Travel Day 684 – Solo on Java, INDONESIA
Initially the idea had been to carry on today and leave Solo behind, but for some reason that wasn’t happening…
Entrance and Tower of the Kraton Palace in Solo on Java, Indonesia
Well, actually there were a lot of reasons why it was nice to linger in Solo for a bit longer, even if there was technically not a lot to do. But the nice and cheap homestay in combination with free internet around the corner, plus the excellent street food and the many friendly locals seemed convincing enough to spend another day. Actually the one thing I noticed yesterday was that I seemed to be the only foreigner in town, leaving all the locals with either a big smile on their face when they saw me or having them even come up to me to say hello…
After having been to some tourist places in Indonesia where locals constantly tried to sell something to foreigners, here in Solo seemed to be a piece left of the real Indonesia, unspoiled and super friendly. For me personally it was really refreshing to experience the feeling of being rather appreciated than chased on the streets. While this circumstance certainly helped to have me stay longer in Solo, I also liked to do something that I couldn’t yesterday, visiting the inside of the Kraton Surakarta Palace…
School Children with pointy Hats at the Kraton in Solo on Java, Indonesia
Unfortunately as it turned out, all that could be visited was a courtyard and a little museum that was not very interesting. The only nice thing on display were the old royal horse carriages and so instead of the Kraton itself, something else became much more interesting, the many local school classes. Literally hundreds of local school children were visiting the Kraton at the same time as I did and while the kids with their colorful, self-made, pointy hats became my personal star attraction, I certainly became theirs in return…
While the children seemed quite shy and not able to speak much English, at least the teachers came up to me to say hello and ask for a photo. After that nice experience at the Kraton, some arrangements had to be done and I finally found a 60 dollar flight from Medan to Bangkok. Happy about the progress, I enjoyed my last good meal at the street market and watched the last fashion show. Even if there was not much to do in Solo, the great street food and the friendly people had definitely made this a very nice stay…
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