Interesting city
Solok is a city in central Java, Indonesia. Most of the population is Muslim. The locals live off of the rice culture, tourism and little else. They are very nice and open, and speak very good English.
It was explained to me that the ruins are very close, many teachers take their students there to improve their English and put them in contact with tourists. A teacher approached me and invited me to come and spend a few days at his school, and stay with one of his students, at their home and with his family.
I found this to be a very good opportunity to learn a little more about Javanese culture, and I accepted. Besides spending time in the nice town, I could go to school, meet the school staff and even the political organization of the country. At this time, it was run by a woman, but things were starting to change, and there were many noisy parades to encourage people to vote for this or that party.
Since it is a muslim school, girls wore veiled and sat on one side and boys on the other, I found it very strict. Education was free and the school, in addition to receiving government money, worked with donations from the faithful wealthy people. Knowing that all the teachers are very interested in receiving foreigners in their schools, and that children will love to know a little and explain how your world is, I recommend that you do not need to hesitate and go knock on the door of a school to ask if you can enter!
