Blogs from Flores, Indonesia, Asia - page 11

30 November 2009 - 01 December 2009 TRANSPORT: Bajawa to Bus Terminal by ojek--Rp5,000 Bajawa to Ende by bus--Rp50,000 (4 hours) Bus Terminal to Ende by ojek--Rp5,000 HOTEL: Hotel Dwi Putra Double, A/C, cold water, western toilet--Rp125,000 inc breakfast. The only place really to stay in Ende, it's not great. The A/C didn't work properly, the breakfast was cold rice and the owner slightly senile! The receptionists were friendly though (according to Dan) and it did OK for a nights kip. We made the most of a slight lie-in in Bajawa and after another sloppy breakfast we headed to Bajawa's bus terminal to catch the bus to Ende. We were told conflicting stories on when the buses left Bajawa and as one person had said 11 we decided to be there at 10:30. As we arrived ... read more

27 November 2009 - 30 November 2009 TRANSPORT: Ruteng to Aimere by bus--Rp30,000 (3 hours) Aimere to Bajawa by "travel"--Rp30,000 (1 hour) Bus Terminal to Hotel by bemo--Rp5,000 HOTEL: Edelweis Double, cold water, western toilet--Rp125,000 inc breakfast Very friendly place. The downside is the breakfast which was poor. Nice location. Recommended! TOUR: Full day village tour by motorbike--Rp150,000 inc guide and petrol. Leaving the grotty little town of Ruteng, we headed further east to the next major stop in the village of Bajawa. First we had to get there, which was never going to be simple. We got a lift with John and Fiona (a couple from the Perama Tour), who were going across Flores by private car. They dropped us off at the "bus terminal", which actually meant waiting at the side of the road ... read more

Our great bus ride ended abruptly when we got to Sape in Sumbawa, this is the port where you catch the ferry across to Labuanbajo in Flores. We'd read that there was a ferry at 8am so when all the people told us it had already gone when we pulled up we thought it was the usual scam of trying to get us on their private boat so brushed them off. Finding anyone from the ferry office was quite difficult and all the time we were being told the ferry had gone, after about an hour of waiting around we found someone in a uniform who confirmed our worst fears that the ferry had indeed gone at 5am and the next wasn't due until 9pm.. or 8pm.. or 3pm... no one really knew for sure! In ... read more

There was only one thing for it now that I knew where both the hanging parrots and giant rats should be found - I went back to Tebedo the next evening (after yet another unsuccessful morning visit) and stayed the night in Frans’ house so I could be “on-site” as it were. There were still no parrots that afternoon (I wasn’t really surprised at all). I had taken my field guide to show Frans the birds. When he got to the page with the elegant pitta on it he exclaimed “oh, very expensive bird this one, 500,000 in the market. A couple of years ago people came with big nets to catch these birds to sell.” I asked if there were still elegant pittas in the Tebedo forests and he said no. According to Frans the ... read more

I guess I should start this entry by contradicting what I wrote in the last entry, about Labuanbajo being an unfriendly town. I’ve been here a number of days now and the locals have gotten used to me walking back and forth around the streets looking for food and water, and now they’re always smiling and saying hello and asking how I am. So I have decided that its not an unfriendly town but rather a town full of unfriendly tourists. That may sound weird, me being a tourist myself, but I’ve watched the way most of them interact with the locals and they are just downright rude. Not all of them of course but a good percentage. If I was a local I’d be a bit sick of it all too. Its so flaming hot ... read more