From the Clouds: Surakarta

An anonymous user has asked me a question over at my Formspring account a few months ago, asking me to write a little bit more about my hometown in Indonesia. Since Formspring and various other social networking sites are blocked where I am now, I can’t really answer your questions until mid-September. Sorry about that! I did try and persuade them to unblock Formspring, at least…

Well, ladies and gentlemen, today I’d like to share with you all I know about the small town where I came from – Surakarta, Indonesia.

Oh, and before I start – stay tuned for more “From the Clouds” articles! The articles are just going to be about the places I’ve visited all over the world, with a few travel tips. And no, I do NOT represent anyone and these are my own views on things and places.

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Well Surakarta (pronounced: soo-rah-CAR-tuh), best known as Solo, is located on the island of Java (Central Java, to be exact) in Indonesia. I’m not going to bore you to death with longitudes and latitudes or bearings and relative locations, so don’t worry! If you know an Indonesian, just ask them about the town of Solo in Central Java. I’m pretty sure they would know. If not, well… looks like someone is not studying geography hard enough

Studying geography is a massive pain in Indonesia though. We have 33 provinces; each of them has its own local government (headed by a governor) and its own legislative body. Each province also has its own capital city! I mean seriously! Memorising 33 provinces PLUS their capitals is NOT FUN!

Not to mention that each regions in Indonesia has their own native language…

Anyway, back to Surakarta, there are a few things I think you should know/be aware of before heading there for your holidays someday (or not):

1. The mean temperature in Solo is around 30-37 degrees. RULE #1: DO NOT WEAR BLACK JEANS. YOU WILL DIE. (not for me at least)
2. Relative humidity in that region is ~100%, even in dry seasons.
3. Mosquitoes are really common in Indo. You might think that they’re just ordinary mosquitoes, but be wary. They might carry either: Malaria, Chikungunya (a type of bone flu-thing virus) or Demam Berdarah (or “Dengue Fever” – a slightly worse version of Malaria itself, in my opinion).
4. Solo is located between 2 active volcanoes, so earthquakes are pretty common. The worst earthquake I’ve ever felt was 6.5 in the Richter scale.
5. TOURIST PICKPOCKETS.
6. People lying to tourists about the price of an item, etc (so make sure your translators are reliable!).
7. The food. Traditional food might have some effect on your digestive system (if you’re not used to it), thus forcing you to go to the bathroom quite often, if you get my drift.
8. If you have white skin/blue eyes/ blonde hair OR if you look really Western-y, BE PREPARED FOR AN ONSLAUGHT OF PAPARAZZIS AND PEOPLE LOOKING AT YOU.
9. Indonesians are extremely polite and chatty in general. Be wary that you can’t just call someone older than you by their names like what we usually do here if you don’t want to risk your head being hit by a flying frying pan.
10. People don’t use zebra crosses very often. They run across the street. (IT’S TRUE)
11. Watch out for the motorcycles! Motorcyclists break the rules very, very often.

Apart from things you must be aware of, there are, of course, places you have to go and things you MUST do when you’re in Solo. Here are some of them:

1. BUY ICED TEA. If you’re walking down the streets of Solo, I’m sure you’d find people drinking bottles of iced tea, especially on a hot, sunny day. Oh, and iced tea is my drug back in Indo.
2. Go to the Dutch Vastenburg Fort. It’s just a pile of rubble now, but the entrance to that fort is still intact, along with a LOT of old cannon. Be careful of the snakes around that area (cause it’s not maintained).
3. Ride a “becak” (pronounced: bay-chuck)
4. Go to the Danar Hadi Batik Museum (that museum dates baaaaaacck to the Dutch era, so the building is all Dutch-y and awesome), and make your very own Batik!
5. Go to the old Bank of Indonesia building. Again, it’s an old Dutch building, and is very well maintained.
6. Go to this traditional restaurant named Goela Klapa (goo-la cluh-puh; THE ‘H’s ARE SILENT!). They serve AWESOME Indonesian food, and no – it will not harm your digestive tracks
7. Go to the nearby town of Semarang (the capital of Central Java – around 2.5 hrs ride by car to the NW)
8. Go to the nearby town of Jogjakarta (the capital of Jogjakarta – around 1.5 hrs ride by car to the S)
9. Go for a swim at Lorien Hotel (THE BEST HOTEL IN TOWN)
10. Check out the Mangkunegaran Palace and its’ museum – yes, we have a so-called “King” here in Solo, although I really don’t get how things work over there in the palace.
11. Go to the Sangiran Museum. It’s the place where archaeologists first found the Meganthropus Palaeojavanicus (one of the early humans) fossils.
12. Go to Solo Square and Solo Grand Mall for some shopping
13. GO FISHING WITH MY DAD AND I
14. EAT NOODLES AND MEATBALLS AND THIS AWESOME THING THAT I CAN’T FIND THE ENGLISH WORD FOR.
15. Go to the antiques depot at Triwindu (three-ween-doo), where you can buy authentic antiques for ridiculously low price.
16. Go to Batik Keris, the #1 destination for souvenirs and Batik products.
17. Go to Ganep’s, the best traditional food central.

There are HEAPS more, but these shall do for the time being

Well, if you managed to read this far, I salute your iron-clad concentration.  I’d love to go on and on, but I think this is enough for now. Feel free to e-mail me at lichthalzen@republicofa1.net if you have any further questions, or simply comment on this article.

Toodles!
-Mars McTavish