After leaving Java we made our way to the Island of Nusa Lembongan, just a short boat ride from Bali. The island is surrounded by beautiful turquoise blue water and white sandy beaches. It is far less crowded or developed compared to Bali, but with plenty of options for accommodation, eating and drinking. We stayed in Mushroom Bay, in a lovely guest house a stones throw from the small beach. It was a lovely place to hang out, although I found the constant coming and going of snorkelling boats and banana boat rides frustrating and not particularly conducive to a peaceful swimming experience. As Shaun had come down with some sort of heat stroke, we really were forced to relax for the whole four days, which was just what we needed.
Our next stop was the island of Gili Air, another picture perfect, white sand, palm tree lined, tropical island. There are three Gili Islands, and this one is the middle of the road - not yet the party island (I say yet, as I think it is quickly heading this way), and still slightly more built up than the smallest of the Gili's. Gili Air can be walked around in about an hour, and we had a lovely time doing slow laps of the island, finding swimming spots and watching the amazing sunsets.
Our next and final island destination in Indonesia was the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara. Flores was 'discovered' by the Portugese in the 1500's, and as a result the island is 90% catholic, unlike the rest of Indonesia which is mostly Muslim (except for Bali which has remained Hindu).
Unlike Lembongan or Gili, Flores is a huge island with incredibly beautiful, rugged landscape, and only fairly basic tourist infrastructure once you venture outside of the main port town of Labuanbajo. It is a place where the travelers you meet are mostly backpackers looking for an adventure rather than beach going holiday makers. It has a kind of raw charm about it. While there is certainly a well established tourist route here, compared to the other places we have visited in South East Asia this definitely feels like the road less travelled.
We started our journey in Labuanbajo, a ramshackle harbour town, staying in a basic but clean and comfortable (and over priced) hotel about a 15 minute drive (slowly, avoiding numerous po-holes) from town. We called in on various boat operators until we decided upon a two day, one night trip to visit Komodo and Rinca Islands.
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| Beautiful sunset and dinner at the fish market in Labuan Bajo. |
There isn't much information online about the various tours available, making it hard to really base our decision on anything more than our first impression of the chap behind the desk. We asked around at least 5 different places and they all offered the same route and price.
We joined our boat at 7.30am, with two young German students as our shipmates. I was a bit dubious about the seaworthiness of the small vessel, but the water was like glass and we putted along without incident. We had a captain and a cook onboard with us, neither speaking much English, and consequently not really speaking much at all. The toilet was at the back of the boat and was literally a small square hole cut into the deck. We also slept in a communal style on thin mattresses layered onto the deck of the boat.
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| Our boat - lunch and the communal sleeping set up! |
Our first stop was Rinca island, where we met a guide who took us for a walk around the island and to see the sleeping Komodo Dragons underneath the Rangers houses (attracted by the smells of food). Surprisingly, there were also a bunch of deer hanging about, seemingly nonplussed by the fact that they would likely end up as dragon fodder. Talking to our guide, apparently six local people were attacked by dragons last year, killing one. Komodo dragons kill their prey by infecting them with a venomous bite and following the injured party around waiting for their inevitable death before devouring them completely. They eat anything and everything - even the young Komodo dragons have to live in the trees to avoid becoming a meal. Apparently their poop is white due to the calcium from all the bones they eat...... When someone gets bitten they have to make their way back to Bali where they are in hospital for at least three months fighting the bacterial infection from the bite, and are then often sent to recover further back in Labuanbajo before going back to their homes on Rinca/Komodo. I'm certainly glad that I don't have those things living under my house!
Our guide said that only one tourist has ever died on the island, a Swiss guy in 1974, who wandered off on his own and was never seen again, nor any trace ever found. I'm sure his wrist watch is probably sitting in a pile of dragon poop somewhere...
Anyway, we did see some excitement when a couple of dragons started hissing at each other and then one got up and gave the other an almighty whack with his tail! The creatures look slow, but they're built to move quickly when they want to and it made me very nervous! Apparently the biggest on the island was 3.5m long and weighs about 90kg. On our walk back to the boat we saw a Komodo dragon walking along which was fun!
On Komodo island it was a similar deal, as it was so hot most of the dragons were resting in the shade under buildings.
We stopped to snorkel at Pink Beach, so called because when you get close enough you can see that the otherwise white sand is flecked with tiny bits of pink coral, giving the beach a pinkish hue. One of the highlights of this trip was seeing a turtle while we were snorkelling here! It was the first time we'd ever seen one and we watched it for at least half an hour while it munched away on various sea plants and occasionally came up for air. I really wish I had a waterproof camera!
Another highlight was seeing a pod of dolphins in the morning, as well as catching a fleeting glimpse of a manta ray. This trip may have even inspired me to give diving a try one day, as I imagine the coral and sea life would be absolutely incredible up close.
After getting back to Labuanbajo we took an 'executive' bus (large minivan) to the small village of Bajawa. It was a slow and very windy four hours on the bus to get to the town of Ruteng in the middle of the island, and there were times I wondered if the bus would make it up some of the hills. In Ruteng we waited around for two hours for our interchange to a smaller minibus to Bajawa. The second part of the trip was equally as windy and the driver was somehow even more crazy. By this point I was just hoping to make it there alive!
We got dropped off about 3km outside of the town, and fortuitously met another couple going to the same hotel with whom we shared a taxi (of course all the taxi drivers were waiting there when we got off the bus). At the hotel we ended up making friends with the other couple, Jacobo and Noe from Spain, and booked a driver and guide together for the next day in order to economise. The next morning our guide Alfons, took us to a local Saturday market where we saw all manner of things for sale: pigs, chickens, fish, fruit and vegetables, including papayas the size of your head and vegetables we had no clue what they were, sold by ladies with betel nut-stained smiles.
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| Local markets in Bajawa |
We also visited the traditional villages of Bena and Gurucina. These are Nagda villages, with a monolithic culture, practicing a mixture of animism and Catholicism. The thatched-roofed houses are set on several terraces, and the middle part had stone tombs and places of offerings, as well as the symbols repressing the number of clans in the village - these are the male Ngadhu, a thatched umbrella like structure with a carved pole (where Buffaloes are sacrificed in special ceremonies), and the female bhaga which looks like a mini house.
The village of Bena is the most visited by tourists and we had to pay a small entrance fee. Otherwise, the locals went about their regular daily lives, which now also included selling their beautifully weaved ikat fabrics. I thought that it might feel a bit like a human zoo, but it really wasn't so bad and most of the village people were out working in the surrounding plantations so it didn't feel like we were disturbing anybody, just politely observing. Our guide also told us how to say good morning and how to ask if it was ok to take a photo in the local language which was useful. If the tourist trade here picks up I can see this becoming quite intrusive for the people though.
Outside the houses the colourful ikat fabrics were on display (for sale), and an old man gave us some papaya and macadamia nuts (grown in the area) to try.
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| Bena Village |
In the afternoon we stopped at a hot spring where a local family made us a simple but tasty lunch, and we enjoyed a blissful soak in the river where the hot water mixes with the cold water while the rain was coming down (heavily!). This especially made me excited for soaking in more hot springs when we get home!!
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| Malange hot springs |
The next day we shared a six hour ride with our Spanish friends to the small village of Moni at the base of Mt Kelimutu. Our previously booked accomodation had cancelled on us due to a family party, and when we arrived we discovered that the whole village was partying, with loud music blaring from at least five different houses along the road! We thankfully found a couple of nice but basic rooms at a small guest house. The owner then explained that many families in the town were celebrating first communion, and that everything in the town was closed! Kindly, she invited us to join her family's party that afternoon. We (a group of seven of us) headed across the road and shook hands with the smartly dressed young man whose first communion it was, gave a small donation to the party and were invited to have some food. There was a band playing and we were encouraged to get up to dance with a few of the drunk uncles - I think to provide some of the afternoon entertainment! We went up the road and managed to source a few beers, and later that evening went back to the party which was now in full swing. Everyone was singing and dancing and we joined in, having a blast! Turns out they also like reggae music and Shaun even got behind the mic for a couple of Bob Marley songs!
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| At Kenn's first communion party in the town of Moni. |
After a few hours of sleep and with foggy heads we got up and caught a ride up the mountain at 4.30am to see the sunrise over the beautifully coloured crater lakes on Mt Kelimutu. I think the colours would have been more impressive in the daylight, but nevertheless the sunrise was nice and the gentle light and loud birdsong was lovely. We even saw a bunch of monkeys waiting for an easy breakfast.
We walked for 2 hours back down the mountain, but missed the shortcut back to Moni and ended up catching a ride back on a local bemo (small van that doubles as a taxi).
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| Kelimutu craters |
Our next challenge was finding a driver in the village sober enough to take us to the town of Ende!
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| Horrible bathroom at our hotel in Ende... Not even a basin! |
That evening we went out for dinner with the new friends we had made in Moni, as well as a local guy named Horace who another couple had met while in Ende a few days earlier. I don't want to bore you with play by play, but the Warung (small restaurant) we went to is worth a mention. The menu is very small, but the owner delighted in greeting us and talking through his menu which included the most melt in the mouth coconut fried chicken with yellow rice and sambal, as well as delicious homemade mie goreng.
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| Dinner at Sari Rasa (the lovely owner front left). |
Our route to Perth from Ende isn't exactly the most straight forward, including a night back in Labuanbajo and a night in Bali. We are both excited to be seeing our friends and family again soon! I can't believe we only have a week of our trip left!!
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