Ullen Sentalu Museum

Ullen Sentalu is built into a hillside garden at Kaliurang, high enough that the air is cool and Merapi sits close overhead. It is private, and the collection is about the four Javanese courts rather than about ancient Java: portraits of princesses, batik pieces with their pattern names and meanings explained one by one, letters, dance costume and the personal effects of people who were alive within living memory. Visits are by guided walk only, in small groups, through rooms that are mostly underground and deliberately dim. Photography is not allowed inside. The tour ends out in the garden, where you are handed a glass of a spiced herbal drink.

What you actually see

• The batik rooms - court cloths with their pattern names and restrictions explained.
• Princess portraits - paintings and letters from the Javanese royal families.
• The underground galleries - dim stone rooms cut into the hillside.
• The garden ending - a herbal drink served at the close of the tour.

When to go

Tours run through the day and the museum closes on Mondays. Book ahead during Indonesian holiday periods, when English-language slots go early. Mornings are clearer if you want a view of Merapi from the road up. Kaliurang is noticeably cooler than the city and afternoon rain is common through the wet season.

Honest expectations

You cannot wander: the guided walk sets the pace and stops where the guide stops, which frustrates anyone who wants to linger. Photography is banned in the galleries and the ban is enforced. Entry costs a good deal by local museum standards, and English tours are less detailed than the Indonesian ones. It is an hour each way from the city.

Nearby

The Merapi foothills and the Kaliurang viewpoints are just above the museum.