Kelimutu

Asia » Indonesia » Flores
March 25th 2006

Published: March 25th 2006

We have just spent a couple of days in a tiny village called Moni at the base of Kelimutu volcano. It has no internet, one phone and about 30 houses in total. It was a beautiful place to spend a couple of days. We chilled out in a fancy bungalow with a view over some mountains. To make the most of Kelimutu we went up it on the back of scooters at 4am to see the sunrise. It was truly spectacular (again, photos still to come sorry). We could see for miles out over other volcanoes rising out of the sea. Kelimutu has three crater lakes, all different colours because of the chemicals in the rock. One was turquoise, one black and a third one was meant to be white. Unfortunately when we were there it was black also (apparently they change colour often). After admiring the sunrise we chose to walk the 13km back down the mountain. We took a shortcut at one point that was a steep dirt track. It took us through tiny villages and rice fields. At the bottom was a gorgeous waterfall. To cross over the water we had to use two bamboo bridges. They were fairly rickety so I didn't loiter long on them!

The locals in Moni were really nice. A dude at one of the other bungalows organised a BBQ (at a price of course!) for us and another American. We got to have BBQ fish, rice and some vegetables that I didn't really recognise. It was delicious! We also tried the local brew called arak. It is like paint stripper!

We are now hanging in Maumere waiting for a flight to Denpasar. Not too much to do in this town. Today we rented a scooter and drove around the coast for a while. I felt like the queen waving to all the locals as we drove by. Very fun. - Fi

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