Our Last Weekend in Solo City

Today begins our last weekend in Solo City. The time has gone by quickly and it seems there is still so much left we want to do.

Today we split into two groups, essentially. The larger group went to hike up Mt. Lawu. The smaller group took the train to Jogjakarta. I went with the smaller group.

Karen, Yemisi and I went to Jogja, along with two of our project asssistants, Oki and Astri, to do a little shopping down Marlioboro Street. Marlioboro is the famous street in Jogja for all your shopping needs. There were dozens of stalls selling loads of cheap souvenirs - flip flops, t-shirt, key chains, etc. However, there are also a lot of nice batik shops, handbag stores and shoe stores. Mostly batik, though, to be truthful.

I don't believe I've explained what batik is: It is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a canting or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to color selectively by soaking the cloth in one color, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colors are desired.A tradition of making batik is found in various countries - including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Nigeria; the batik of Indonesia, however, may be the best-known. Indonesian batik made in the island of Java has a long history of with diverse patterns influenced by a variety of cultures, and is the most developed in terms of pattern, technique, and the quality of workmanship.In October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanit."  ** Thank you Wikipedia!

After shopping for a few hours we were very hot and went to Starbucks to cool off. We figured Starbucks was guaranteed to have strong air-conditioning and we were correct! While we were there it poured down rain. So, we lucked out on that one.

We then took a local car (kind of like Uber) to an area of town with lots of sterling silver shops. We only had time to go to one. So, we picked the big one. It was two stories of sterling silver jewelry and off the courtyard on the bottom level was the workshop where the jewelry is forged. I must admit, I bought a couple of things. So pretty and shiny!

Our car ride back to the station was interesting. There seemed to be multiple parades happening throughout the city. Or, maybe it was just one parade and they were having trouble finding each other. Whichever it was it made traffic a madhouse for miles. Eventually, we made it back to the train station and then back to our hotel around 6:45pm.

It sounds like the group that went to Mt. Lawu had a great time, too, and they have the pictures to prove it. I believe tonight might be the earliest we all are in bed in the three plus weeks we've been here.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo