Puri Komodo Resort Flores

... arrivals hall by ourselves waiting for our bags to turn up, looking anxiously outside at 30 or so touts pressed hard against the room's glass doors and windows. It did look a bit 'Night of the Living Dead' with some of them waving at us with arms hooked inside the windows. They were all eager to help us get to Moni (or maybe eat us?) which is the town used as a base to explore Mount Kelimutu, famous for its three mineral-rich crater ...

... as it’s up quite high. It’s almost just a bit chilly in the evenings…. Almost, but not quite. You don’t need to worry about having a fan in the room, and there have been no signs of mosquitoes.

Market Day

Our first full day in Moni was spent just exploring village life. Today was market day for the village, and as we were only 500m or so from the market, we were woken early by the sounds of the cars ...

... and waited for the buses to arrive to fill up with gas. We found two more passengers (local guys). And then we picked up a family of 3 – along with their dead chicken!

So now we are ready to go. The driver jumps into the driver’s seat, then his two 'friends’ also jumped into the car. There were 4 in the back seat (plus the dead chicken), 5 in our seat (including a young girl) and 3 in the front, with 2 people sharing ...

... huomenna kun hyppaamme maasturiimme ja ajamme muutaman tuhannen asukkaan kylaan nimelta Moni. Monista teemme taman matkan viimeisen vaelluksen aikaisella heratyksella Kelimutun kraaterijarville. Floresista lennamme pois torstaina Balille. Talla hetkella en viela tieda milloin paasemme takaisin Helsinkiin.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware"

Kaikkea hyvaa kaikille!

... est qu’il n’y a pas de prix affiche malgré leur niveau de développement. C’est la que le bas blesse ! Les touristes, traveller sont dans le même panier et il faut croire qu’il y a une inflation gigantesque juste pour nous ! Les prix peuvent être multiplies par 2 voir plus, la qualité n’est vraiment pas toujours au rendez vous, et les négociations presque impossibles. En somme le touriste en une vache a lait et cela ...

... our beer supplies were wasted). It was all quickly forgotten the next day though with the best snorkeling any of us had ever seen. Stingrays, lion fish, blue starfish, trumpet fish, clown fish, clams, box fish, massive shoals of huge fish, and brilliantly coloured coral.
As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, the next stop was Komodo island to meet the dragons. The Komodo dragon is the biggest lizard in the world and can only be found on a small ...

After a few days recharging back in Singapore, it was time to leave mainland S.E Asia and head in the direction of the earth largest archipaleogo, Indonesia. Flying into Bali, I managed to get a quick flight out again that would take me to Flores. I can't remember when I first heard of Flores, I had never met anyone who had been there, I just knew that it had always been on my itinery from the very start. It was one of those places I wanted to go without ...

After 3 day we finally we able to leave.... Taking a 17hour bus trip to Moni. We were talked into this while drunk. Arriving at Moni. Seen the lakes. Cool lakes. One is green, one is red and one is black. We got up the next day to hike to the top to see the sunrise come up. TIP: do not do this if you have too many bintangs and Arak the night before. Headed off to Maumere. For the thrid time in a row we see the same people who where on the Perama boat with us. I think ...

... in broken english 'me no yummy!!' which then became the 'cheese' at subsequent photo calls. On arrival in Luban Bajo I was sick as a dog wqith cold and fever. This was particularly bad news as my sinuses were so blocked I could not dive and prospects were poor for the next few days. Thats a ****** I thought....you travel to one of the best dive sites in the known world and come away dry. Oh well. It was going to be too much hassle and time to ...

... in Mataram und wir kriegen alle ein Perama-Leiberl geschenkt, 'mei schoen :-)'; 2. Stopp im Einkaufszentrum von Mataram zum Snacks kaufen und Geld abheben; 3. Stopp in einer Toepferei; 4. Tanzauffuehrung in einem Dorf; 5. lokaler Markt in Masbagik; 6. Toiletteneroeffnung mit Schluesselueberreichung durch unsere Gruppe, in einem Dorf, das in einem sozialen Projekt von Perama unterstuetzt wird und wir duerfen alle einen Baum pflanzen (HILFE!) - kurz ueberkommen uns Zweifel ...