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A strong Javanese culture and history is the unmistakable backdrop of Solo, Central Java's least Westernized city and one-half of the ancient Mataram Kingdom. This city used to be the stage for the war between powerful sultanates and when the sultans got tired of fighting, they redirected their energies to the arts and developed Solo as a great haven of art and education. Solo's theaters became the new battlefields of artists competing to showcase the finest gamelan (musical ensemble), wayang kulit (shadow puppet) and wayang wong (puppet theater) shows in all of Java. Wayang kulit and wayang wong are a UNESCO-designated "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity," and such theatrical arts draw thousands of tourists to Solo every year.
Solo, the short name for Surakarta, is the twin sister of Yogyakarta, also a major city, 60 kilometers to the east. Although the two cities are very much alike, Solo is more Javanese in character. Solo's center bustles with hundreds of becaks (motorized taxis) taking tourists to beautiful palace-turned-museums like Puri Mankunegaran and Kasunanan. In Sriwedari Park, children watch wayang kulit every night while diners try the Serabi Notosuman (coconut milk pancake), Gudeg Solo (boiled chicken legs with sauce), Dawet (coconut milk and gelatin drink), and other native Javanese specialties Solo is known for.
Jurug Zoo features a collection of Java's endemic animals, while Museum Batik Danar Hadi has a collection of different batiks (dyed cloth)-from silk to cotton and from hand-dyed to stamp-tinted fabrics. To buy batiks, most shoppers proceed to Pasar Klewer, but for antiques, Pasar Triwindhu is the name bargain-hunters remember. Mandi lulur, a traditional skincare done by rubbing spices to the skin to exfoliate it, is a distinguished spa treatment only found in Solo.