Blogs from Flores, Indonesia, Asia - page 9

Claire: I thought I'd start for a change! Well I can safely say that today has been far the best day so far! I can not begin to describe how perfect today was! We arrived at the harbour at 7.30 and quickly realised that the pier was not a joke, and that you did actually have to climb on all fours in places to get from one wooden plank to the other, Indiana Jones style. Also that the holes dotted around the pier were not an artistic statement, more that the pier was in fact just falling in to the sea. After this mini-adventure we found our boat and our dive team, and were met initially by a guy a year older than us from Q.E boys! (Nice to meet London lads for a change!) There ... read more

Ellie: We set off today to Labuan Bajo with a ticket saying "Lion Air" in hand. We landed in a propellor plane saying "Wings Air." Hmmm. Well, as a lady called Olga (who happened to be a Jehovah's witness) had advised us on Hoga, "TII": This Is Indonesia. We're here at least. We've had an interesting day, rather too interesting to be documented in full here because we're anxious to start tonight's film, but have successfully organised two boat trips to the islands of Rinka and Komodo with a company called "Dive Komodo," run by an Australian called Greg. We'll be doing two dives with probably around ten other tourists, all legit and PADI certified, promise. Our hotel backs on the beach where we've just watched the most incredible sunset and Claire had fun showing off ... read more

9th day - Flores I'm not particularly happy about domestic flights, had a few rough one's in Ethiopia and have developed a bit of a fear for them, this one however was smooth as! I arrived in Flores at kimodo airport in the small coastal town of Labuan Bajo with the plan of getting an official taxi (one with a metre). There were no official taxi's to be seen however. I got in any old taxi, another chap invited himself too, he obviously knew the taxi driver and wanted my business. I said where i needed dropping off (my chosen travel agent, to organise my trip to see the dragons) but they dropped me at what was obviously the guys own travel agency. I like to plan things myself so I know exactly whats going on, ... read more

So as previously stated in my last blog, after one big fucking cunt of a bastard journey I finally made it to Labuanbajo. Pretty much the epicentre for organising a trip to seeing the Komodo Dragons on either Rinca or Komodo Islands. Rinca being the closest and apparently the more easier of the islands to actually see a dragon I opted to venture there. Naturally I had to a bit of shopping around Labuanbajo to find me the best deal. Ideally if you have friends and you are in a group then you save yourself some big bucks here as you can charter a boat together and go quids in on the costs. Unfortunately I have the haphazard approach of just plain scaring people thus making it difficult to make friends so I would have to ... read more

Let op, er zijn twee pagina's voor foto's, zie onder Kelimutu National park, Moni, Nusa Tenggara, nog steeds in Indonesie Als je hier niet dood gaat door een vulkaan word je er wel mee doodgegooid, Kelimutu National park zijn onder andere drie vulkanische meren met ieder drie verschillende kleuren, alle drie de meren zijn te zien vanaf een viewpoint, maar je kunt ook over de rand lopen om nog dichterbij te komen. Niet te dicht want er zijn onlangs mensen naar beneden gedonderd, daarom staan er borden die je waarschuwen, hoe dan ook, het is ons gelukt om dichtbij te komen zonder een gevaarlijk risico te hoeven nemen. ( ik vertel niet precies hoe want de Malpie blijft een veiliger gebeid ) De vulkanische meren zijn heilig voor sommige mensen hier, volgens hun geloof gaat de ... read more