Surakarta is still home to the royalty of Solo – this means visitors still see plenty of carved columns, pavilions and crystal chandeliers. Mangkunegaran Kraton is most interesting, boasting a pavilion with a vibrantly coloured Javanese zodiac on the ceiling. Marvel at artefacts like chastity belts for the princes and princesses. Solo is also the gateway to the largest Buddhist monument on earth, the Borobudur Temple, one of the country’s most remarkably built structures and a place of prayer and pilgrimage.