Dahlia Hotel Ruteng

Leaving Bajawa, we continued on for another 5 hour drive to Ruteng. Along the way we stopped at a local arak (rice wine) distillery which is made from palm sugar and takes several days to make. They have 4 grades, ranging from 20% - 50% alcohol. We tried that 50% one – and I gagged after the first sip. Alan polished off the rest of the taste sample – and had a headache later that day ...

... die er zijn, zijn meestal niet de beste. We komen dan ook terecht is een klein hok met een gammel bed en een niet al te geweldig sanitair. Tijdens onze reis door Flores zullen we merken dat het nivo van de hotels hier overal niet geweldig is al is het hotel in Labuanbajo wel het minste. Voor mensen die ooit naar Flores gaan mijdt het hotel "Matahari". Paul heeft nog een week rondgelopen met tientallen rode jeukende vlekken op zijn lichaam. Met ...

... fields & forests not knowing where we were with a man carrying a large machete in a bag over his shoulder! Fortunately dripping in sweat and cut to pieces by tall grasses we arrived at the volcano rim after a couple of hours and looked down into the newly formed cater to see three little lakes lots of ash burnt trees and mud. We generously shared our chocolate and banana biscuits with him - they taste as bad as they sound - before he took us back down to his village of Nangha.

... a living as taxi drivers whilst the women, carry heavy thngs like bricks & morter on their heads & do all the farming work! But no one wanted to take us anywhere, until we had taken a room at the hotel for the night then suddenly we found a muslim who was only too happy to take our money drive us & his friends to Ruteng, the next town on Flores. The distances are not great on Flores but the road ...

... back together with someone's sewing needle, and was taken into a living room and sat down. A crowd of about 20 people gathered to watch me and my foot, as I was cleaned and bandaged up. I was a bit shaken up, but my guide was beside himself, apologizing for "failing to keep me safe", apologizing to my parents and my brother and sister, pleading that I would still come back to Indonesia after this "accident." I was so busy consoling him, I hardly had ...

The drive to Bajawa was wonderful. First we passed over cloud touching mountains stopping at a local fruit and veg market. After that we wound through fantastic countryside, huge valleys steeped with rice paddies and curious locals looking at us through the car windows. We stopped at a shop to pick up water and the local kids nearly exploded with excitement. They gaped at Lisa, blonde hair and blue eyes are a bit of a rarity around here. Plus, they were ...

... of non-smokers. Other than the fact that the bus was stiflingly hot on the inside bits, we meandered down the winding roads of Flores for a couple hours and seemed to be making good progress. Then something on the bus broke down. Fortunately the way transporation seems to work on these islands precludes the possibility of hurrying, so everyone just sat back. I was actually happy it finally stopped, as I had to scurry into the bushes. Then the bus ...

Flores is a thin island about 350 miles long, with a population of 1.8 million. There are five different cultural groups each with their own language - the Manggarai, the Ngada, the Ende and Lio peoples, the Sikkanese and the Lamaholot. We passed through four of these regions during our 200 mile journey over Christmas, travelling along what is known as the Trans-Flores Highway. Ruteng (23-28 December) Ruteng, the capital of the Manggarai ...

... was amazing snorkelling, with rich coral reefs just 1 meter or so below the water. We took some lovely photos of the sunset and left for the evening. The next day we went on a longer trip. First a two-hour ride to Rinca, the slightly smaller and wilder twin of Komodo Island. We went on a nature hike, and saw plenty of dragons as well as water buffalo and monkeys. We were handed big forked sticks as ...