This lovely museum was our New Thing this week.

It has the most amazing collection of wayang figures. Most of them are wayang kulit (leather puppets), in many, many different styles. Beautifully and intricately decorated, they are displayed in typical scenes (some of which have been presented since the 11th century, a fact that is fairly amazing in itself). Many depict "meetings" between various groups of significant people, but there was also a battle scene with chariots.

As well as telling the classical stories, wayang kulit have been used to act out the battles of Diponegoro and the struggle against colonialism, tell both Islamic and Christian stories, and portray local "jokers" and rock stars.

There are also plenty of wayang golek figures and the masks (topeng) used in wayang wong. I'd seen both of these before. New to me, however, were the wayang klithik, wooden figures about half a centimetre thick. Extraordinary, too, were the delicate little wayang figures made out of dried cassava leaves. Exactly the same shape as the wayang kulit, but formed out of what look like stalks.

My Piscean wayang characters are apparently Ramawijaya and Drupadi...

Outside there is a wonderful pendopo, a picturesque park, and a collection of old vehicles slowly drifting into oblivion...