Country: Indonesia and City: Solo
The second place considers as the center of Javanese culture is Surakarta or is more popular as Solo. The city is about 100 km south of Semarang and 60 km on the east of Yogyakarta. It is located along the longest river in Java, Solo River or Bengawan Solo River, thus it is blessed with fertile soil and good for agriculture. The city is the home of two royal houses, the Keraton Solo and the Mangkunegaran. It also becomes the main destination for travelers who visit the city.
To enjoy the original Javanese tradition, travelers may go there by plane, buses or train from other cities in Indonesia. Adi Sumarmo airport serves the flight from and to other cities in Indonesia such as Bali, Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya and also the international flight. It takes only an hour from Yogyakarta by train.
Having cultural attraction, the city also has a beautiful view. As a city in central Java that has a line of mountains, the travelers will be able to enjoy an area of cool highland with beautiful view such as Baturaden, the Dieng Plateau, Bandungan, Kopeng and Tawangmangu.
It is already known that Solo is popular with its Batik. On the visit to the city, the travelers may spend their time to visit the center of batik maker known as Kampung Laweyan. The city also has a number of historical buildings and creates an old town. Each of them has its own characteristic and it is always interesting to enjoy while you are in this city. Some of the places are Kauman, Pasar Kliwon and Balong. Kauman is a complex of living with big houses. It is situated next to Keraton’s Great Mosque. This was the complex of Keraton Kasunanan’ family to live. The complex of Chinese ethnic is situated on the northern part, around Pasar Gede Harjonagoro. The architecture of the buildings in this complex is in Chinese style. Another area that has a number of historical buildings is Slamet Riyadi street. This city also has several ancient temples that can be visited.
The visit to this cultural city will be complete if the travelers see the traditional performances, such as wayang kulit( shadow puppet) or traditional dance drama (wayang orang). On special occasion, there are also big ceremonies held by people in solo. they usually held a week festival of Gerebek Maulud. There are a lot of rituals and activities during the festival. Another ceremony is known as Kirab Pusaka 1 Suro. This event is held to celebrate the Islamic New Year or based on the Javanese calendar on the night of 1st suro. This event is held by both Keraton Surakarta and Pura Mangkunegaran. On this event, they march the sacral heirlooms out of Keraton.
Staying in this city for your holiday will be memorable enough if you choose the best hotel to stay in. There are numbers of hotels in this city, vary from 5 star hotels to simple accommodation. For those who never visited the city may find the guide from this website because it provides the information about hotels in Solo and other tourists designations all over the world. book your hotel online and enjoy your stay in this cultural city.
