Blogs from Flores, Indonesia, Asia - page 16

The bus from Ruteng to Labuanbajo took about four hours, and Jeff and I sat near the front, constantly readjusting our feet so as not to burn them on the hot engine that churned beneath the metal bus floor. A woman nursed a week-old baby in the seat in front of us, apparently traveling back home after a trip to the hospital in Ruteng for a C-section. (We learned this from her husband, who was clearly very proud of the fact, and made elaborate tummy-slicing motions on his own stomach by way of demonstration.) Nearby, a couple held onto their two young sons, both dressed in orange T-shirts. One of these boys was absolutely terrified of Jeff. Every single time he glanced in Jeff's direction, he burst into horrified tears and grabbed at his mother in ... read more

The bus from Ende to Bajawa was the same jam-packed insanity as always, although we did manage to get seats inside this time. It took six hours of bouncing and jostling and blaring music and screeching breaks and puking passengers and clucking chickens in the bus aisles pecking at our feet and other people's babies sleeping on our shoulders and and suffocating clouds of clove cigarette smoke filling the bus to reach Bajawa, but we finally did, in the late afternoon of October 25th. We checked into Edelweis Hotel, which, despite its name, was run by a group of ever-changing Indonesian teenagers, a nice older man and a cranky old woman. Our room was particularly nice: clean, tiled, attached bathroom and a porch. There were signs advertising internet inside our hotel, but when we asked one ... read more

We took a small plane from Bali to Ende, a city in the center of Flores island. The views of the Indonesian archipelago from the air were stunning: impossibly blue water, countless tiny lush green islands rimmed with perfect white sand. We were the only foreigners on the flight, a fact that would set the tone for the rest of our time in Flores. We chose Flores as a destination mainly because of Keli Mutu, a famous volcano with three crater lakes of different colors, and because it was well off the usual tourist track. This latter reason was confirmed as we descended, landing on a tiny runway with goats grazing beside it. At least fifty people were gathered along the runway to watch the landing, waving excitedly as the plane pulled to a stop. We ... read more

In the more remote places of Indonesia, there are no hotels so you have to rely on getting an invite to stay with someone. I usually would turn up somewhere, wander around, swim, talk to people about what what life is like here and answer questions about my life. Its just luck if you bump into someone nice or interesting. There are no "attractions" and the goal is just to try to get into the swing of life. But after Lembata I headed to Flores and the difference was depressingly obvious. People in the touristed parts of Flores are completely different. The attitude to tourists in parts of Flores is basically that we are just walking wallets. Every hotel and bus in Flores except one hotel tried to rip me off. Luckily I'm stubborn enough to ... read more

Sengiggi, it sure is crazy. After the hardship of Rinjani it actually was very nice to spend a few days in this weird deserted Asian-Muslim version of Acapulco. We spent 5 days there eating mediocre banana pancakes, watching Indonesian soaps, saying "no, thank you" to rupiah starved salesman and enjoying the cheapest happy hour (or "crazy time" as it is known here) that we have encountered on our travels. We also spent a lot of time on the old i-net and someone called me Elton John-Harry-Potter. Pretty acurate i would say. After 5 days, Sengiggi had given us the Sen-giggles. We wanted out. Direction Flores. Looking at the map it doesnt look so far but it sure takes a long time to get there. It took a little over 2 days of Jeeps, buses, boat, and ... read more