This is a follow up from the temples near Yogyakarta [link]
Surakarta (or Solo) is almost like a sister city to Yogyakarta and not too far away - about an hour by train. The trains are not too frequent and so we planned carefully to make the one at about 2pm in order to have a little time in the morning to investigate the Kraton [link].
The palace is still "active" and the royal family do still live there, protected by a fairly aged army of waiting men.
The palace itself is quite impressive in its own way with a lot of character and shows taking place. There is an area where a traditional puppet show takes place as well as music and some form of chanting. We were provided with an English speaking guide and so were able to get an understanding of some of the workings.... and be guided to the shops that were apparently unique and especially selected by the Sultan. I was dubious.
After leaving, we were taken by another person on a "tour" of a batik workshop and an area where they make many puppets. They were undeniably very impressive although it was clearly a live catalogue for us to buy from rather than a "tour". To be fair, I did buy a little but it was pretty obvious.
A rush to the station via the hotel and one of the longest one way detours I have ever seen meant we just about scraped onto the train (I think the next one was about 3/4 hours later).
After checking in at the hotel, there was not a lot of time left so a quick trip out for some food was all. The food was very nice actually and was also accompanied by some live music. The area we ate in had a statue of Slamet Riyadi (who re-took the city from the Dutch) which, in all honesty, reminded me of the Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cottage although it looks nothing like it.
There was to be more Solo time the next day.
NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through
Surakarta (or Solo) is almost like a sister city to Yogyakarta and not too far away - about an hour by train. The trains are not too frequent and so we planned carefully to make the one at about 2pm in order to have a little time in the morning to investigate the Kraton [link].
The palace is still "active" and the royal family do still live there, protected by a fairly aged army of waiting men.
The palace itself is quite impressive in its own way with a lot of character and shows taking place. There is an area where a traditional puppet show takes place as well as music and some form of chanting. We were provided with an English speaking guide and so were able to get an understanding of some of the workings.... and be guided to the shops that were apparently unique and especially selected by the Sultan. I was dubious.
After leaving, we were taken by another person on a "tour" of a batik workshop and an area where they make many puppets. They were undeniably very impressive although it was clearly a live catalogue for us to buy from rather than a "tour". To be fair, I did buy a little but it was pretty obvious.
A rush to the station via the hotel and one of the longest one way detours I have ever seen meant we just about scraped onto the train (I think the next one was about 3/4 hours later).
There was to be more Solo time the next day.
NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through
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| Surakarta - click for photo album |
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