Surakarta

• Mandi lulur A traditional skin-care done by rubbing special spices to the skin to exfoliate it. Very relaxing. Many hotels offer this service. Or ask your hotel reception for a reputable place.
• Sepoor Kluthuk Ride in an old train, with stops at Loji Gandrung and Kampung Batik Kauman, costs about Rp 100,000. Check the schedule at the Tourist Information Centre.
• Masangin (masuk antara dua beringin = passing two ficus trees). This simple and fun game is held at South Alun-alun (Sultan's square). The participant is blindfolded and he/she must walk straight to pass two ancient ficus trees. Even though it sounds like an easy task, most participants usually fail. After that, you can go to the food stalls around the corner, relax a bit and have a sip of warm Wedang Ronde (ginger drink).
• Sunday Morning at Solo Car Free Day (or Solo CFD), every Sunday, the wide main boulevard of Slamet Riyadi in Solo is crowded with thousands of people doing all sort of things. Wake up early at 5-7AM and head to the Slamet Riyadi to do a bit of exercise. After that, you can taste many kind of foods sold by stalls there. The menu includes Liwet Rice, Bubur Ayam (Chicken Porridge), and Soto. Don't forget to check the batik stalls nearby.
• Becak or Andong ride, take a short trip around the town using Becak or Andong cart.
• Shop at Traditional Market, witness local habits by visiting Solo's traditional market such as Pasar Gede and Pasar Klewer.
• Reflexology, achieve soothing experience by having a short reflexology massage.

The food of Solo can be typified through the use of frying, coconut milk, and a mix of sweet and savory flavours. Some dishes may be plant-based (e.g. pecel) but being vegetarian cannot be guaranteed due to the widespread use of shrimp paste (terasi). The selection of meat available, and the preparation, will be based on halal precepts. Solo's culinary life is 24 hours, with some stalls only opening at 02:00 and being sold out by 05:00. Nasi Liwet, similar to "Nasi Uduk" from Jakarta or West Java, is rice cooked in coconut milk. Jl Keprabon is famous for it, particularly Bu Lemu.

Solo offers a rich varieties of snacks, from dry: (onde-onde ceplus, kripik cakar, kripik paru, kerak nasi goreng) to keleman (fresh snack) (solo, wajik, jadah, kue ku, lapis, cara bikang). Sosis Solo is chopped beef with spices wrapped in a thin egg pancake. You can find many varieties of traditional fresh snacks in Pasar Gede.

For those that need it, there are fast food outlets, Kentucky Fried Chicken on Jl Jend A Yani, McDonalds on Jl Dr Rajiman, Pizza Hut on Jl Slamet Riyadi and Oishi Bento in Solo Grand Mall.

Because of Islamic dietary laws, most eating places do not offer alcohol, and only few licensed hotels and restaurants will offer national and international brands of beer and wines. Solo's local alcohol is called ciu, a local adaptation of Chinese wine, made from rice. Drink it at your own risk.

The folks of Solo love sweet drinks combining natural fruits with coconut water or coconut milk, and palm sugar. Dawet (known as cendol in West Java and Jakarta) adds little green jelly worms into the mix. Usually served with ice.

Gempol plered is made from coconut milk with rice flour balls, with a sweet and slightly salty taste.

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You can buy anything made with batik in Solo, in fabrics from silk to cotton. Hand drawn batik (tulis) is more expensive than those made using 'stamp' (batik cap).

• • Pasar Klewer — A traditional market for textiles, mostly batik. Make sure to haggle. — Address: Jl. Supit Urang, Baluwarti, Kec. Ps. Kliwon, Kota Surakarta, Jawa Tengah 57155, Indonesia — Directions: by the west gate of the northern alun-alun.
• • Pusat Grosir Solo — 5-stories of clothing and batik at competitive prices. — Directions: near the Keraton and Pasar Klewer
• • Batik Danar Hadi — Address: Jl. Dr. Rajiman No.164, Kemlayan, Kec. Serengan, Kota Surakarta, Jawa Tengah 57151, Indonesia — Phone: +62 271 644126 — Website: https://www.danarhadibatik.com/id
• • Batik Keris — Address: Desa Cemani Selatan Laweyan — Phone: +62 271 721217
• • Batik Semar — Address: Jl Laksda Adisucipto 101 — Phone: +62 271 722937
• • Kampung Batik Laweyan — Address: Jl. Dr. Rajiman Laweyan
• • Kampung Batik Kauman — The batik products of Kauman village are made from natural silk and weaving silk materials, and premmisima cotton. — Directions: Nearby Kraton Kasunanan

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• • Adisumarmo International Airport — Direct flights from Jakarta (one hour), Bali (one hour) or Kuala Lumpur (two hours). — Directions: north of the city — Website: http://adisumarmo-airport.com/

One-way flights from Jakarta cost around Rp500,000. Up to 20 flights per day from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports operated by Garuda, Citilink, Lion Air, Batik Air, and Nam Air.

The city's main avenue, Jalan Slamet Riyadi has pavements (sidewalks) courtesy of Mayor Jokowi (who is now the president of Indonesia). On Sundays, it is closed to traffic between 06:00 and 09:00 for various leisure activities for the town's citizens. Many hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and tourist attractions are on this street. At the end of the street is the entrance to the alun-alun (palace square) and the royal palace complex.

Because it is still quite small, travelling within Solo is relatively easy, but quickly getting frustratingly slow due to the weight of traffic.

Solo lies some south of Semarang and some east of Yogyakarta. As the 'twin' brother of Yogyakarta, this city looks much like the latter. But because Solo is not a provincial capital, this city has preserved much of its Javanese character. This also means that Solo is less touristy than Yogyakarta. The town is a centre of art and education and offers some good shopping. It is said to be the least westernised city in Central Java.

The formal name for the city is Surakarta. Less formal but widely used is Solo. From time to time you may see it written as Sala. This is because of a pronunciation quirk in Javanese that means final and penultimate -a are pronounced -o as in hot.