Call it Solo or Surakarta, this ancient Central Java royal city has emerged as one of the nation’s most inviting destinations for fun, food and friendliness.
Solo is one of those cities where you immediately feel at home. Maybe it has to do with the soft, comforting purr of the local accent, or the laid-back feel of a place where traditionally dressed women selling jamu (herbal tonics) are still a common sight on the streets.
People are so friendly that when visitors ask directions, not only will they answer the inquiries diligently, but they’ll often offer themselves as an escort.
I arrived in Solo at dawn, after 12 hours on a night bus from Jakarta. I could have flown but I chose the bus for old time’s sake. When I was a child, my parents, took me by night bus to visit my uncle.
The becak (rickshaw) drivers who surrounded me to offer their services when I stepped off the bus were not aggressive – a small mercy given my sleepless state. But as it was cold, I decided to save the becak ride until it was warmer, and opted for a taxi to the hotel.
Even in the faint light of morning, I could see how Solo had changed over the years, even as many things remain the same. Modern buildings had sprung up all over the place, including two big shopping malls, but people still went back and forth to traditional markets. In front of closed stores, old women dished out steaming rice and gudeg (curried jackfruit) to waiting customers. The city’s famed rice cakes serabi, served with grated coconut and thick palm sugar syrup, made my mouth water from their roadside stalls.
For the Love of Food
My hotel downtown was within walking distance of most of the city’s interesting places, but upon my arrival, the most interesting thing for me was food. So I took a becak to Pasar Gede to get some timlo, a Solo favorite, consisting of clear soup with egg, slices of Solo spring roll and chicken liver, and served with rice and fried onions.
For this bowl of timlo, I followed recommendations to a humble family-owned restaurant named Timlo Sastro on Jl. Pasar Gede Timur. Sastro originally opened his restaurant at Pasar Gede intersection in 1948 before eventually moving. Before long, his timlo was famous and his small place always packed.
After a bowl of glorious timlo, I walked to Pasar Gede, the main market, near City Hall – a must for any visitor. For me it was another trip down memory lane, to relive those days when my parents brought me here for dawet (a sweet iced drink with condiments). My niggling concern that the stall might have vanished was dispelled – it stood as tall as I remembered, just across from a fried chicken joint.
Pasar Gede is Solo’s grandest market, where locals do their grocery shopping and tourists sample local snacks. It is housed in a beautiful old building designed by Thomas Karsten and completed in 1930; it features a combination of Dutch and Javanese architecture, with high ceilings to ensure air circulation around the stalls. Pasar Gede was damaged during the Dutch Aggression in 1947 but was renovated two years later, and was declared a city heritage building in 1997.