Java Jamboree: Final Chapter: Leaving Solo

Sometimes, I do wonder if people of the past did really talk the way William Shakespeare, the famous English poet and playwright made them talked. In the famous balcony scene in thetale of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet for example, Juliet had uttered: 'Tis almost morning, I would have thee gone—And yet no farther than a wan-ton's bird,That lets it hop a little from his hand,Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,And with a silken thread plucks it back again,So loving-jealous of his liberty. To this, Romeo had said, sounding rather corny, perhaps to the modern ears: I would I were thy bird; upon which, Juliet uttered her goodbye: Sweet, so would I,Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,That I shall say good night till it be morrow. In Solo, when we were leaving for home, I am tempted to say, Goodbye, goodbye! Parting is such sweet 'Solo'. Solo is indeed a sweet place if you'd think of the ancient Majapahit ruins out there in the mountains.In 1815, Sir Thomas Raffles, the then ruler of Java visited Candi Sukuh and found the temple to be in bad condition. Statues had been thrown down on the ground and most of the figures had been decapitated. The giant lingga statue had been broken into two pieces. The Majapahit empire was falling apart and a new non-Hindu force had come in to desecrate.... It is sorrowful enough just to think about a blemish in the history of man where man, like an animal destroy... let's then not be filled with sorrow when parting... Goodbye, guys...We'll get to see each other yet!


Photos for the album: Now, can you identify where the pictures are taken?

Coming up next: Sulawesi Surprise!