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Published: December 12th 2009
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Labuanbajo
Waiting around for the bus to fill up! November 26 2009 - November 27 2009
TRANSPORT:
Labuanbajo to Bus Terminal by bemo--Rp10,000
Bus Terminal to Ruteng by bus--Rp50,000 (4 hours)
HOTEL:
Rima Hotel:
Double, shared bathroom--Rp150,000 (we got 10% discount) inc. breakfast
Pretty much the only place in town on a dark stretch of road leading outside of town. Swiss cottage feel makes it an interesting place, and the staff are friendly. Internet is also available here.
So after our pit stop in Labuanbajo we left for the 4 hour journey to Ruteng (which would serve as a stop off point to break up the 10 hour journey to Bajawa.
We had several options open to us to get to Ruteng. 1) to travel with new friends in their private hire car (this would be quite expensive) 2) get a charter bus via a travel agent 3) do it ourselves and get public transport.
After discussions and help from the locals, we decided to choose the more difficult but exciting route (travel by local transport!) We were originally quite confused about the transport system. There is only one main road in Flores and we believed that we could get a direct bus from
Labuanbajo to Ruteng, however, after consulting the local people ( this was difficult as most of the people speak no English and little bahasa Indonesian!) We found out that we had to jump a Bemo to the local bus station 14km outside of town and from there we could pick up the bus to Ruteng.
We had been warned that timetables in Flores do not exist so we were prepared for the worst... a long wait! However, we were surprised when after only 1 and half hours wait we were on our way.
It was the usual bemo ride in which at various times during the journey the bus was full to capacity and people were sitting on each others legs and on the back or on top of the bus! We had muscial accompaniment by some annoying women who only had the one song on her phone!
We were joined at one point on the bus by a family who were transporting their dinner.... live chickens! As live as they possibly could be. They were strapped together, and once they were on the floor the saks of rice were thrown in next...possibly on top of the
chickens by the sounds of things!
The journey took us twisting and turning through the mountains on mainly single track roads and then down again into a vast and arid plain. It was a bizarre looking place which just seemed emaciated by the sun. We stopped off somewhere in this plain for a quick lunch at a roadside shack. For Rp5,000, the chicken soup was pretty good. We set off again, and once more headed into mountainous terrain. The one thing we were told about Flores is the scenery and it is spellbinding! After about 4 hours we arrived at Rutengs dingy bus terminal and hopped into a bemo after being mobbed by a load of touts. They dropped us off at the only decent hotel in town and we settled in. We took a quick walk around this bizarre little town with friendly people. It seems this is the electronics capital of Flores, judging by the fact that every single establishment from warungs to restaurants, market stalls and a supermarket (yes, this is apparently the only major supermarket from Bima to Maumere!)...blurb over. The point is all these places also sold seond hand electronics. Radios, plugs, TVs...even portable
DVD players! We stopped of at a cafe apparently famous for it's homemade coffee. We were shown a quick tour of the huge coffee roasting machine out back and decided to try a cup. It wasn't bad, pretty much your standard Indonesian coffee (which is good by the way) and we ended up buying a pack to take home.
After a quick walk around this tiny town we bought a new phone (since Dan left it in the back of a taxi back in Kuta!) and returned to the hotel where we bumped into Fiona and John.
There was not much else to do here and that evening didn't really have much choice in where to eat as the streets were pitch black, so we settled on a small restaurant next to our hotel. It was the worst meal we've ever had. What was supposed to by Nasi Goreng, turned out to be mush. It was like eating porridge made of sand. We tried to force as much as we could as not to risk offending but really couldn't cope any more! The owner was offended and proceeded to shout at the cook. We left a tip and
scarpered out of there!
So that was Ruteng, and the next morning we continue through Flores!
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