Guns, Germs and Steel

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Do a Google search on 'Flores' and you will see that this far out Indonesian island gained worldwide attention last year as the place where they found a little 'hobbit' person's remains. Only about 12000 years old, it is supposedly a previously unknown human relative. Ardent evolutionists and creationists have been jumping up and down in their armchairs about it ever since.

The scenery in Flores is utterly brilliant. It is up there with Laos. Maybe it is better - it would be a great place to explore by motorbike for a couple of weeks. The other surprising thing is that the people are mostly catholic. Tin shack churches replace the more familiar mosques of other parts of Indonesia. Seems like the Portuguese missionaries did a proper job when they were here. Everyone is called Bernard, Maria, Martin, Wendy or Clare.

The best way to get to Flores is to take a nice tourist boat trip around Sumbawa over a few days, taking in the sights above and below the waterline and smoking out the 3 metre long Komodo Dragon in the process. So, after a beef with a dodgy travel company who tried to resist giving me a refund, I plumped for the reliable 'Perama' tours. On the first night, the enthusiastic crew treated us to the 'Perama Dance' and the 'Perama Song' (about how good it is to work for Perama). I worry about the size of Mr. Perama's ego. Anyhow, the trip was top fun, my belly was full for 3 days and we 'did' dragons. My only complaint was the Everly Brothers karaoke VCD which kept on appearing every night.

Ask a question to five people here and you get five different answers. It seems that nobody wants to disappoint you so, instead of a simple 'dunno', desparate to please, making stuff up is the order of the day. This is bloody annoying. I have been trying to find out when there are boats to Timor from Flores. All answers, which range from every day to every fortnight, are presented to me as gospel truth. I have had to go Philip Marlowe to build up a picture. A Philip Marlowe with crap snitches, I may add. Doesn't help when the ferry companies themselves don't know, ay? So after a tip-off that there was a ferry on Saturday from Ende, I went to Ende. That was a dud, so an agent in Maumere told me on the phone that there was a ferry this Saturday. Great news, and off I go, six hours of bus time. I get to the office and the guy's colleague tells me that it 'may' go on Tuesday. Just brilliant. I hear whispers that there is another ferry on Monday from Larantuka, five hours from here. I just don't learn, do I? Meanwhile, the sands of time are running out....

While I am writing this, I am watching my 'silver-surfer' parents get to grips with MSN Messenger. Haven't seen them since Prague, but the first thing they do when the webcam connects, as a visual-check, is give the two finger salute. Funny guys.

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Photos

Sunset, Flores style
Labuan Bajo the other night from my guest house.

Rude awakening
Komodo dragons are to be found on the island of Komodo. They were a bit lazy the day I was there as they had hacked a deer to bits the day before and were feeling a little full.

Don't let the white man drive!
I think they let me helm coz I put such a grim sulk on the night before during the fish BBQ. They didn't flinch when I went totally off course to chase dolphins!

Kelimutu Crater, Moni, Flores
There are 3 lakes at the top of this volcano, one turquise, one black (which you can just see), and another reddish one behind. Local legend is that your soul goes into one of the lakes - which one depends on the life you lead.

(Please don't) Eat My Shorts
The goat wasn't at all happy about having to share this journey atop a bus to Maumere with me. The pig to my left went into a fit every five minutes.

Blur
Words don't express how stunning the scenery is on a journey around Flores and neither does this photo. I guess you will have to go there to find out.

Comments

[anonymous]

marvelous
hi, that´s really an awesome picture... I have been to Bali, Java and Lombok and remember the wonderful sun dawns and sun sets... I saw the most wonderful sun dawn of my life on mount Bromo, Java... have you been there? That is unforgettable. You can contact me if you want via: [e-mail] - Claudia Henzler

[Steve and Suz]

Hi there, we were in Flores a few months back and visited Rinca island, Kelimutu and travelled all the way to Maumere to get a propeller place back to Bali. We agree that this was the only place we saw around SE-Asia that matched the scenery in Laos! The people were cool - whilst staying near Kelimutu we got invitied to a wedding reception which was great experience with the local Arak playing a big part. We will be heading back home from our travels soon and this brings back great memories!

[Linda]

great photos
I have now got to add another place to visit to my list. I love to travel but haven't been to many unusual places. I think you have.

[Dave]

So, how do ya survive Flores?
How do ya survive Flores? Hows the prices down there? They dont have cabs, do they?