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Published: September 7th 2006
Island we visited after Rinca
okay, so I uploaded like 10 more photos than are in this blog, but I uploaded it to my "gallery" first, not realizing I couldn't attach them in here too...so search herbie under galleries maybe or maybe you will have a photo gallery link somewhere, I am not sure, still working on knowing how to use everything on this site...thanks for your patience!Well I am back in Kuta-Legion (Bali) and wanted to tell you all about my trip to the beautiful island of Flores in Indonesia.
Trip to Flores:
On Friday (9/1) Lisa and I took off from Denpasar (Bali) to Labuan Bajo on a “Fokker F27” which was actually a bigger plane than I expected but still quite small and a little nerve racking. The diving (and snorkeling) is famous here, and after some diving we head overland Flores to the famous volcano, Mt. Kelimutu and the famous colored lakes.
We met a French couple, Yves and Ann, at the airport and ended up planning a lot of traveling with them in order to make things cheaper for everyone. Overall the trip overland Flores was beautiful (scenery just amazing, but hard to take pictures from the car) but roads are difficult to travel on, and the French guy ended up being a huge pain in the ass (excuse my French, hee) but I really got a chance to see real life in Indonesia. Showers and toilets were few and far between but on a good note - mosquitoes like the clean and I have yet to experience “Bali Belly” (travelers
diaherra)…knock on wood!
First Stop: Labuan Bajo - Fisherman village, west coast of Flores. Saturday, our first real day, we spent snorkeling/diving with Dive Komodo and this was by far my favorite thing in all of Flores. The crew was great to us, and I got to see sea turtles, amazing coral and bright colored tropical fishes…and the highlight…we went chasing Manta Rays in a dingy boat. The crew on the big boat would scream “there there”, we fly over in the dingy, jump in and one even came right up to Ann’s face. She was scared, the rest of us jealous! After we returned to the mainland, the four of us invited everyone on the boat to join us for a fish barbeque at Paradise Restaurant where the sunsets are incredible because it sits up on a huge hill overlooking the sea. Food is very cheap in Indonesia, and it was a nice feeling to actually take people out, the crew loved it. I can never afford that in America!
The downside to this little village is that the tourism is run by the mofia (or what I call them) and they have a monopoly. We learned
Fish BBq
All of us had a ton of fish and we didn't even eat 1/3 of the Spanish Mackeral (sp?) the hard way not to make enemies with them, after Yves (French guy) decided to lose his temper over 10,000 rp (about $1.10 US). Our punishment…our hired driver couldn’t speak English and he had never done the drive before so we ended up missing half of our activities…(ps we did not know he wasn't our original driver when we started…we met the guy who was supposed to drive us and filled us in that our current driver was the only one who would take the job - they don't get paid well enough to deal with a dickhead and the roads are very difficult and often sometimes closed at random times!) But our driver did his best, I felt bad for him, but it was frustrating at times. Although Lisa and I were punished by association, the locals did sympathize with us. I felt like a celebrity…everyone we went people asked, “so you girls okay, everything okay”, I was confused until I realized everyone knew about the fight with the French…word travels fast.
Sunday -Rinca Island and start of drive overland Flores
We went to the island of Rinca (Komodo National Park) for a hike to see Komodo Dragons.
The hike wasn’t very exciting except for the Dragons and Water Buffalo, even a few monkeys, but the overlook at the top of the island was worth the hike. But VERY hot! On our way back to Labaun Bajo we stopped at our own private island, then back to the hotel to grab our bags and head off to Ruteng. (start of drive)
Sunday night stop in Ruteng This was a rough evening for me and our first cold night. I did not take Antimo (motion sickness) and I was ill from the crazy windy and bumpy roads. I have a new understanding of a pot hole!
Monday - onward to Bajawa We missed our stop to see an Arak distiller (Indonesian moonshine) but we arrived in Bajawa late afternoon, checked into a hotel and headed to Soa to bath in the Hot Springs! This was really nice, my skin has been really freaking out from all the deet (bug spray). And in Bajawa, we ate all our meals at a great family owned restaurant called Camellia. They even opened early at 6:30am for us to have Pineapple pancakes before left for Moni.
Tuesday - onward to Moni
We stopped at the traditional village of Bena and my favorite the blue stone beach. Next, we stopped in Ende for lunch (glad we weren't staying in Ende) and arrived in Moni at nightfall. There is nothing to do here really but it is where you stay to reach the top of the volcano by sunrise! Lisa and I (and another Scottish couple) drank Arak with the locals by campfire at our volcano bungalow (don't associate bungalow with luxury!!) and then moved to up the street for anotherparty at another hotel. Locals have jokes, music, magic tricks….anything to keep the tourists entertained (they love partying with us) - I met a great couple from Colorado but Lisa and I weren't really drinking and we had to find an escape route so we could make our 4am wake up call.
Final destination: Up to Mt. Kelimutu for sunrise and see the three colored lakes. We were all up at 4am, yet our driver got lost (again) and we missed the sunrise…HUGE let down, of course Yves is screaming (as if we aren’t all pissed but leave it to Yves to make a scene) We still did the hike and went to the top to see the lakes, but I left Moni later that morning in tears because Yves threatened not to pay. Yves, Ann and I were all flying out of Maumere back to Bali (2+ hours east of Moni) and the driver was returning to Moni to pick up Lisa and take her back to Labuan Bajo for more diving. I was upset with Yves behavior but more worried for Lisa and the “mofia”, but in the end he paid all the money and after we landed in Denpasar we split ways. I did leave on a positive note with the French, we had an hour talk at the airport, and it was good we were able to speak our minds. I could do without Yves, but I will miss Ann. I really got along with her, she couldn’t speak much English but we managed. In the end, Yves did somewhat apologize for everything, but actions speak louder than words.
So here I am, back in Kuta (Bali) and it felt GREAT to have a western toilet and a hot shower. I randomly ran into a German named Micheal who was also on our boat with Dive Komodo in Labaun Bajo. He met some Australians in Labuan Bajo who owned a restaurant (Indo-International) in Legion (next to Kuta). I said I would meet him there later for dinner and I must say, Carrie, Milton and Colleen (owners) are aweeeesome! Carrie had an answer for everything and she filled me in on good places to buy silver bali beads. She had me taken home safely on a motorbike (fun)...she is sending me to her friends in the Gilis and even wants me to contact her daughter in Sydney. I will continue to visit Carrie/Milton/Colleen when I am in Kuta-Legion and I suggest anyone traveling to Bali to do the same!
I am excited for a few days of relaxation and xmas shopping before I meet up with Lisa again to head to the Gili Islands (off the island of Lombok). I can’t wait to go get a massage either, my back/body is beat up from the roads in flores and not to rub it in, but an hour massage is roughly $8 dollars here and that’s for more luxury places, smaller places you can get it for $5! Yes I feel I am living in luxury here in Bali (not on Flores!!!) but I hope everyone is well, and I think about you all the time! I am having an amazing time and the rough spots make it interesting! After the Gilis, I will spend some time traveling more of the island of Bali. The Kuta-Legion area I am in now is close to the airport and is the main tourist area but I am excited to travel more of the island and hopefully to see some monkeys and elephants! I will write everytime I return to the Kuta-Legion (maybe after the Gili islands, and before I leave for Australia).
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Christina
non-member comment
Yay!
Looks like you're having so much fun!