Travelers, Fortress Vastnburg Needs Our Attention!

The travelers  who visit Yogyakarta certainly familiar with Vredeburg a fort of  Dutch Colonial Government Era in Malioboro. Actuially Surakarta has the same one, Vastnburg Fort. Unfortunately Fortress Vastnburg  not get attention from government of Surakarta. This invaluable  historical site is abandoned and neglected. The Vastnburg fort  current ownership is in the hands businessman who wants to build a hotel on the grounds of the historic fort.

Vastenburg fort is the Dutch fort that was established in 1745. In the Dutch colonial era, the castle which is only half a mile from the palace,  is the surveillance place for the king of Surakarta. Meanwhile, across the castle there are the Dutch governor at that Baron Van Imhoft. Vastenburg fort ramparts square shape, each end there is a protrusion of the room, surrounded by a moat as well as protection. At the front and rear doors are also built bridges, as a means to enter and exit the castle.

The fortress is located in the city of Solo, not far from City Hall, Bank Indonesia, Pasar Gede, Kraton Surakarta and the other building. While there is a building in which the activities of the military barracks. While in the middle there is a large field for preparation and military training facilities.

The Wall that was so  solid long time ago, now looks porous mossy and overgrown weeds. Some of the buildings once used as military activities, also gone. Protective moat, now are in poor, dirty conditions, full of trash. All around the castle and almost invisible, because it filled a wild trees and shrubs.

The observers of cultural heritage kept asking Solo city government to rescue this cultural heritage sites. Although it is not easy for Solo City Government is to deal with the owner of the castle, who wants to make the land as a commercial building or a five-star hotel, they must try their best to save this fort.

The existence of the fort Vastenburg is not just historical heritage, but also inherent in the city's history. As well as the castle fortress Vredeburg in Yogyakarta, Solo Vastenburg even must be remembered as a part of  Indonesia history.

Through this blog post I really want to inspire our awareness to take care the existence of  this  historical  fort in the city of Surakarta. Anyone who had stopped to read this blog may want to contemplate for a moment after reading this, and then we could take a stand for the slightest act to keep the historic building sustainability Vastenburg fort in Solo. We must fight for it.

Radya Pustaka, The Oldest Museum in Indonesia

As  cultural city, Solo has the oldest museum in Indonesia. Radya Pustaka Museum is the first museum built in the Dutch East Indies colonial administration in 1890. It was  Kanjeng Adipati Sosroningrat  IV, Patih of King Pakoe Boewono IX and Pakoe Boewono X, who started to build the museum  on October 28, 1890

Beautiful Kris Collections

The location of  Radya Pustaka Museum is at Slamet Riyadi Street, housed in the Cultural Tourism complex of Sriwedari Park. In the museum's stored collections of ancient objects that have a high value of art and history, among other things,  Some of them are bronze and stone statues of Hindu and Buddhist era. Collection of ancient kris and a variety of traditional weapons, a set of gamelan, wayang kulit and wayang beber, a collection of ceramics and various other art items.

Radya Pustaka Museum

As the oldest museum in Indonesia Radya Pustaka also has a library which has a collection of books and knowledge of cultural history, art and traditions and literature both in Old Javanese and Dutch. No wonder the museum becames a place of reference cultural researchers from all over Indonesia, even from abroad who want to learn about the culture of Indonseia or specifically Javanese culture in the past.

Radya Museum Library has a collection consisting of various statues, indigenous heritage, shadow puppets and ancient books. Collection of ancient books that are sought that include the Wulang Reh  of Pakubuwono IV whose contents include instructions regarding government’s  administration and Serat Rama written by Yasadipura I, he is  Kraton Surakarta poet , that who tells about  the epic Ramayana in Indonesian version.

Unfortunately some cases have tarnished the reputation of this museum. Theft collections museum  a few years ago  involving employees of museum and top of Indonesian businessmen to make the museum is about to lose a very valuable collection. Five ancient statues are worth hundreds of millions of dollars finally can be found and returned to the museum.

It's to bad if you travel to Solo and not visit this interesting place.

Radya Museum Library is open Tuesday to Sunday 8:30 to 13:00 WIB.

A Cheap Culinary Choice of Solo Typical Food

There are so many things we can explore  on our travel in Surakarta or Solo. Not only culture, or Batik , Solo also has a pretty good  culinary appeal.  In various corners of the city, you will easily find typical food of Solo that you might not find in other cities. And don’t ask the price! You will be able to taste it with just $ 1. We have a lot of choice in Solo,  so we do not have to worry about being able to enjoy the typical food of Solo though we're not carrying a lot of cash in our  wallet.

Tengkleng
There are some typical food Solo viable for you to test, the first is tengkleng. Tengkleng nearly equal to the curry but tengkleng  more dilute because it does not use coconut milk. It is made ​​from goat meat, bones and jerohan (inner part). And you will get more pleasure when you enjoy it with your bare hands, or in the Java language "muluk" (eat without a spoon). You can find this in the typical food stall near the gate tengkleng Klewer Market.

Timlo.
Timlo this kind of soup that contains sliced ​​chicken, boiled noodles, boiled eggs, sliced ​​sausage solo and sometimes contains also sliced ​​mushroom (Auricularia polytricha) and carrot soup poured fresh nodes. These foods can be eaten just like that or eaten with rice.

Solo Liwet Rice 
Liwet Rice is a typical food of the most famous, it was savory and delicious. The uniqueness of liwet rice from Solo is the way of serve by  using  “pincuk” (plate of banana leaves) with fried chilli side dish, boiled egg yolk,  areh / kumut (egg white plus coconut milk), plus a side-dish of small diced  chicken meat , "bacem" egg, and jerohan. You can find it on roadside and eat with Lesehan way, during the morning the rice sellers will be ready on the alley of village at 5 early morning.

Sate Buntel
Sate buntel  is somewhat different from sate in general. This kind of Sate is made ​​from finely chopped goat meat, and secret spices typical sate buntel, then wrapped and given a layer of fat sheep, goat fat melts and penetrates into the baked goat meat, it would be more savory and delicious. Because the meat is used for wrapping sate is goat meat choice with the best quality and the correct cooking process typical goat smell rose does not smell anymore.

Stay Healthy During Your Vacation In Surakarta

To stay healthy during a vacation in Surakarta traveler should make a good preparation. You should already know the attraction site you will visit, and then set the order based on priority. All this information will be very useful if you do not want to be confused with your destination.  After all the confusion that you experienced while in Surakarta will psychologically affect your health.

In addition to adequate information on sights in Surakarta, of course you have to prepare your health before you plan to visit to Surakarta. Keep your health so that you can spend the holidays with more fun. We all do not want to get sick or injured while on vacation.

Visit the Doctor
It is a good idea to visit a doctor at least a month before deciding  your vacation. If necessary, you can ask for the vaccine (such as Hepatitis vaccine) to your doctor. Or even if I have to ask the advice of your doctor to recommend a specific medicine for  holiday.
Some vaccines used there is a list below. You may have received some kind of vaccine before, so you may just need the rest depending on the vacation destination and what you will do during the holidays.
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• ADT (for tetanus and diphtheria)
• MMR (for measles, mumps, and rubella or German measles)
• Typhoid fever
• Varicella (chicken pox)
• Rabies
• Japanese B Encephalitis
• Polimyelitis (polio)
• Meningococcal Meningitis

Do Excercise
It is an effective way to keep  your health, especially if you will be in Surakarta or  other cities in Indonesia for long time enaugh. Of course in this case that you do not have the same when you are in your own country. You can just jogging or a easy walk in the morning, while enjoying the fresh morning air Surakarta.

Hospital
When you are in Surakarta you should already have the information where is the hospital near your location, and how to contact them. Because if there is something bad that happened, you will soon be able to ask for medical assistance.

Here is the list of Hospital In Surakarta:RSUD Moewardi
Jl. Kol. Sutarto 132
Telp. 637415, 634634

RS Brayat Minulyo
Jl. Dr. Setia Budi No. 106
Telp. 716646

RS Kasih Ibu
Jl. Brig.Jen. Slamet Riyadi 402
Telp. 714422

RS Tri Harsi
JL. Monginsidi No. 82
Telp. 656903, 646061

RS Panti Waluyo
Jl. Jen. Ahmad Yani No. 1-2
Telp. 712077

RS Panti Kosala/dr. Oen
Jl. Brig.Jen. Katamso 55
Telp. 643139

RS Islam Kustati
Jl. Kapten Mulyadi No. 249
Telp. 643013

RS PKU Muhammadiyah
Jl. Ronggo Warsito 130
Telp. 714578

RS TK.IV Slamet Riyadi
Jl. Brig.Jen. Slamet Riyadi 321
Telp. 726700, 719606

RSJD Surakarta
Jl. K.H. Dewantoro 80 Jebres
Telp. 641442, 648920

RS Daerah Banjarsari
Jl. Lumban Tobing 10 Ska
Telp. 632024

RS Yan Med Dasar Mojosongo
Jl. Malabar Utara III Mojosongo
Telp. 853359

RS ISLAM Surakarta
Jl. Jend A Yani, Pabelan
Telp. 710571, 723309,

RSK Jiwa Syaraf Puri Waluyo
Jl. Slamet Riyadi No. 301-303
Telp. 710683

RSO Orthopedi Prof Dr R Soeharso
Jl. A Yani Pabelan Surakarta
Telp. 714458


RS Jiwa Tathya Puri
Jl. Monginsidi No.82

RSK THT DR Suharso JD
Jl. Kapt Mulayadi 174


You just pick one or two hospital in your note, the nearest one.

Kris Souvenir in North Square of Surakarta

For the traveler who wants to get unique souvenirs of Kris and precious stones, you should go to the  “ Alun Alun Utara “ or The North Square of Surakarta.

This place  can accessed on the way to palace, precisely before going into the main part of the palace, from the Pasar Gede, you'll pass through the North Square, where the entrance is marked by a large gate near the statue Slamet Riyadi. A statue of the Hero of the Republic of Indonesia became more interesting when seen at twilight. If you arrived at this place, you better go on foot, because the location of each tourist objects near each other, or at least you can ride a Becak or Indonesia rickshaw.

Once come to this square, you will see so many shady banyan trees along the way. Not far from the gate, on the left side of the road, you will find the Batu Mulia Market, There is a huge collection of precious stones in place.

Then you can go to the center and souvenir dagger opposite Crafts Gamelan "Great Hall" or on the left side of North Square. In this place you can find a wide range of local souvenirs are usually a dagger, blangkon, and traditional musical instruments of the Javanese.

Do you know Keris or Kris? The kris is an asymmetrical dagger, a traditional weapon with magical power (in old time)  most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, especially in Java Island.

A kris  has three  parts: bilah (blade), hulu (hilt), and warangka (sheath).  The art of kris is on these three parts  which often carved in meticulous detail and made from various materials, metal, precious or rare types of wood, or gold or ivory.

A kris's aesthetic value covers the dhapur (the form and design of the blade, with around 150 variants), the pamor (the pattern of metal alloy decoration on the blade, with around 60 variants), and tangguh referring to the age and origin of a kris.

While Blangkon (Javanes) or belangkon (Indonesian) is a traditional headdress worn by Javanese men and made of batik fabric. Actually Blangkon souvenir sold in North Square of Surakarta is Surakarta Blangkon type. Because There are 4 different types of blangkons,  Ngayogyakarta blangkons, Surakarta blangkons, Kedu blangkons, and Banyumasan blangkons. But if you are lucky, you will get three other type of blangkon here.

Tawangmangu, Enjoys Your Travel on Cold Temperatures In Tropical Country

In West Java there’s Puncak, while Central Java has Tawangmangu, a tourist resort known for its cool climate. Perched on the western slope of Mount Lawu at an altitude of 3,265 meters, Traveller can  enjoy the cold temperatures of between 22 and 31 degrees Celsius..

Since the Dutch colonial era Tawangmangu has become a tour. Tourists can reach Tawangmangu by public transportation for about an hour from the city of Surakarta (Solo). Actually, Tawangmangu is a district in Karanganyar regency, Central Java. Tawangmangu known as a tourist attraction in the mountains of the western slopes of Mount Lawu. The main object for  tourist destination  is Grojogan Sewu waterfall (81 m high). In this resort there are various supporting facilities like swimming pools and various forms of lodging. From Tawangmangu you can begin the climb to the summit of Mount Lawu (Post Cemorokandang). Moreover, from here there is the pass that led to the passing Sarangan in Magetan Cemorosewu.

You must not worry about accomodation in Tawangmangu, because it  has some hotel choices for visitors. There are  44 hotels  from the star-rated hotel to more modest accommodation, with the range of price from Rp 25,000 ($ 2,6) to Rp 300,000 ($ 31) per night. What’s a price!




Tawangmangu is at mountain fertile area surrounded by forests and hills. However, this small town has been known up to foreign countries because this region is a tourism object suitable to be selected  on tour series.


It is the best place for local tourist who look for place  to escape the heat and enjoy a relaxing holiday. because Tawangmangu offers a perfect retreat, perched on the slopes of Mount Lawu.  Tawangmangu promises a cool time for all traveller.  If you travel to the resort area, you will find that there are much more to Tawangmangu than the cool climate. You can explore this areas natural attractions, its traditional rituals and its special delicacies for your culinary satisfaction.