A few weeks ago our friend Tanto invited us to his hometown, Solo, for the batik carnival. Not really sure what we were in for, we woke up today excited and ready to hit the road. A few hours in the car later and we had arrived in what looked like a smaller, and slightly greener, Yogyakarta. We still had some time to kill so after picking up Tanto from his house we headed to downtown to stake out a spot for the parade and do a little sightseeing.
Downtown Solo. The palace is a ways back through the white gateway on the right and you can see people lining up for the parade.
The palace closes early afternoon for tourists, but Tanto led us on a tour of the outskirts of the grounds. While circumnavigating the outside I noticed the guards had failed to securely close one of the back gates, and with a quick look at Tanto he and I were slipping onto the property. Understandably our tour didn't last long, but it was an enjoyable few minutes on the premises. After which we decided to finally take our own place in the crowd.
There were street vendors selling food and drinks sprawled throughout as locals gathered all over. It looked like the set up for a Fourth of July parade in America. My favorite though was a vendor who had little bright colored cups hanging on his stand.
The cups for sale.
After we had taken our spot in the crowd I couldn't help wondering what they were. So I asked Ayu. Turns out, it's bubble solution. So, after debating my self control and admitting the fact that I'm inwardly still a kindergartner, I disappeared from the group and went on the search for my own cup of bubbles. I arrived at the stand and a man was there blowing bubbles much to the delight of passing children. I stopped to take pictures, and of course this caused both the vendors, kids, and surrounding Indonesians to get all interested in my presence in Solo.
The kids gathered around the vendor blowing bubbles. Aka, the picture that broke the ice.
The vendor to the right of the bubbles (I think he was selling a toy, or tea, or something) started asking me questions rapidly in bahasa. It took me a second to realize he was speaking to me, but eventually I picked up the word "dari" (which means "from") and I found my entry point into the conversation. We chatted about me being from America (although the only state he was familiar with was California, which he excitedly asked me lots about), and how I was just up in Solo for the carnival with a friend, and what I was doing with Interfidei in Yogyakarta. At this point in time both him, the bubble vendor, and myself were impressed and amused with how much this American bule (white foreigner) was able to chat cheerfully with them. So I handed over my 300 rupiah (Ayu didn't believe me. She said it was impossible they gave it to me for that cheap of a price. That's roughly three pennies by the way.) and returned to everyone excitedly with my new purchase.
The rest of the wait before the parade went quickly, as I made local friends with my new toy. An older woman who was sitting near Ayu on the curb showed me how to un-knot the baggie and pour the liquid in the little cup without making a huge mess and soon I had my own posse of children enthralled with the glimmering bubbles. Even Ayu, Tanto, Sarah, and Suraiya joined in on the fun.
Ayu, Tanto, and Sarah, just as amused with the bubbles as the small children and myself were.
But we didn't drive all the way for me to buy three cent bubbles. Before long the parade began. The parade showed off different batik from the area and a lot of local groups. It was led by a few groups of martial artists which I thought were really cool.
What was even better is that we were right next to the booth where the famous local government figures sat, so they all did demonstrations or performances right near us.
One of the martial arts groups doing a demo.
And I really love the local martial arts culture, I do. But it was completely overshadowed by what came next. Hundreds of men, women, and children dressed up in costumes that were all kinds of bedazzled. They had wings, trains, headdresses... it makes the Victoria Secret fashion shows look absolutely pathetic. They all danced down the street in their costumes, but I managed to still catch some decently clear shots of some of the people and costumes...
Some of the models parading/dancing down the street.
And because, we're in Indonesia, we're the type of people who break into palaces, and we had our very own local who knew the usual routine of such an affair, we were able to reconvene after the parade where all of the models and dancers had ended up.
So this happened.
And this.
Oh, and me being my usual self, I ended up in the middle of a group from the parade for a picture. I turned to them and thanked them all in bahasa after the photo which made them freak out. They responded in such an enthusiastic chorus of "sama sama" (you're welcome) and excitedly thanked me back. Easily one of my favorite photos from Indonesia so far.
And again, because taking things only one step further is just not enough for us, the evening culminated in this moment:
Yeah. I have wings.
The girl in the purple dress was both the designer and the model for the ensemble. And yes, she let me try on her wings and headdress. She was extremely cool.
So, when in Solo...
