty much crowded. On the main road itself, vary of numerous vehicles go by, and sometimes halted by a bit of traffic-jam. On the west side of the road, a great deal of tourists and vendors filling up the veranda of row of a number of shops. The sellers display their various for-sale goods or service, once in a while warmly offer them to the tourists with a hope that some would be attracted to buy. Meanwhile, the tourists are either consumed to buy the goods, or simply just go for window-shopping. Perhaps some are merely lingering there for the sake of enjoying the dense traditional atmosphere of the place. Some nights or days, groups of street artists would vigorously serenade their hearts out. 

That is what you will see of Malioboro these days. Have you guys ever wondered how this place looked like, years, or may be decades ago? Now let’s imagine we can travel back to this spot with a time machine. The time machine drops you to the exact location of Malioboro, many years ago, by the period of post-colonial days. And this is how it looks like

The sight of the street was blatantly different from Malioboro nowadays, don't you think? If the portrait were not in grayscale, guess the environment was a lot more greener, embraced with masses of high trees that greet people alongside of the street. One might say that the street was broader, but it’s not. It may appeared so, though. Actually, it was just way much cleaner, free of the crowd of vendors in front of the moderate number of the shops, of which influenced by dutch-architecture features. The street was much simpler in appearance, without advertisement all over the place, and the decorations there were not many, but still nice. The traffic of this street that laid from Tugu Station to the Yogyakarta Palace was also less arranged, without the street border, without traffic signs, without zebra cross, and without the one-way traffic rule as it is at this present time. The pedestrians, not as crowded as these days, were walking on the two sidewalks at the east and west side of the road. On the road itself the vehicles that pass by were mostly consisted of those eco-friendly one, such as bicycle, pedicab, and two or four-wheeled horse carriage. At the time, the cars that go by on the street apparently could be count by your fingers, and the appearance was like that of Mr. Bean’s car, the Morris Mini Cooper.

Now now, unfortunately our journey to the past-time Malioboro has reach its end. What do you think of 'the now and then Malioboro'? I think that would be soo nice if the good points of  this old street are combined with its current version. After all, Malioboro has always spread a friendly inviting vibe. It was beautiful. And still is.