June 7 - 17, 2009
(map)
Flores Island
The transaction was dead simple. I pushed the stack of cash through the small plexi-glass window and a handwritten flight ticket to Flores Island was returned in a similar manner. I sauntered through Denpasar airport security with a 2L water bottle in hand* and boarded my flight, never having shown any form of identification for any part of the process. The plane rose into the sky and traced eastward along Indonesia’s archipelago, passing the opalescent waters of the Gili Islands, Lombok’s clouded volcanoes, the dense forests and craters of Sumbawa, and the dragon infested islands of Komodo and Rinca. I attempted to tune out the naïve and socially-impaired North American Christian missionary girls excited about their first time out of their country on their way to ‘do good’ in a foreign culture. In preparation for landing, I loosened my seatbelt, reclined my seat, and cranked up Jim Morrison's 'An American Prayer' on my ipod as we descended onto the west end of Flores Island. I’d already realized that I’d accidentally booked a flight to the wrong city, and would be about 18 bumpy hours from where I’d wanted to be. I knew I was in for a little adventure.
Labuan Bajo
I settled into the little dirthole of Labuan Bajo, finding a cheap private room that kept my things somewhat hidden, but likely not too secure. Outside my window, a bedridden and mentally disabled teenager stuttered and stammered incessant nothings for every waking second of his life. Even though I knew better, I couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting the nearby Komodo Island tourist trap, where the legendary dragons kill their prey with venomous teeth. The incessant sun beat down hard on the bleak but somehow beautiful landscape, and we spotted only a single Komodo dragon under the shade of a tree. The rest of the dragons were ‘stalking their prey’ under the cooking huts of the makeshift tourist village hoping for the discarded morsels of food. Besides the dragons, Komodo National Park is renowned for the exceptional quality of its diving. Protected from bomb fishing and undamaged from industrial waste, the corals remain a spectacular wonderland of bustling activity. At Batu Bolong and Manta Point, massive hawksbill turtles brushed alongside me, delicate glowing jellyfish aimlessly undulated in the currents, white tip reef sharks curiously circled below, and sinister manta rays powered their 4.5 metre wingspan against the intense current.
Bajawa, Bena, & Ende
In the early morning, I crammed myself onto a local bus making the journey past the spiderweb fields of Ruteng and over to Bajawa, the halfway point to my intended destination. I spent an intimate 10 hours rubbing sweaty shoulders and legs with old local people and their chickens. Wind from the open doors and windows blew small black bugs and corn meal dust from a stack of sacks marked oddly with ‘From Canada’. Although the scenery was spectacular, I was in pretty rough shape by the time I was dumped out in Bajawa where I met up with James, a British guy with a similar itinerary. We rented a motorcycle and cruised to the touristy village of Bena walked up around the volcanoes, and boarded another 5 hour bus to Ende.
Moni & the Kelimutu Lakes
We continued our relentless journey across Flores and reached our final destination of the small village of Moni. Exhausted from the last few days of travel, we grabbed a quick bucket shower and then gorged ourselves on food from Bintang Restaurant. We found a place to play pool in the evening, having to finish the game by the light of a digital camera when the power blacked out. We woke at 4:30 the next morning and were transported up the mountain to the entrance of the Kelimutu Lakes. Still shrouded in cold blackness, we avoided the tourists and climbed up the hill where the ‘Danger - Do Not Walk’ signs were. It was surreal as we cautiously approached the crater’s ominous edge, not knowing what to expect and not being able to see the potential dangers. The sun eventually illuminated the clouds into pinkish hues, and slowly began to unveil the two crater lakes below divided by a narrow rift of rock and each filled with a different colour of liquid. As the sun poured into the water, the lakes began to reveal their true colours and seemed filled with impossibly thick turquoise and dark green paint. There are various theories why the colours of the crater lakes change over time, fluctuating through red, yellow, and orange.
Ever since I began to plan my travels, I was fascinated by the Kelimutu Lakes. My mind had created very specific images of primitive cultures and an impossibly remote destination. While there are no sky scrapers or superhighways, Flores was much more developed than what my mind had imagined. For better or (likely) worse, the world is growing up.
*Water bottles and airports aren’t dangerous… it’s just another way to breed fear into the public so they think that ‘we’ are winning the war on ‘terror’. It is also an unfortunately successful ploy to sell $5 bottles of water… why else do you think there are no water fountains inside security?
Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia. Taken at dusk, this is about the best view of the area.
Komodo National Park, Indonesia. This is the rugged landscape in Komodo National Park. Somehow you just feel like it is a matter of time before a Jurassic Park dinosaur runs across the landscape.
Rinca Island, Komodo National Park. Taken from the island where we were looking for (and looking out for) komodo dragons.
Rinca Island, Komodo National Park. A water buffalo keeps cool in a mud pit.
Rinca Island, Komodo National Park. This dragon just finished eating a rancid fish that had already been vomited up by another dragon. This is a tourist trap. I recommend buying a DVD!
Komodo National Park. Although these aren't my photos, they were taken by another guy on my dive trip at Batu Bolong and Manta Point.
Komodo National Park. Although these aren't my photos, they were taken by another guy on my dive trip at Batu Bolong and Manta Point.
Bena, Flores, Indonesia. Bena is a traditional village where textiles and handicrafts are made. They also make a fair concession from the Lonely Planet tourists! This village overlooks the ocean far in the distance, and is located on the edge of a beautiful volcano.
Bena, Flores, Indonesia. Drying out in the sun.
Moni, Flores, Indonesia. James might look like he was going to win this game, but I managed to hold my unbeaten streak even when the lights went out and we had to finish by the light from a digital camera.
Kelimutu Lakes, Flores, Indonesia. Two of the crater lakes separated by a thin rock divide.
