Dragons and Mantas

Every one of our days in Labuan Bajo started at four in the morning. The call to prayer was now going on for ever, must've had something to do with Ramadan we guessed. Soon we didn't stay awake for the whole hour, we fell asleep soon after the first few minutes, only to be waken up after the prayer by all the roosters around the guesthouse. Soon we booked dives, as Komodo is at least as famous for its amazing yet challenging dives as the dragons over the surface. Anni's friend Matias, who had become an enthusiastic scuba diver during his travels, also joined us. We got four dives plus a visit to Rinca island to see the Komodo dragons for 1'600'000rp per person. The dives were stunning! The cauldron, a drift dive between two small islands was full of fish, big and small, turtles and white tip reef sharks. Castle rock, a rock rising up from the seabed to a few metres under the surface was surrounded by jackfish, trevallies. Black, bluefin, bigeye, then sweetlips and everything down to the smallest nudibranchs. The next day's highlight was manta point, or Makassar reef. It was the fastest drift dive we've ever done or will ever do, probably. We could only slightly steer to the left or the right and as soon as the first manta ray appeared in distance we dropped to the ground, emptied our BCD's and tried to hold on to something on the seabed, which was mostly pebbles or a handful of sand. Three mantas in total, the last during our safety stop with the divemaster diving down again with my camera to get at least a photo or two. World class! Then we dove at Penga kecil, a flat reef in 12m with a slope down to 30 or more.

 

Then we stopped at Rinca island, neighbour of the more famous Komodo island, also inhabited by Komodo dragons (monitor lizards, actually). We had to buy tickets on the pier in Loh Buaya and got a guide who took is around the place. Before we reached the guard's cabins he told us that it's very hard to spot the dragons, sometimes people don't see any apparently. Just two minutes later we reached the cabins and, oh lucky us, there was a whole pile of dragons under the kitchen cabin. The guide got all excited and said how lucky we were to see them here. He assured us that they don't feed them. Judging by the egg shells lying around everywhere we made our own conclusions. Then we went for a quick walk where we saw a deer and a wild boar (it wasn't so wild, it hung around the cabins too) and enjoyed a fantastic panoramic view from a nearby hill. The last two dives (or three for Anni) were at Tatawa besar first with turtles being the higlight, a relaxing dive along a slope. Second one was manta point with one manta swimming slowly over Anni's head! And of course, turtles everywhere. Then a shallow one, Wae Nilu, for Anni with a lot of macro life to top it off. Every evening we drove back to Labuan Bajo in beautiful sunsets. Well worth the money!

After about a week in Labuanbajo we split from our friend Matias. He had a flight to catch to Australia and we a boat to Kanawa island. It's hard to get a room there, people tend to book months in advance but being persistent worked well and we booked a tent for a couple of nights there. The boat didn't work for the first hour, we were drifting around in the harbour but the captains skills as underwater mechanic were sufficient and we arrived at the island in heavy rain. The tents are under a roof so they don't get too warm, which works well. With 175'000rp they're very expensive though, but we paid it anyway, we just wanted to snorkel around Kanawa (google it, it's amazing!). We snorkelled every day in different parts of the reef soon finding our favourite, the eastern end, with big fish, healthy corals and young blacktip reef sharks. That's all we did basically, we even extended to five nights and could've stayed forever if the food was better and less pricey. A must is the hill, after a 20 minute climb younget rewarded with a spectacular view over the reef, islands and Komodo in the background. Over all a brilliant location, with downsides like food, organisation and prices. Still worth a few days!

After hanging around for a few days in Labuanbajo and changing guesthouse in between (we were now opposite the mosque in the middle of town) we asked around for buses leaving for Ende or Bajawa in east Flores. We got very mixed answers, some said it's a small bus (which turned out to be the normal local bus, overcrowded) some said it's a big bus (which turned out to be the normal local bus, overcrowded) and some said it's a shuttle bus (which turned out to be the normal local bus, overcrowded). The prices varied from 220'000rp to 350'000rp all the way to Ende. Then everyone said it'll take 12 hours to Ende. People in the internet all said it's at least 12 to Bajawa, plus another 6 to Ende. Then, at last, we checked out the Perama office for their offer. There the lady said we should just take a flight, they're 350'000rp to Ende. We couldn't believe it, having checked for flights already without stumbling across that one. We booked two seats for the next day and celebrated with mashed potatoes.

The road to the airport in Labuan Bajo is in a terrible state. The bemo made it though, and we were wondering if they couldn't just fix the road a bit with a bit of money they were wasting on a big, futuristic, new terminal. We didn't know where to check in so we went to the Sky Aviation counter, a small airline we got the tickets from. There was already a crowd waiting, luggage everywhere. After a while without anything happening we just went inside, there they told us that the flight to Ende was cancelled, some problem with the plane in Ende. The guy in charge offered us our money back. Or a flight the next day. I asked if they would fly for sure the next day and he smiled and said we better take our money instead. Shit. We still went for the flight. Outside we heard from others that their flight to Denpasar was also cancelled. Some of them missed their connecting flights back to Europe, we felt sorry for them. Then they also told us that some people got a night in a hotel paid by the airline. We went back inside the office and asked for the same, he asked us to wait a moment. Good. Then he came back and said he just got us a flight to Ende with Lion Air, leaving in an hour. Very good. He paid the price difference which was around 20$ per ticket and we had ourselves a safer airline. Perfect!

In Ende while waiting for the luggage we met two groups of tourists. One was a family from Holland, whose plan was to take a taxi to Moni. Problem was they were already five people and we didn't know if we could fit in too. The other was a french couple, taking a taxi to Ende. Problem was we didn't really want to stay there. Suddenly everything went fast, people got in the taxis and we had to decide which group to join, we ended up with the couple. We picked a random hotel from lonely planet (theirs because it was older with about 7 hotels to choose from. Our brand new book only had 3 options. Newer is not better when it comes to lonely planet). The beds where shit and Ende not much better. We ended up booking a one day trip by car with a guide. We planned to leave at 03:00 to be at the Kelimutu volcano and the three coloured lakes for sunrise, the best time according to the book and the guide. The he promised to drive us straight to Maumere and further east to Wodong.

Before our alarm went off, the mosque went off. At not even three in the morning! While driving through the town we didn't see anyone around. We expected to see people on the way to the mosque, or at least some activity. Why all this noise when no one gets up anyway?

With our guide we had a driver who drove fast. Sometimes the fog was so thick I couldn't see the road from the backseat, but he probably had every bend memorised and drove as fast as always. After two hours we reached the ticket booth where I went to pay. The guard asked me if we bring cameras (who doesn't?) and I paid quite a lot for everything. Back in the car our guide made fun of me for paying the camera fee. Well, it's my first time up here, isn't it? I can't possibly know if anyone checks later on or not. No one did and I cursed myself for being so naive. We didn't need the cameras anyway, there was nothing to see. Thick fog made it even impossible to see the bottom of the crater. The only things we saw were tourists and monkeys. And a spanish lady who yelled at her guide for not telling her that the weather can be bad sometimes. It was miserable.

Back down we went and the whole next hour the driver and guide were always checking the weather for any changes, ready to turn back. The only changes were for the worse, it was raining by now. We learned later from other tourists that the best change for good weather is in the afternoon. So sleep late, take it easy, enjoy the lakes in sunshine and fuck the sunrise. The ride was pleasant enough, green hills, rice fields in the valleys. Last stop was on a hill with Jesus statue on top, overlooking Pago beach. Flores is beautiful! Then we drove through Maumere and eastwards around 30 km to Wodong. There we checked out the Lena house 1 (it's called Lena house 2 in lonely planet). I called the day before but the guy on the phone couldn't tell me if yes or no. Now it was yes and we got a nice little bungalow on the beach for 115'000rp (the prices in the lonely planet are all wrong, from food to accommodation to diving, wrong).

We asked to stay a week which they said is ok. But every night there were arguments between the owner and guests about bookings that weren't suddenly accepted anymore or people who got kicked out. So were we. One night we extended for 5 more nights, the next morning we were asked to leave, they got a booking from a family with nine people. Even though we asked earlier we had to pack. Same with a polish couple who had an e-mail booking. Lena house is a beautiful little place for little money but they fucked up almost every single booking. There's also Lena house 2 about 500m to the west but they were full. Then there's Ankermi which is expensive. We found a bungalow for 80'000rp next to Lena 2 which was even more peaceful, Wodong bungalows. It has a much better vibe, more travellers and basically every night we shared stories with others, some of them were on a big trip too. We stayed there for another five nights and snorkelled every day off the beach. Basically all the corals are dead since a big earthquake and tsunami in 1992 hit the coast but between the piles of coral and seaweed there's a lot to see. We found frogfishes, pipefishes, beautiful nudibranchs, scorpionfishes and lionfishes. A highlight was a snorkelling trip to Pulau Besar and Pulau Babi. Besar is blessed with healthy coral, Babi with a white sand beach.

The flight back to Bali we booked already in Labuanbajo. The plane left half an hour earlier than announced and we stopped for barely half an hour in Labuanbajo before continuing to Bali. We had planned to spend our remaining four days in Ubud since we skipped it the first time. During the landing though we quick changed our plans and decided to head south to the peninsula and the surf hot spots. We were able to haggle a taxi driver down to 150'000rp to Bingin beach. There we were left at the toll gate and started walking in the direction all the guesthouse signs pointed. Some guys we met on the way suggested to walk toward the beach for cheaper rooms. The first one we asked stood right atop the cliff with a breathtaking view over the neighbouring beaches and the beautiful waves, dotted with numerous surfers waiting for the right one. Lucky us again, we got a room for 150'000rp, looking worth less than that but we were just happy to get a room after seeing the adverts for the Rip Curl competition being held right now...

Not being great surfers we chose only to watch. The waves are quite big for beginners and often crowded. We spent three days watching the waves and some seriously good surfers doing their thing. One day we drove around the Bukit peninsula and checked out the famous Ulu Watu wave. There the start and end point is in a cave and on the way out the surfers get carried quite far away first by the currents, pretty impressive! The whole area around Ulu Watu and Padang Padang (where the competition was) was very crowded, taxis, locals on motorbikes, overtaken by young topless surfer dudes driving too fast for the narrow, curvy roads. It wasn't very pleasant. Still, we were glad we went to the south of Bali, it's so different from the rest and shows Bali's beauty in a different way. Those were our last days in Indonesia, a country where we could and will spend much more time in future. Time for a change, not too big though, language and religion are pretty much the same. Malaysian Borneo.

 

Pulau, Nusa, Gili

Indonesians have many words for island. Pulau is official Bahasa Indonesia. Then there is Nusa which means the same in the Nusa Tenggara area. We also learned a third, Gili which apparently means small island. That's all we had in mind from now on! We left Bali by ferry from Padangbai and were happy to leave. We didn't know how crowded Lombok will be but we were sure it would be better. Our ticket included the ferry and the bus from the harbour town, Lembar, straight to Senggigi, where we planned to stay for the time we needed to extend our visas. We left Padangbai an hour late at 10:00 and we had to sit inside the air conditioned room, every available spot on the ferry was filled with motorbikes, boxes, bags and people. After around four hours we approached Lembar on Lombok, the sooner the better we thought, we still had to find our place in Senggigi. As we almost reached the pier the boat slowed down and they announced over the speakers that we have to wait for some time as all the places along the pier were taken by other ships. After driving in circles for over an hour we could finally embark an got pushed into a minivan which left for Senggigi. Once there, which took around an hour, they forced us to go inside a tourist information office. For some information. As we knew well by know, most tour agencies in Asia are called tourist information, so we played their game. We said we already have a place to stay, Sonya homestay. The lad in the office quick started to tell us that they're fully booked and after we told him that we have a booking he changed tactics and said that it's very dirty and noisy with a nasty river next to it. We've also had this before so I just smiled and told him that we'll be fine. This made him so angry that he told me to stop laughing, that he knows what he's talking about and that we won't enjoy our stay. That was new even for us, someone who lies straight into your face and then tells you to shut up. We left him standing there and started looking for this terrible place.

It was a pretty nice terrible place. Not fully booked (half empty) and not smelly, without a river. No surprises there. We got a nice little room, ensuite, for just 100'000 rupiah. Our neighbours were all backpackers which led to many interesting discussions we missed and didn't find on Bali (yes, probably in Kuta but we skipped that). The next day we rented a motorbike for 40'000 and left for Mataram, the Capital of Lombok, to get our visa extensions. The traffic wasn't bad but the streets were very confusing. Three or four lanes in one direction without a chance just to turn around when we went wrong. We had to turn right and later right again but then this road wasn't parallel with the one we came from so that you end up somewhere completely different. Anyway, we found it eventually and went up the stairs. There we were lost again. Mostly Indonesians were waiting in the chairs and everything was in Bahasa Indonesia, not one hint what one has to do for an extension. Normally you get a ticket with a number and then you have time for photo copies, but not here. We came upon another lost soul, a swiss guy, and together we left first for the copies. Someone said it's outside around the corner so we went there and true, there was a photo copy machine in someone's garage. With that done we headed back and went straight to a counter. We picked the right one an got a nice red folder containing all the necessary forms we had to fill out. With just two minutes to spare before their lunch break we handed them in and were told to come back in two days.

Meanwhile we went snorkelling in Senggigi which was nice and wavy and once along the north coast by bike to look for a beach we didn't find. I doubt lonely planet found it, we followed their instructions... Then it was time to pick up the visas which we got back after paying 250'000rp. With another month in Indonesia secured we booked a bus/boat ticket to Gili Meno. Our pick up was late and got later every time we picked up more tourists. After a good hour we arrived in Bangsal, or close to Bangsal to be precise. The last kilometres we had to walk or pay for a horse cart. Good arrangement, we thought. Once in the harbour we tried to change our vouchers into tickets which didn't work. Then we were told by someone to wait at the beach but then again everyone there tells you something, mostly it sounds like "you are late, no more boat, you have to pay 50'000 more for fast boat". After a while a group of tourists gathered around us and eventually we were told that our boat has first to get loaded with cargo. Then we boarded and tried to find empty spots for our feet for we had to walk all the way to the front of the boat. We were careful not to step on these women's bags stuffed with vegetables or to drop our backpacks on some chicken. The ride took less than an hour and as the boat slowed down over perfect turquoise water and approached a perfect white beach, every tourist on board started to smile silently, probably thinking of the next few days on this magnificent island.

It took some time to find an affordable place to stay, most places are quite pricey or even ridicously expensive. One of the touts helped us find a place for 150'000 rp and we loved it! For the next five days we took it easy and read a lot. The snorkelling isn't very good, all corals are destroyed just some turtles keep it interesting. Then a friend of Annis, Matias, who was staying on Gili Trawangan came over for a couple of nights and we had a great time sharing traveller stories and planning the next steps as we planned to travel together for a while. Sooner than expected we left the island. We could've stayed longer but it did get a bit boring, the view from the beach over Lombok with the Rinjani volcano is unbeatable though.

We went back to Sonya's in Senggigi for two nights and then set off on the famous bus/ferry combo across Lombok and Sumbawa to Flores. We compared different options and prices of how to get there, a long favourite was the 3 day boat trip along the northern coast of Sumbawa but these boats leave only twice a week and are tiny, packed with tourists. The bigger and better Perama boats look better on the photos but with 50-60 people aboard we couldn't imagine ourselves queueing for the buffet with them. That left flying or the bus. As we wanted to leave as soon as possible we couldn't find a descent priced flight so we booked the bus/ferry trip. It takes a scary 26-30 hours (depending on who one asks) and includes 2 ferry crossings (one of them 8-9 hours) and two bus journeys. Seasoned travellers as we thought of ourselves we thougt we might have a lot of fun on that trip.

It wasn't just fun but it wasn't bad either. The lady from Sonya awaited us in the Mataram bus terminal with tickets and showed us the right bus. It didn't leave for the next two hours but got more and more full with cargo. Matias, our finnish friend, tried to take a photo of boxes filled with worms to eat. The owner pushed him away and told him those worms are illegal here and therefore no pictures will be taken. Weird, we just observed a worm smuggler! Finally we left, headed to Labuhan Lombok where the bus drove aboard while we had to walk. We left Lombok just as the sun was setting behind the mountains. The first thing we noticed on the ferry was that nobody smoked. Not one soul. And that in Indonesia! Then we remembered that the Ramadan month just started and at exactly 18:00 lighters started to click all around us and soon the whole deck was filled with thick clove sented smoke. Indonesia style.

Four hours later in Poto Tano, Sumbawa, we changed the vehicle again, back on the bus. Ready for a long night right through Sumbawa. That was the only downside for me on this strip, that we wouldn't see a thing of Sumbawa as we only crossed it in darkness. After two hours we stopped somewhere near Sumbawa Besar at a rumah ikan, a restaurant and got dinner (included in the ticket). Then, when the bus left again, everyone settled down for the night. We slept pretty good, the aircon was luckily too old and weak to freeze down the bus and we stopped short before sunrise in Bima. There we changed into a smaller bus which brought us to Sape, the harbour town, while the sun rose again. Here our ticket ended and we had to pay the last stretch by ferry. The journey was nice, we got good spots on the middle deck with a whole row of chairs four ourselves and all the way we tried to figure out the names of the islands we passed. Is this Komodo? No, too big. That one? No, that's too small. We could only guess. There was only one shady spot between the three of us, behind the chimney and we took turns in hiding from the sun or the wind. We were hiding for eight hours and arrived in Labuhan Bajo with glowing faces and arms. There we were shocked by the amount of tourists, we had no clue what to expect but that was something else. All the places were full and halfway through the town we left Anni behind with the backpacks and started to look for rooms at the southern end of town. During this time we witnessed a spectacular sunset over the bay, the light reflecting from the mosques silvery minarettes which we hoped to be able to put in great distance to our guesthouse for the sake of some sleep. We did put a great distance between, our place was at the very end of Labuan Bajo, where the road curves upwards into the hills. What we didn't realise at the time was the massive mosque across the street. We noticed at four in the morning, but then again our guesthouse was called 'Blessing'.