Blogs from Flores, Indonesia, Asia - page 4

UPDATE: de computer hier pakt mijn camera niet, dus voorlopig alleen duikfoto's van Komodo van Tessa's camera. Ik zal later proberen andere foto's te uploaden. Na meer dan 2 weken tijd, is het weer tijd voor een update. We zijn sinds het laatste verslag alweer op een heleboel verschillende plekken geweest: eerst 6 dagen Kuala Lumpur, toen een week Bali en inmiddels al 4 dagen op Flores/Komodo. Na Kalimantan moesten we tijdelijk weg uit Indonesie omdat ons visum verliep. Daarom vertrokken we 6 dagen naar Kuala Lumpur. Achteraf kunnen we wel stellen dat we beter een andere plek hadden kunnen zoeken, want zowel Tessa en ik vonden KL een behoorlijke teleurstelling. Het enige waar KL uit bestaat zijn wolkenkrabbers en winkelcentra. Er is weinig te zien, en de toeristische trekpleisters die er zijn, zoals de centrale ... read more

A spontaneous trip that came together very quickly (planned and organised the week we left for the USA in November). Primary trip purpose- to take my parents (75 and 77) to see the Komodo dragons. They spend December/January in Bali every year so I flew to Denpasar from Perth with Jetstar. Not a cheap flight at the last minute and in the Australian school hols, but, there you go... AUD $560- eeek, so used to the specials that you can pick up in advance (going to Bali in March and that's about what we are paying for 2 people). Uneventful trip on a full plane. Scored a good forward window seat by sheer luck I think. Arrival was ultra smooth- no other planes and I tested out my new British passport in order to avoid paying ... read more

Day 3 Facing fears Last night we rocked and rolled but not in a musical way. Thankfully I got some sleep and as I woke at 5:30am I looked out the window and I could see the sea then a second later the morning sky. We're still steaming ahead. I carefully make my way to the front of the boat in time to see a beautiful sunrise. I’m in paradise once again. I ask the skippers where we're headed and they say Laba Island. Laba I was told translates as Spider in English. FUCK! We're heading straight for it! They assure me there’s no spiders but now I'm bricking it. As irrational fears take over my body we jump into the sea and swim ashore. We climb a hill in flip flops - a challenge in ... read more

It was a journey of highlands, coast and endless turns. Blessed with curves, Flores doesn't trifle with straight roads. Her rolling hills, climbing peaks and plunging valleys have invited road builders to carve into her shapely body, working spaghetti magic from head to toe. With tight corners and snaking lanes, a journey through Flores makes for an exciting ride. You never know what's beyond the horizon or around the next bend. As climbs unveil specular views, descents bring new discoveries. Villages nestle in flattened lands whilst others spread over slopes. Cows, goats, chickens and dogs share the roads, which are lined by rice and nuts spread drying in the sun. Buffalo wade in paddyfields, vendors display watery petrol and children wave and call as you pass by. Every so often the road turns to dust, with ... read more

The dilemma is that Indonesia is just so big. Or more accurately just so long. In each island there is so much to see and people to visit you just have to be selective. We have seen this throughout our adventure and Flores was a classic example of the choices to be made. We arrived on the boat in Labuanbajo. This is very much a diving resort. With good reason: the reefs off Rinca and Komodo are world class as we had seen and in the deep spots big fish and sharks are accessible. By the time we got there I was buying antibiotics (you just buy them cheaply over the counter) to fend off an ear infection. I was paying the price for all the free diving I had been doing and was glad the ... read more