50 hours to traverse Flores


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March 12th 2009
Published: March 14th 2009
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Day 251: Saturday 7th March - The start of an adventure to Flores

Today is the start of an adventure. I don’t quite know what will be involved, all I do know is that I need to be in Labuanbajo, in western Flores at 6pm in two days from now. I have a flight to Maumere in eastern Flores at lunchtime today, but with Merpati’s track record anything could happen. Then quite how I get from Maumere to Labuanbajo is anybody’s guess but I do know that I want to see Kelimutu, a trio of different coloured volcanic crater lakes which is the main purpose of my visit to Flores. Well that and linking up with seeing Komodo dragons in Komodo National Park on the islands immediately to the west of Flores. Let the fun begin!

I leave Ubud at 8:30am for Bali’s airport. I am in plenty of time for my flight which doesn’t depart until 12:45pm, indeed I’m too early to check in. As soon as check-in does open I’m straight over, I don’t want to leave anything to chance and don’t want to be bumped off an oversubscribed flight for a second time. Just receiving the boarding pass feels like I’ve achieved something, and that I might just make it to Labuanbajo in two days time. It’s early days though so I’m not going to get too carried away. The flight ends up being delayed an hour but that’s no big deal as I happily munch through some seaweed (!) flavoured crisps as I wait patiently. I have a feeling that patience is going to be a virtue these next few days. We touch down just over an hour later, but not in Maumere or even Flores for that matter. No we’ve landed in Waingapu. Everyone is getting off the plane so I go along with it. I discover that we have a half hour stop over here for those flying on to Maumere. I get my Lonely Planet guide out to check the map to see where Waingapu lies. I find that it is the main city of Sumba, an island to the south-west of Flores. It takes a further half hour to reach Maumere, where we land at 4pm. I’m the only non-Indonesian who gets off the plane, this is going to be intrepid travelling.

Now I need to get to Moni, by the end of today, otherwise I’m not going to have enough time to see Kelimutu and still reach Labuanbajo in two days time. My preferred choice (because it is the cheapest) is public bus but I have a feeling that I’ve read that they stop at 3pm. I get a crazy taxi driver to take me there nevertheless, only to find a deserted bus station.He reckons the next bus is at 7am tomorrow morning but that would leave me unable to have time to see Kelimutu. Instead, I get him to drop me in town where I transfer to another vehicle which I‘ve negotiated (every transaction in Indonesia is a negoitiation process with the start point being some ludicrously high price) to take me to Moni for 70,000 Rupiah (£4). This on the face of it seems a pretty good deal to me, but it ends up being a share car with another couple of passengers and we cruise around Maumere searching for more passengers for probably another hour. It takes about 3 hours to reach Moni as we make slow progress along the Trans-Flores Highway which must be the most twisty road I’ve ever travelled. Offsetting the speed of travel is the beauty of the scenery, the road passing through dense forest and palm trees.

I arrive in Moni at 9pm, and get ushered to accommodation across the road. The two brothers who own the guesthouse are then incredibly helpful in helping me crystallise tomorrow’s travel plans. Tobias will wake me early in the morning and take me up to Kelimutu on his motorbike (ojek). Gregory then proceeds to tell me that although I can get to Ende on numerous buses tomorrow, I will be too late to connect with public buses going further west, which leave at 7-8am, too early for me to be able to get there in time. I will need to get further west than Ende tomorrow if I am to get to the boat at 6pm on Monday as it’s a 15 hour journey. No need to worry, I’m informed that there is a private mini bus that will take me to Ruteng, which will pass Moni between 9-11am tomorrow. Ruteng is 10 hours west of Moni and about 4 hours shy of Labuanbajo. I can stay the night in Ruteng tomorrow and then make my way to Labuanbajo the following day. It sounds like a plan has come together, as it always does when there’s tourist dollars at stake. The only drawback as I can see it of my limited time to get across Flores, is that I will have to pay a premium in the cost of transport to get me from A to B quickly.

Day 252: Sunday 8th March - Kelimutu

It’s one of those special early mornings on my trip, a divine view, clear skies and a peaceful setting. I’m sure there have been others but the two that spring to mind are Flores in Guatemala and Chugchilan in Ecuador. Kelimutu sits alongside those as I watch the sun rise slowly in the sky over Eastern Flores, its rays outlining the distant volcanoes. As I adjust my line of sight to a more downward direction, I can see two of Kelimutu’s trio of multihued crater lakes. The third lies behind me and is shrouded in early morning mist. Just perfect, and I’m here sharing the moment with just a handful of others, a German/Czech couple, a lady from Southern England, Bruno from Italy and a couple of locals. It is still not yet 7am, but already I’ve been up over two hours, and had the thrill of a 1 hour ojek (motorbike) ride in the dark from Moni up to Mount Kelimutu. Making the journey to Flores in the first place and braving the Trans-Flores highway has been worth it just to see Kelimutu. Minerals in the water account for the colour of the lakes, two being black, the third and deepest at 130 metres is Turquoise. The Turquoise lake never changes colour, but the other two can fluctuate between yellow, orange and red. The ride back to Moni on the back of the Ojek is just as spectacular. Moni is a picturesque village, surrounded by rice terraces, ringed by soaring volcanic peaks with distant sea views as you look out to the south.

I’m back down in Moni for breakfast at 8am. The only sign of life back at my guesthouse is the sound of singing from the Catholic Church across the road. The main religion on Flores is Christian, Flores being an anomaly like Bali - where Hinduism is practiced - as Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. The view from my guesthouse is great, I look out over the rice terraces, forested volcanoes and palm trees. After the church service finishes, my hosts return and make me breakfast. Tobias gets on the phone to inquire about the mini bus to Ruteng. He returns to tell me that his friend is coming past Moni tomorrow, not today so it is time to reappraise my options. All of a sudden, the public bus which wasn’t running today, it being a Sunday, is running. I’m sure it was running all along but these two brothers have added themselves to a growing list of Indonesian’s who I’ve come across who tell you half truths, withhold information or resort to blatant lies to try to prise money from you. Much more of this and I’m going to be leaving the country with a tarnished opinion of the people. Tobias offers me the option of a share car to Bajawa but I’m sticking to my guns and I’m going to catch the local bus to Bajawa. Bajawa isn’t as far west as Ruteng, but is 7 hours west of Moni, and just shy of halfway between here and my eventual destination, Labuanbajo. It also within a day’s drive of Labuanbajo, so as long as I make it to Bajawa today I can still make my boat in Labuanbajo tomorrow. Something else is bound to happen, I’ll just have to take it as it comes, as having a plan in Flores isn’t worth the paper it could be written on.

Catching the bus whilst being the cheaper option, is also an experience that I didn’t want to miss out on. Catching a share car is all well and good, but it takes you away from the real people and yes it may be more comfortable, but more fun? There is no schedule for the bus, but it should reach Moni between 10am and 11am I’m told, I just have to watch in the distance to see it coming and make sure I catch it. I must sit for an hour watching and waiting before it finally appears at ten past eleven. The bus is packed, I’m squeezed on to the back seat with four others (the bus is the size of a mini bus), a young girl being forced to make way for me and sit on a sack of rice on the floor. My large rucksack is loaded on to the roof and we’re off on what should be a 7 hour journey along the Trans-Flores highway to Bajawa. What an experience, comfortable no, but unforgettable, definitely. The stereo system has a ridiculously loud bass which gives you not a moment’s peace whenever the driver decides to put it on then there is a child in front of me who is suffering from travel sickness and the mother just keeps throwing the plastic bags full of puke out of the window! Four guys are hanging out of the bus doors which never shut, the brakes worryingly sound like those overused brakes on the first bike you had as a kid, and at least three children are sat on the floor of the bus. Progress is slow as we stop frequently, the bus seemingly doubling as the island’s postal service but more to the point it just isn’t possible to drive fast on the tight bends and potholed Trans-Flores highway. However, as a scenic drive it has few rivals. It’s never boring as we conquer mountains, pass traditional villages, skirt along black-sand beaches and the skyline is a seemingly a never ending tapestry of rice fields, swaying palms and jaw-dropping mountains swathed in forest.

It is late afternoon when we reach Bajawa, high in the mountains and surrounded by volcanoes. I’m drained after the journey and I’m looking forward to some rest ahead of doing it all over again tomorrow. The journey to Labuanbajo promises to be even more arduous as it’s a 10 hour journey that awaits. As I sit talking with Bruno who I met at Kelimutu and who has made it to Bajawa via the share car I declined and is staying in the same hotel, a guy approaches with an offer of a share car for tomorrow. He’s got to go to Labuanbajo to pick some people up there anyway and will do the journey for 110,000 Rupiah (£7). The bus will cost 100,000 Rupiah and after today I’m more than willing to pay an extra 10,000 Rupiah for the extra comfort. He tells me that we should arrive in Labuanbajo at 3pm, rather than 5pm so I should get some time to look around ahead of meeting the boat....result! Another couple staying here express an interest too, so even if he doesn’t turn up we can organise our own transport for a similar price, as by that time the bus will have gone. Later, myself and Bruno walk out through Bajawa to a Padang restaurant. There is a window display and you pick a few dishes which are then served with rice and a chilli sauce, and though it doesn’t taste or look freshly cooked it’s still very tasty. It’s interesting hearing about Bruno’s travels around Indonesia. He’s been here several times and spent a good number of months on each occasion and has visited every major Island group in the archipelago. His favourite is Sulawesi, which the Czech girl also said earlier today. Interesting, maybe I’ve overlooked a gem? It’s also makes a pleasant change not to be hassled by hawkers as we walk through the streets, which is a first during my time in Indonesia.

Day 253: Monday 9th March - The final dash to Labuanbajo

I have 11 hours to make it to Labuanbajo in time for my boat when on cue I am picked up outside my hotel in Bajawa at 7am. I’m sharing the transport with a couple from California and a local guy. The journey is more of the same as the previous days along the Trans-Flores highway. Only this time it’s in more comfort save our chain smoking driver and his over frequent use of the horn. I’ve run out of superlatives to describe the brilliance of Flores’ landscape but I can understand why when the Portuguese colonised Flores they named it ‘Flowers’ because of its sheer, wild beauty.

Apart from a stop in Ruteng for lunch at a Padang it’s all the way through to Labuanbajo. 48 hours after I stepped off the plane in Maumere I make it to Labuanbajo, two hours ahead of schedule. Of those 48 hours, almost half I’ve spent on the incredible Trans-Flores highway. Apparently it is just over 500km from Maumere to Labuanbajo. To my weary body it feels like double, but it’s a happy tired as I enjoy a drink looking out over the gorgeous ramshackle harbour, freckled with bay islands.


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18th February 2010

Moni guest house Flores Islands
Hello We are heading to Flores Islands in June this year. Starting in Maumere ending Labuan Bajo. May we please have the name of the guest house in Moni that you stayed at. thanks Erika

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