A family group of ten members were going to Indonesia in May 2023, to attend a wedding in Bali, and a side trip to Central Java.  Aside from Yogyakarta and Surakarta (and the attractions of the Borobudur, Prambanan, and the Ramayana Ballet), one of the "must" stops was a visit to a tobacco plantation near Klaten where our grandfather managed it for a Dutch corporation, and the birthplace of our mother/grandmother.  I searched for a travel company that would be flexible in planning the trip.  I stumbled on the tourHQ site and sent in a request for bids.  I received ten, ranging from very affordable to pricey.  Not knowing how reliable the tourHQ site was nor the reputation of the guides that sent proposals, a major concern was the payment plan - either all up front, or 20% down, with the remainder in cash on arrival.  All sorts of alarm bells went off.  There were no reviews that I could see of the tourHQ site or the guides.   I asked tourHQ for references on three of the bidders, and received only Gagat Handoyo's.

After much discussion with family members, I took the plunge and selected Gagat Handoyo - not because he was the most affordable (his offer was second to the highest), but the references sent were excellent and full of praise.  I sent the 20 percent deposit, and immediately received a warning from my credit card company asking me if I trusted the transaction sited in Hong Kong.  That was very disturbing, but I went ahead with the transaction anyway.

I WhatsApp'd Gagat and notified him of my concern of carrying the remaining 80% of the bid in cash.  He responded that I could send the remainder via PayPal on my arrival.  Reassured, we finalized the plans for the visit.

When we arrived in Yogyakarta, Gagat met us at the airport and all my concerns were laid to rest immediately.  He struck me as very capable, knowledgeable, and above all flexible, considering the number of clients he had to deal with and our needs.  We stayed four full days in Central Java and Gagat (not counting arrival and departure days), and enjoyed our stay immensely.  Gagat adapted our tour plan on the fly to meet individual requests.  He was knowledgeable about the various site visits, and galleries/stores that offered the area's specialties (batiks, wayang puppets, art galleries, silver).  Throughout our visit he and his driver were excellent companions and guides.  It was an extremely enjoyable experience for all of us.  Gagat is a trustworthy individual, and recommend him highly and without reservation to anyone interested in visiting Yogyakarta and Surakarta.