The Dark Knight Rises Review

To those of you that follow my Twitter feed or are friends with me on Facebook, you are probably aware that over the last 9 days my friends and I have been travelling from Mumbai to Goa to Hampi, with a few hours in Bangalore thrown in as well. Now, I could tell you that the main reason for this trip was a) purely recreational in nature; sun, fun and travelling in a foreign country with friends or b) to get a much needed break from the grind of work or c) to find myself in some sort of "Eat, Pray, Love" styled spiritual awakening among the temple ruins of Hindu gods.

Or, I could shrug my shoulders and say, quite truthfully: The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX.

Since Sri Lanka is still catching up on 3D cinemas (and has now gone on to convert almost all of their theatres to be 3D compatible), the thought of watching Christopher Nolan's masterpiece in a hastily converted local cinema and not in all its IMAX glory was unbearable! So, after a little bit of internet research, we found out that Mumbai provided the most affordable and geographically closest IMAX theatre in the region, so quickly an Indian road trip was put together, with a few additional stops so that we didn't have to actually admit we went to India to watch a movie.

Enough background; on to the actual review!

As fortune would have it, despite not pre-booking our tickets, we managed to get the best seats in the house for the movie. If you've been to an IMAX movie before, you'll know that you need to be at the perfect elevation to fully take in the scale of the screen. As I got comfortable in our couch seats (yes indeed!) I realised we were in for a helluva show.

First off the movie started with the "Man of Steel" trailer which, especially when viewed in IMAX, gave me some serious chills. Is it possible that finally, after all these years, DC was going to get a Superman movie right?

".. But in time, they will join you in the sun.." - Love it.

(Have no fear, no spoilers be here!)

As most of you all know by now, TDKR picks up the story 8 years after the events of "The Dark Knight". The people of Gotham still don't know the truth behind Harvey Dent, about his switch to madness, and how he died while attempting to murder Gordon's son. Harvey Dent is still hailed as the White Knight, and his death has been blamed on the Batman, who hasn't been seen since that night. However, when a new type of criminal begins to spread his tentacles in Gotham, Batman feels compelled to don the cowl once more to save the city that branded him a criminal.

I'm not sure I should give much more away because it would take away the experience. Let me just make a few bullet points instead.

• The opening sequences of the movie, while in the beginning may seem a little random and disconnected, are so perfectly relevant to the whole tapestry that is Nolan's Dark Knight saga when viewed in hindsight. The tone is set straight from the get-go; no wasting time at all, similar to the first two movies.
• The score in this movie is just brilliant. The "Batman theme" is hardly heard throughout the 2 hours and 45 minutes, yet when it is it gives such an amazing lift to the scene your heart will skip a beat. Literally.
• No, there is no equal (or even a mention) of the Joker in this movie, but then there was never an intention to top the Joker. Even in the comics, no matter the challenges Batman faces, there is never a criminal as chilling, as deplorable and as intimidatingly psychotic as the Joker. There is no sense in trying to compare Bane to the Joker; they are two different criminals on totally different levels.
• That being said, Bane was flat out scary. That is all I have to say; just mean, menacing, terrifying.
• Not much has been said of the Catwoman, despite a lot of hue and cry regarding Anne Hathaway's casting. Few people realise how nuanced a character she really is; she is neither a hero or a villain, simply an opportunist. Throughout the comics her relationship with Batman/Bruce Wayne is as complicated as it gets. Does Hathaway deliver? Definitely! She was everything I imagined Catwoman/Seline Kyle to be; at this point Nolan could probably cast Sacha Baron Cohen in a movie and I would still have to take him seriously.
• It's hard for me to pin down my favourite performance in this movie because everyone had their moment. Michael Caine once again provides the 'heart' of this movie, delivering one of the most moving dialogues in the movie. But I was most impressed by Gary Oldman's performance; his Jim Gordon is absolutely perfect. Once again he delivers a key line (in my opinion), similar to his screaming at Batman about having to save Harvey Dent and the ending speech in "The Dark Knight". 
• The line goes like this: "There's a point, far there, when the structures fail you. And when the rules aren't weapons anymore, they're shackles, letting the bad guy get ahead. One day you may face such a moment of crisis, and in that moment, I hope you have a friend like I did. To plunge their hands into the filth, so that you can keep yours clean!"
• The dialogue in this movie is just riveting; there are so many quotable quotes in this movie that just reading the 'quotes' page on the movie's IMDB page makes me want to watch the movie again. I haven't felt that way since "Pulp Fiction".

Many are worried that TDKR would not be able to live up to the epic performances of TDK, but TDKR achieves the one thing that it's predecessors did not: it builds up the story to a dizzying finale. The lows in TDKR are excruciatingly, painfully low; the highs are euphoric, sensational highs. The word 'epic' has been far too casually tossed around these days, but rarely has it been more apt than when describing this movie (and the trilogy in general). It is an amazing final stroke by Nolan, a perfect send off to my beloved character, and one of the most satisfying trilogies I have ever seen. 

Sight-seeing In Singapore

Thanks to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, and Sri Lanka's general reluctance to work, I had a solid 12 day holiday in the middle of April, and it's about time I blogged about it! While I was more than content to laze around at home and devour whatever my mother cooked up, my parents decided to organise a small trip to Singapore to coincide with one of Dad's business trips.

I'm sure many of you have been to Singapore, as it is one of the more popular destinations within South East Asia. I've only been there once back in 1999, which meant this trip would basically be a second 'first' time.

However, I know a lot of you will testify that going on a vacation overseas is extremely different when you're doing it with family. There are less adventures and more tours, less exploring and more shopping, less drinking and more eating. Needless to say, my brother and I was slightly wary of this trip to begin with.

Anyway, here are a few of my thoughts on the more 'interesting' points of our trip.

The Flight

We left Monday morning via Sri Lankan Airlines, flying direct to Singapore. Thanks to Dad's miles, we were in business class, and me and bro used the opportunity to finally watch 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows', in spite of the pitifully small screen and poor quality. The movie was excellent, but nothing beat the hilarity that ensued when my father, headphones firmly clasped on his ears and oblivious to how loud he was, turned to my mother and said in what he thought was a discreet whisper, "Oh look, that stewardess spilled the whole thing on him!". Sure enough, the stewardess in question stopped mid way through her attempts to clean off the juice that had spilled on to the passengers lap, and gave a rather un-airhostess-like stare at my father. It's been 3 weeks and my brother and I are still laughing about that one.

The Hotel

The hotel we stayed in was a good, 4 star hotel right along the famous, and very expensive, Orchard road. Bro and I were sharing a room, and for some reason they had booked us as Mr. and Mrs,. However, this wasn't the biggest surprise we had in store for us.

While the room was nice and looked extremely comfortable, the bathroom left me feeling quite the opposite. Sure, it was very plush and well lit, but for some reason the wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom had a large 6 foot tall glass window in it.

"You missed a spot..."

Yes, this meant that whoever was in bed at that time could watch the other person showering. I have no idea why they would have this 'facility' in a regular room (and yes, it was a regular room and not a honeymoon suite) but at least they have a waterproof curtain that could be rolled down for the less adventurous. Bizarre. Bro and I refused to discuss it.

The Shopping

One of the only items on our Singapore agenda that was written in stone was a trip to the fabled Mustafa's Shopping complex.

Shopping at Mustafa's is a singular experience that can't be replicated in Sri Lanka. I'm not exactly a shopping 'expert', but I've never been through anything quite like those 4 hours we spent there among the mountains of goods laid out before us. It was shopaholic-heaven, and consequently, our worst nighmare.

Oh dear.

That is kind of what shopping at Mustafa's is like. It's a two building complex with 3 basements and 3 floors, designed to be so maddeningly confusing that once you enter it, you're almost compelled to buy something just to distract yourself from how lost you are. They not only have everything, they have a lot of it. We were completely overwhelmed with it, so much so that it was almost impossible to pick anything, due to the vast array of choice available to us. Shoes? Sure, just this way sir; we have millions of shoes all stacked one on top of the other. Electronics, sure we have all of them in this entire floor ranging from cell phones to 3D 50-inch TV's. Food items, perfumes, curtains, watches, ceramics, jewelry, footwear, computers - it was just too, too much for us to handle. After Bro and I wandered around bewildered for a while, we managed to find a few sunglasses and a pair of shoes, but in the process we had managed to get ourselves completely and utterly lost. So, we did what anyone would do in this situation: we ran in every direction as fast as we could, screaming for help. Well, not screaming, but we just randomly ran up and down stairs and along corridors until we finally found the exit to the road. Then we realised we had somehow crossed over from one building into the other across the street! To this day we have no idea how this happened, but luckily we managed to get to the road and send a text to our parents to meet outside.

Guitar Heaven

We stumbled on to some 'unconventional' stores too. Read carefully.

Universal Studios

The weather cleared up for the one day, and we were lucky enough to be spending it at the Universal Studios theme park in Sentosa. After two days of shopping, my Bro and I were looking forward to some enjoyment. Frankly, Universal Studios blew our minds! The park was so well done, with the themed sections being unbelievably detailed. There was a Hollywood section, complete with a Hollywood walk of fame and a sound stage with a video intro from Steven Spielberg. Then there was "Madagascar", themed after the animated movie, and "Far Far Away" themed after Shrek. Till here it was very low key and interesting, but I was psyched about the next section - "Waterworld", themed after one of my favourite 'bad' movies from back in the 90's. We were just in time to catch the live-actions show, which was 15 minutes of a small enacted and choreagraphed scene from the movie filled with jet skis, boats, explosions, fights and some very cool stunts.

From there we moved onto the Lost World section, and then moved to Egypt section. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After a good lunch, we went through 1940's New York, a Sci-Fi section, and of course the famous 3D Transformers ride. Honestly, I don't have words to describe how great that was; it was so amazingly real, and done so well that the transition between real walls and the 3D screen lent the ride a fantastic feeling of reality. Being hurled through buildings by Megatron and falling out of the sky, only to be scooped up at the very last second by Bumblebee, talking to Optimus Prime - all done to perfection. Easily the highlight of the day.

The People

I found the people of Singapore rather interesting. Here they were, surrounded by all this wealth and affluence, and yet most of them were eager to complain about government taxes and increasing prices. Our cab drivers, quick to spot we were tourists, were an abundant source of information and witty humour regarding the state of the government, often lamenting how expensive it was to buy a car or cab in Singapore.

And yet, after all the complaining, one cab driver had to admit that he was still able to take care of his family and his children quite comfortably. After all the deductions, he said he takes home SGD 5000 per month, which in Sri Lankan Rupees is roughly Rs. 500,000! As for the price of vehicles, one can only imagine the wealth in the country when we saw four Lamborghini Gallardo's, a McLaren F1, and at least 10 Mercedes AMG's in a span of 3 days.

Yes, Singapore seems to be a vibrant, modern city, as is evidenced by the crowds of fashionable, well dressed men and women on their streets, clutching their expensive handbags, wearing their slick suits or rushing in their bright red high heels or bright red Mercedes. Yet, I seemed rather unnerved by the lifestyle here. I wasn't there long enough to be sure, but there seemed to be a strong materialistic aura that hung around most people I saw, especially the women. While many of my friends told me there would be lots of "eye-candy", I was slightly put off by the over-dressing stiletto-wearing girls I happened to notice. Personally, I see no reason for Asian women to be envious of the freedom Singapore women live under; while they may be able to wear and do most anything they choose to without condemnation, to me they seem to be living under a different type of bondage all together.


Yes, so that's my wrap-up of Singapore, finally! It was definitely a very interesting visit, and I am quite looking forward to visiting again. Perhaps when I do my Masters? Time will tell.

The Darkside Does Malaysia: Part 3

Wow, I'm really stretching this out aren't I? Well this is the last one, I promise!

Day 4

Day 4 was our big day: the day we head out to the Pinnacles. As I explained earlier, the whole trek is about 3 days up and down, so today we were planning on reaching the base camp by evening and resting for the climb the next day. Our journey started from the Reserve HQ, where we were all bundled into these small boats. They were similar to catamarans, except without the outrider. They were long and could only carry about 5-6 people if they sat one behind the other. The famous rainforest rains had struck that morning, forcing us to wear our bright yellow ponchos which we had purchased the other day from the store. They were more like brightly coloured polythene bags folded together, but they did the job. Of course, R being the professional camper/hiker extraordinnaire, he had an actual poncho which made us look rather silly. Either way, we were off in the boats, the three of us and two others who were joining us for the hike. The journey was broken into 3; the first stop was at a small local village that was selling handicrafts, and the second was at another set of caves along the river. We were joined by 2 other boats, filled with people who were only coming this far; the next leg would be only the 5 of us.

We got off the boats and climbed up the wooden walkways to the next set of caves. 'Beautiful' is the only word that comes to mind when I remember them now. The fact that nature could form such artistic formations makes me question how our brains process art and beauty (perhaps a post for another time). The first cave we saw was 'Wind Cave', named so because in the middle of the cave there was a gian skylight-like opening on the roof of the cave, which generates a strong internal breeze within the cave. Our guide told us that rescue workers train at this cave opening by rappelling down the entrance. I wish I had a good picture to show you just how daunting a task that appeared!

We then went on to the next cave, a smaller one called 'Lady Cave' (named so because the shadows formed looked ladies apparently), before moving onto the bigger 'Clearwater Cave'. This cave had a underground stream running through the cave, bringing back memories of Tom Sawyer and old Famous Five books. On entering the cave we had to cross a small bridge across the river. Our guide pointed to the source of the river, which was shrouded in unlit darkness, and told us that 'adventure caving' happened here. Eight hours of climbing and swimming in the darkness, with just harnesses and torches! Gazing into the utter blackness, I could only imagine the levels of bravery or sheer lunacy required for someone to do that.

Dude looks like a lady?

On the bottom right you can see the underwater stream

A quick lunch, and the rest of the boats headed back while ours headed up the river. We went on for another hour or so, apprehensively watching the skies to see if there was a chance of it being clear the next day. We had heard that the group that were at the camp site today coudn't climb because of the rain, and we were worried that the same fate would befall us.

After an hour or so, we were looking for some sort of jetty which would indicate our boat journey had come to an end, so imagine my surprise when suddenly the motors cut, and the boat just drifted to the bank where our guide politely signalled us to get off the boat! Nothing to stand on, so we just pulled on the bamboo shoots jutting out of the mud, and somehow scrambled to land. The guide gave us our bags, pointed us in the direction we should go, and left us. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous now; there was just a barely-there jungle track, and a  small sign with an arrow. So, we picked up our bags and away we went. After an hour we saw the first sign post that said "8km". Eight kilometres through the jungle, with nothing but a mud track and a few stones to show the way. I was psyched! It was extremely exhilarating to trek through that, climbing over tree trunks and crossing small streams, the odd moss-eaten wooden bridge along the way. We doubled back on the river a couple of times, so our old friends the rope-bridges were there to greet us. However we made good time, and within two hours or so we had covered the 8.5 km's and arrived at the clearing that was Camp 5.

They called this a 'path'?

The view from Camp 5

The camp was nothing much to look at but the surroundings were beautiful; right at the river, and under the massive Mt. Mulu. Beautiful view, and very scenic; we unpacked in our rather spartan quarters (we basically got a rubber exercise mat as a bed) and divided the rations for the next day (we had to prepare our own meals for the hike; they provided the kitchen). Our guide gave us a quick run through of what we should expect for the next day. We were to leave around 630am, that is, if the weather held up. The climb would be 2.4 km long (whoa.) and we'd climb to an elevation of about 1.1 km as well (whoa). I can't remember the exact breakdown, but it was something along the lines of: first 30% is easy, next 50% harder, last 20% super hard. Day 5 was going to be very, very interesting.

We feasted on Maggi and tried to sleep, though the cold and lack of blankets/pillows etc made it a lot harder than I thought it would. I slept fitfully at best, and before I knew it, our 5am wakeup call had arrived.

Day 5 & 6

 On Day 5, my body gave up on me.

As planned we started the day early, eagerly checking the the skies to see if the weather was good enough to climb the mountain. To our relief the guide said we were good to go, so we packed our backpacks, carried our 3 liters of water each and started up the mountain. However, within minutes I knew something was wrong; I could feel my muscles going stiff, and I was breathing a lot harder than usual. I was determined to keep up with the rest of the group, but within half an hour I knew I was in trouble. The climb was gentle, but for someone who is more used to walking long distances in a straight line, climbing up a mountain even for short distances may seem a lot harder than it is. Pretty soon, t-shirts were off, and my back-pack was taken by S who wasn't carrying one. The guide stopped every now and then to check on me, but I managed to convince him that I was just going to be very slow and to go ahead without me. To this day I'm not sure what exactly happened; perhaps a combination of the previous days hike, lack of sleep and breakfast. Or maybe I had grossly over-estimated my level of fitness. Pretty soon, the group had vanished from sight, and the group that had started after me had overtaken me.

You see a way up here?

Honestly, after an hour of climbing that mountain, I was ready to give up. The climb was gradually getting harder now, and the limestone was sharp and unforgiving. Any wrong step resulted in a sharp cut along your legs, any slip of the hands were met with the same. The path was even less defined than the previous day, but the broken branches and a few wooden posts here and there led the way. The sun was slowly coming out, but I was careful to not drink too much water. I felt like a 100kg's already!

After 2 hours I had already decided to turn back at least 5 times. The jungle was warmer now, and the climb was much steeper, intermingled with a few ropes and iron clamps hammered into the rock to serve as makeshift ladders. Every now and then I caught a glimpse of the group ahead but I had no plans on catching them; my body just wouldn't allow it. Trying to repeat the few hiking tips I had been told ("Don't stop, just keep moving forward at a steady pace, no matter how slow") I forged ahead but the one thing that kept running through my head was that the climb down is said to be even harder than the climb up.

Just after the 2 hour mark I reached the last stretch, and then onwards it was just jungle gym. Ropes, ladders, and razor sharp rocks; it was ridiculous, especially for someone who was already completely burnt out! I have never been that exhausted in my life, and I have never pushed myself beyond the limit like that! I was so embarrassed that the rest of the group had outstripped me so easily but at that time I was more concerned with just making it up the mountain.

Seriously. What?!

2300m up the mountain, another 100m to go

Finally, after three hours, we reached the top, and boy, what a sight!

We relaxed up here for an hour or so, eating lunch. Wait, we would have eaten lunch, but we rather unfortunately forgot to pack it. So there we were, starving while everyone else around us was feasting away. Not pleasant.

After an extended picture session, we started our trek downwards. I will spare you the details, needless to say, I barely made it down; dead last but alive! My knees were shot to hell and my quads felt like they were on fire but I made it somehow, washed off, and dove into the ice cold river. What. A. Feeling. And what a journey!

The evening was spent recuperating and playing cards, and the next morning we once again woke up early and took off for our 8.5km hike back to the spot we got dropped off. Thankfully I had somewhat recovered and we made it back in almost the same time we had taken to reach the camp. The boat picked us up and within a few hours we had stumbled back into our dormitory.

Day 7

The next day was spent mainly travelling, as our flight took us back to Kota Kinabalu by afternoon. We had a few hours to kill, so we made a quick trip into the city to have some lunch. We got dropped at the biggest mall there, roamed around for a while and had a quite fantastic chicken biriyani. R finally shaved his unsightly beard, if only because he was going to with S to Singapore, where the girls are apparently more attractive. I wouldn't know, as I was scheduled to fly to Colombo that night via KL. 

Finally the time came to part ways, and so we said our goodbyes in the airport as R and S headed to Singapore while I waited for my KL flight. Despite it being just a week of travel, we had all seen and done so much that the journey felt ten times longer than it was! As I watched them leave I felt a strange sense of accomplishment, because this was the first time I had ever made a trip like this on my own, with my own finances. The fact that this trip came together so quickly and so last minute was just amazing; I'm so glad I decided to throw caution to the winds and just say "Yes, let's do this!". 

After a few delays and an agonizing 5 hour wait in the KL airport from midnight to 5am for my flight to Colombo, I finally touched down on home soil. I couldn't wait to tell everyone about my trip, but I just knew that no matter how much I explained it all, you really had to be there to experience it. Fantastic trip, can't wait to plan another 'adventure-vacation' soon!

The Darkside Does Malaysia: Part 2

Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been that kind of week!

So where was I? Ah; Day 2.

Day 2

Day 2 found us packing our bags to head back to the airport, for our flight to Mulu. The Mulu National Park is located in the southern part of Malaysian Borneo, known as Sarawak. I was slowly starting to grasp how large Malaysia really was; the ads and testimonies from friends had given me a very wrong view of the sheer size and diversity of the place.

We touched down at the Mulu airport around 2pm in the afternoon. However, I use the word 'airport' very loosely; I have never seen a smaller airport in my life! In typical Jurassic Park style, we climb down the airplane steps onto the tarmac, walk over to this small hall where we just stand around until a small jeep brings the bags from the plane to you. Yes, no conveyor belts, no nothing; straight from the cargo hold, to your  hands. Turn around, walk 15 steps and you're out of the airport.

That my friend is how all airports should be! I later found out that the airport was the only way to reach Mulu; that or by road from Miri which is about 100kms away, or for the more adventurous, down the river. Anyway, as soon as we stepped out we managed to secure a ride to the park which was about five minutes away. We hadn't booked anything in advance, because we wanted to see if we could negotiate a cheaper rate at the place itself, as the internet prices seemed rather steep. Hopefully the Sri Lankan skills at negotiating would come in useful!

The first thing that struck me about the Mulu National Park - was the rope bridge we had to cross to get to it. But the second thing that struck me about the park was how incredibly helpful they were. We stood in line at the Information desk and when it was our turn we explained how we basically had just turned up here with little or no idea of exactly what to do, except that we wanted to see caves. The guy at the counter was extremely patient with us, as he explained all of the activities we could do at the park. He asked us how long we were here for, then proceeded to basically draw up our entire agenda for the next 4 days. Not only did he cover all of the activities that we wanted to go for, but he slotted it in so neatly that we didn't waste any time any day. We spoke to him about prices, and we were relieved to find that the prices on the websites had been incorrect; the whole 4 days worked out to about 15k LKR, which I found very reasonable given the number of tours we had signed up for.

As we left the park, R remarked on how much better Sinharaja would be if we had people who were this helpful over there as well. It was an interesting point.

We found a small dormitory right outside the park, since the park accommodation was full up. It was cheap, and manned by a friendly guy whose name we never got. Basically we got three beds in a hall of around 25, and a small common toilet and shower area. We were willing to forsake our privacy for the rates they were offering, and gladly took it as we went over the plan for the next few days. According to our agenda, we would cover four 'show caves', a 'canopy walk' which was a tour along the tree tops via rope bridge, and the big three day hike to the 'pinnacle summit'. The night was spent with a decent dinner and a lot of talk as we caught up on what we had been up to over the years. R and I hadn't seen S since high school, while R and I had only met 2 or 3 times over the last ten years. Our conversation went on for hours, and we decided to call it a night just after midnight. I'm sure our hosts were grateful, because what we didn't realise till that point was that we were running on generator power at that time, and the generator is only switched on between 5pm and midnight. Yes, 7 hours of electricity per day; something we would have to get used to.

Day 3

Day 3 started early, as breakfast at our princely abode was available only between 7am and 8am. So after a hearty breakfast of toast, beans, egg and sausages, we headed to the camp to start the Canopy Walk. Our group consisted of about 7 people including us, and our guide took us into the forest to start off. The paths were well done, consisting of a wooden walkway, so the walk was no difficulty. Somehow, despite the man-made path, the forest around still retained its wild aura, and I wasn't in the least tempted to stray off the path for my own 'adventure'.

After 30-40 minutes, we reached the place where the rope bridges began. Now, these rope bridges may sound very fun, but I had no idea exactly how unsafe those things would feel when you were on them. The guides probably realised that too, which is why only two could walk on them at a time. At some places there was only enough room to put one foot in front of the other, and the creaking wooden planks you were stepping on did not inspire confidence. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but the view was breathtaking, as we took in just how enormous the forest cover was. We even caught a glimpse of Mt. Mulu, with it's sheer limestone cliffs in the distance. My camera did it's best to capture the vastness of it all, but you really need a wide angle lens to see it properly.

I found this very interesting

My great travel friends

If I remember correctly, the rope bridges spanned a total of about 500m, and soon we were back on the ground and heading back for lunch; in the afternoon we would be heading out for our first view of the famous Mulu caves.

We left camp around 230pm in the afternoon, again along the wooden pathways, though this time for a little over an hour into the forest. There we reached a clearing where the mountain sort of rose up right in front of us. Again, the size of it was amazing; I couldn't wait to get to the caves.

We reached Langs cave after a short half hour walk from the clearing, up the mountain. The guide gave us a short lecture on the formation of the caves, the theory behind the formations and the time that would be needed to form such complex creations. As interesting as that was, I quickly forgot about that once I went inside and saw it for myself.

After a lot of fiddling with my camera settings, I was able to get off a few shots of the interior and the formations, which were all very strategically lit up so as not to ruin the darkness of the caves (we needed to carry torches with us and they were in use a lot!) but yet enough to provide illumination for the various limestone formations there.

Langs cave was great, but what we were really looking forward to was Deer Cave, which is supposed to be the largest natural cave in the entire world, able to comfortably house nine cathedrals inside it. Famous too, for being the home of around 3 million bats that rush out of the cave every evening in a spectacular display against the fading light of dusk.

After another half hour walk from Langs cave, we finally reached Deer Cave. The entrance was ominous enough, but once I stepped inside - well, see for yourself.

If ever there were a time for the use of the term 'mind-boggling', this would be it. My eyes just could not understand how huge the interior of the cave was. I felt like a cheap digital camera, vainly attempting to auto focus on a moving object. As you enter the cave, the near wall sort of falls away, revealing the other end of the cave in a manner that makes it appear miles away. There are giant boulders strewn across the floor, and the dull evening light that snakes into the cave makes it look otherworldly. The further in we went, the more our torches came into use, but they too were woefully inadequate to pierce the blackness of the cave. There was a lot movement above us, testament to the sleeping army of bats hiding in the dark recesses of limestone. And of course, where there are bats, there is bat poop, and there was no shortage of supply here - literally, small mountains of poop on the cave floor!

We finally made it out of the cave and headed to the clearing. Just in time too, as the bats started to make their way out of the caves in droves, making zig-zag formations across the skies in an attempt to evade predatory birds that wait near the cave opening to pick them off for an early dinner.

As darkness fell we headed back to our lodging, where thankfully there was electricity. Day 4 would involve more caving, but also the first day of our perilous 3 day Pinnacles trek. Stay tuned!