Bangkok - Part 2

We managed to visit Bangkok for the 2nd time and stayed close to Benchakitti Park. This place has lovely facilities and is very huge. People of all walks of life come here for running, walking and relaxing from 5:00 AM.  

It's also got a massive lake.

A view from the top.

It's got massive lotus ponds.

And man-made wetlands.

And an outdoor gym.

We also went to Ayutthaya on a extremely hot and humid day.

It was the capital of Thailand many many years ago and although this city is in ruins, it still hold significance in Thailand's history.

Some of the temples do remind us of how things would have been few centuries ago.

Another set of ruins.

Although restoration is in progress, but some temples are leaning a lot.

They restored a sleeping Buddha statue, that I think is an abomination of what was previously here. I don't know how someone would come up with this, approve this and be okay with this. 

We treated ourselves to drinks and cake, they tasted best in AC!! That was a bloody hot day.

Also went to the Siam Museum.

And being Thai, means more than just the Thai clothes.

This country is a mixture of modern and traditional values.

Goddess Kali in the Siam Museum.

And a modern take on Ganesha.

They say, one can see an image of themselves or their shirt's print in unexpected places.

MOCA Museum is also a magnificent museum to visit when in Bangkok.

Everyone wants new toys and they need to unique. So an artist created Mushkin. 

The company wanted "An Original Toy". 

My take on MUSHKIN. Someone who goes to the office everyday. My teeth, were no where close to MUSHKIN's teeth though.

These crowns and these facemasks are quite popular features of Thailand.

How did Thailand get influenced by India? Well, Bharat and Suvarnabhumi have been trading partners since centuries and this picture shows India's influence in South East Asia.

The below pencil sketch blew my mind.

A depiction of Amrit Manthan.

Bangkok on a rainy night.

And Dali was free that evening to paint Trupti, by looking into the mirror.

Who are we to judge, "what is beauty?" , because one thing could be beautiful for someone and ugly for the others.

We also went to the hustle bustle of Chatuchak Market. 

It did remind me of SArojini Market in Delhi; minus the loud music, unnecessary stares, the random shoulder bump, heaps of rubbish and the gutka stains. 

What a lovely test series! And I also watched some cricket with few new friends in Sukhumvit.

All and all; Bangkok was awesome!

Yogyakarta Palace & Jomblang Cave

We also got a chance to visit Yogyakarta, they say it: Jogjakarta or Jogja. 

From the flight we could see Mount Merapi.

A small video showing how massive the mountains are. The only place in Indonesia where there are no mountains or volcanoes is Kalimantan. All other Indonesian islands have mountains and volcanoes, it's difficult to ignore them.

Jogja is also the only kingdom in Indonesia. This city and region still has a Sultan. We stayed very close to the palace and visited it one afternoon. 

Location: Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat

It was alright.

Once you have been to the palaces of India, the palaces & royalty in other parts of the globe look average and incomparable with the Indian royals.

The Water Palace! 

There wasn't a palace but a green pond. A-V-G!

But, the main reason we stayed in Jogja was for some adventure. So off we went to Jomblang Cave.

Note: A 40 m deep single-shaft with a diameter of 50 m formed by dissolution and collapse of 15 million years old limestone. This occurred after the limestone was uplifted from the sea floor about 1.8 million years ago. Bottom of collapse-sinkhole connected with a horizontal passage that ends at Grubug Cave. Grubug Cave, a single-shaft of about 90 m, is the deepest vertical caye in Java Island. The phenomenon of Grubug underground river and upward view from the bottom is very amazing.

We were 3rd in the queue and didn't realise how scary this would be. 

We were harnessed and ready.

We then saw the staff praying together and wishing us all good luck.

As soon as it was our turn. I was shitting my pants! This was probably the scariest thing I have ever done, apart from skydiving. My legs were shaking and I was having 2nd thoughts. But then we just go with the flow and the whole thing is pretty safe.

I wasn't thrilled at the start, but then the drop was for 30 seconds.

A small group had already assembled. So here we were in the middle of the cave ready to go through a tunnel into another cave. 

The cave was huge. It was probably the biggest one I have ever been in.

The mouth was huge too.

As we started our walk, the muddy path was extremely difficult to navigate. 

It was hot, sweaty, slippery and unsafe. I kept falling.

But, after about 40 minutes, as we reached the 2nd cave and saw the light, it was a wonderful feeling. This cave is called: Grubug Cave.

We spent about 30 minutes there clicking photos. Loved the noise of the river as we admired the light.

Our guides were brilliant photographers too. 

Another photo to show their skills.

...and another.

She looked like the Amazonian Queen who had just landed in the cave from the light!

We clicked some more photos.

And some more light shown upon us.

We got messy and our shoes got dirty.

Trupti was sweaty max.

And our black shoes became brown.

and then we were pulled back up with the rope! Off we went! 

Wow what a day, what an experience, what fun!