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Published: December 12th 2009
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Ruteng
Waiting around for a bus... 27 November 2009 - 30 November 2009
TRANSPORT:
Ruteng to Aimere by bus--Rp30,000 (3 hours)
Aimere to Bajawa by "travel"--Rp30,000 (1 hour)
Bus Terminal to Hotel by bemo--Rp5,000
HOTEL:
Edelweis
Double, cold water, western toilet--Rp125,000 inc breakfast
Very friendly place. The downside is the breakfast which was poor. Nice location. Recommended!
TOUR:
Full day village tour by motorbike--Rp150,000 inc guide and petrol.
Leaving the grotty little town of Ruteng, we headed further east to the next major stop in the village of Bajawa. First we had to get there, which was never going to be simple.
We got a lift with John and Fiona (a couple from the Perama Tour), who were going across Flores by private car. They dropped us off at the "bus terminal", which actually meant waiting at the side of the road out of town! We waited around for about 45 minutes and still no bus to Bajawa turned up. Instead, a bus bound for the town of Aimere stopped and said we should go there and then change buses in Aimere. As Aimere is on the way to Bajawa we hopped on.
This bus was more excitable. We crammed into the back
Ruteng
...and yet more waiting! and set of for the 3 hours to Aimere. Buses are always interesting in this part of the world. Some have karaoke (at full blast), some have traditional music (at full blast), and the ones in Flores seem to have all sorts of music with the heaviest bass line in the world!! Sitting in the bus with sub woofers vibrating through your bones, listening to the likes of Eminem and Shaggy is an experience in itself!!
The journey was yet another scenic one as we twisted and turned through the mountains and down towards the coast at Aimere. We were dropped off, again at the roadside. According to the locals there were no public buses to Bajawa, so we had to make do with what the locals call a "travel". A travel is a public bus using a private minivan, and they are just as cramped!
An hour later, and yet more windy roads we arrived (at the side of the road) on the outside of Bajawa. Another bemo ride took us to our hotel, aptly named "Edelweis". We checked in and had a explore around town (which only took us no more than half an hour!). It's a
very interesting town (or village as the locals like it to be referred to). First you come to a nice avenue, divided in the center by rows of bushes and flowers. Then you pass a load of government offices and then a prison! The village also has a large fruit market, which the local villagers in the surrounding areas head to once a week and then a small mosque and a huge church. The locals are all so friendly here, as we would find out later that evening!
We came back to the hotel and that's when John and Fiona arrived, drunk and merry. They had stopped at a local arak distillery with their driver / guide and the drinking didn't stop there. We joined in the drinking of the 80% palm rum, with John, Fiona, our hotel staff and their driver, Jimmy / Timmy / Jamie. To add to the fun, Connor and Eva (also from our Perama trip) arrived after spending 11 hours travelling directly from Labuanbajo!! We drank, and we drank....then we had some dinner, and drank some more!!
The next day we were supposed to go on a tour to some of Bajawa's outlying villages,
but as we opted to take a motorbike tour, we figured it wasn't going to be a great idea as Dan was still drunk!! So we had to do it the next day instead. So we spent the day recuperating and doing absolutely nothing in this quiet little town. We said our goodbyes to John and Fiona (how they managed to get a bus at 7am is beyond us!).
The final full day we went ahead with our tour (even though Amy had come down with some sort of throat infection). We set off on two bikes (one with the guide and Amy and Dan had the second bike). Our first stop was at the village of Lobo (? Sorry we can't actually remember the name!). This is one of the most traditional towns in the area, who still use animalistic beliefs and an old caste system. We sat and had some home made coffee with the locals (which was the best coffee we've ever tasted) and Dan tried some betel nut. Betel nut is what the older population (mainly the women) chew in this region of Indonesia. You can always tell someone who is chewing it as they're
teeth are all red. The old woman who offered it to Dan, took the betel nut, wrapped it up in a betel nut leaf only after sprinkling some white powder on to it. When Dan asked what the white powder was, the reply was as expected: "special powder". The old ladies enjoyed the fact that Dan tried some but found it absolutely hilarious when his faced turned beetroot red! For the rest of the day Dan was in a strange mood and the after effects were peculiarly felt later that night!
The next village up was the slightly bigger one of Bena, which was pretty much identical to the first one but not as friendly. We only had a quick look around before heading for lunch back in Bajawa.
Afterwards we headed north of Bajawa to the hot springs. Unfortunately we got caught out in a huge downpour and had to seek shelter in a local's house. The owner was kind enough to give us a few chairs to wait the storm out. It finally did let up, only slightly, and we headed off. It was amazing the mess that this brief downpour made. Branches littered the road, some
of which were flooded, and we dodged our way to the hot springs. Again, we didn't stay long as it was rammed with locals as it was a Sunday. Amy wasn't feeling well either so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. We lazed about the remainder of the day, Amy napping and Dan sitting outside chatting to the locals (without the arak this time!) and we set off for an early night before leaving this nice little town for our next adventure across Flores.
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John
non-member comment
Betel Nut
Cool blog. I would love to go there. I think the "special powder" is ground up lime (the mineral not the fruit), it releases the drug in the betel nut.