South Pacific’s Bloody Mary played by Juanita Hall sings a ‘lovely’ Oscar Hammerstein song entitled Bali Hai………..
Bali Ha’i may call you
Any night, any day
In your heart, you’ll hear it call you
“Come away, come away”
Bali Ha’i will whisper
In the wind of the sea
“Here am I, your special island!
Come to me, come to me”
So we went, and this is what happened:
Day 1 UK Days 1 & 2 Indonesia (7 hours time difference)
Saturday 26th August & Sunday 27th August
It was an early start to this holiday, up at 4.45am and away from the house at 5.30am. Sophie drove us to Heathrow along an unusually empty and therefore free flowing M25. Terminal 4 was easily reached in about 50 minutes, usually an unheard of achievement. It seemed that no sooner had we said our goodbyes than we’d dropped our bags, passed through customs and security and were in the less than full departure lounge. Maggie bought a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of Jo Malone perfume and we settled down to kill time and have a drink.
Our flight to KL was soon called to Gate 6A and we boarded a Malaysia Airlines A3880 800 for the 12 hours 20 minute flight. This double decker aircraft was by anyone’s judgement far from full – lots of empty seats and even complete rows of empty seats scattered throughout the cabin, even an empty seat next to Maggie in our back row of 3 all resulting in a lot of space in which to relax.
Take off was delayed for an hour but it was worth it when it came, we flew directly over South East London and over our house seeing the O2, the Dartford Bridge and following the A2 eastwards, amazing.
After half an hour we were served what would undoubtedly prove to be the first of many rice based meals of this holiday, yummy.
We followed our usual route for the previous couple of journeys, over mainland Europe, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest and then the Black Sea forever dropping south eastwards into the darkening skies for although we had left London in the morning, night was rapidly approaching at our destination.
The film Hacksaw Ridge occupied the first 2 hours or so of my journey.
We were kept well hydrated with a constant supply of juice and water as we crossed the Caspian Sea and as our route took us south of the Afghanistan capital Kabul. Next came the long crossing of India from Pakistan to the Bay of Bengal passing well below Delhi and Kolkata. Onwards down the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula to Kuala Lumpur.
9 hours in and another meal appeared in front of us and the monotonous nature of flying simply dictated that we eat it just like the good little passengers we had now become. Flying is not glamorous.
With just over an hour to go until the end of this leg of the journey I was beginning to lose the will to live, Maggie was stretched out asleep across 2 seats and boredom had really set in along with a decision to consume no more aeroplane food for the rest of the journey, I was stuffed.
1st leg 12h 23mins Local time 6.50am.
KL hadn’t changed a great deal since our last transit and still had one of my favourite shop signs ever seen.
We spent a while strolling around and eventually made our way to Gate C1 to board our 9.00am flight on an A330 300.
This second and thank goodness much shorter leg of the journey saw us leaving KL at 9.30am for a 2hour 40minute journey which crossed the equator towards our final destination of Denpasar on the island of Bali in Indonesia.
I repeat, flying is not glamorous but instead must remain a necessary evil.
We have at last arrived in Indonesia with its population of some 3000 million.
Bali is very flat around its perimeter and I mean flat. As we flew in low across the sea to land, there seemed no visible height between either, very unusual.
Denpasar was a very busy place although the airport concourse seemed strangely huge and rather bare. Anyway, we next passed through customs; surprisingly efficiently, collected our bags, always a welcome surprise and met our driver.
It took about an hour of driving through what, to the outsider might at first sight have seemed to have been nothing less than a load of rather reckless drivers in all types of vehicles imaginable. All road users here were following the same solitary rule of the road in this place, that being, there are no rules save for one, red lights mean stop that is except for the odd moped or 10, otherwise it appeared, anything was up for grabs. We passed through areas of sprawling buildings: shops, hotels, cafes, places of worship etc. etc. all a bit jumbled and in various states of repair, besides huge over elaborately carved statues and finally along streets in Ubud lined to the rafters with what appeared to be garden stone ornaments in various colours, shapes and sizes of everything from Gods to dragons to pagodas, row upon row, all variations on a similar theme, there were literally thousands of them!
Point of information: Bali is 90% Hindu.
Eventually we reached our hotel, the Bhuwana Ubud, were met by Antoinette Sylvia our group leader originally from West Papua and after a few words and a welcome drink were shown to our room, a large and airy first floor cool and clean space in which we took a well deserved horizontal nap.
Later at 6pm we all met in the hotel restaurant for an introduction and cold drink. Our group is 12 in total and of mixed ages, British with an Australian and a New Zealander. Fran, John and John (Glasgow), Alec (Edinburgh), Greg (Australia), Peter (New Zealand), Lisa (London), Julie (London), William (?) and Steve (Harlow).
After a general discussion we boarded 2 mini buses and went into town to change money and have a group meal. We are millionaires now considering the rate of exchange was 16,950 rupiahs to the pound. I now find myself with pockets stuffed full of paper money which because things are so cheap, should be sufficient for the whole holiday. Following dinner we returned to the hotel for an early night. Whacked!
Day 3 (Monday 28th August – Bali)
Today was one of those full on days when at the end of it you’re ready for bed but really not looking forward to getting up at 4.30am the next morning, oh well.
Following a lovely breakfast today we left the hotel and drove the half hour or so through the mad traffic which I explained yesterday, one thing I forgot to let you know concerned the vast numbers of scooter/mopeds being used in these parts, it’s simply staggering, 2 up or 3 up and carrying everything bar the kitchen sink. Interestingly though there’s very little evidence of accidents and damage to vehicles, perhaps everyone is so aware of the madness that they take real care to avoid any sort of collision even though some mopeds drive into the oncoming traffic!
Our first stop today was at a school for disabled children who until very recently were shunned and therefore moved away from towns and villages and generally ignored. I’m pleased to say that Explore, our tour company, part funds this project to help Downes Syndrome, autistic, mentally and physically disabled children receive some sort of education and by the looks of it a very caring and worthwhile education from these local and overseas helpers and supporters. Maggie even joined in with the pre school early morning exercise to music routine.
It was here we learned how to make an offering from leaves intricately cut, folded and joined to form a container which held a selection of colourful flowers later to be offered up at the temple.
We then ate lunch of egg fried rice, tofu kebabs, omelette, prawn crackers all with peanut sauce and melon juice to drink, excellent.
Next we drove to the Tirta Holy Spring Water Temple which was very busy but nonetheless extremely interesting with numerous Spring water pools in which people were bathing/praying, this is where we presented our offerings and sprinkled water on ourselves as a blessing. I chose not to do this but preferred to watch while others enjoyed what was for them an obviously special experience.
After spending some time here we moved on to visit the Gunung Kane Tombs Temple, a place which could only be reached by descending over 300 stone steps which would eventually become the ascent of 300 stone steps. It was worth it as the views of the river, forest and padi fields were amazing. After reaching the bottom of the gorge we removed our shoes and entered the Temple, a place of worship and reverence hewn out of solid rock and quite peaceful and surprisingly cool on this increasingly stiflingly hot day.
We retraced our steps to the coach as sweat trickled down our backs and cooled down as the A/C on the coach quickly kicked in.
Upon our return to the hotel Maggie and I donned our swim suits and were in the fantastic pool that this hotel boasted and after a few strokes towards the pool bar were sitting on submerged seats and drinking ice cold Coca Cola, wow!
We stayed just long enough to cool down and relax and after a quick shower and change of clothes were off out again this time to an evening of typical Balinese dance telling the Hindu Story of the Ramayana in full costume and amazing masks, all of this ending in a fire dance with leaping flames fuelled frequently by highly flammable liquid for one of the actors to walk through, sit in and kick around the stage, all quite impressive albeit from a safe distance. No Health and Safety Executive here then especially when burning embers flew dangerously close to a photographer whilst others glowing red hit a singer as he leapt out of their path.
The show lasted 1 hour after which we drove back to Ubud for our evening meal which was again a delicious affair accompanied by a variety of alcoholic and non – alcoholic drinks.
Finally packing and to bed for tomorrow would soon come.
Day 4 (Tuesday 29th August – Bali to Labuan Bajo to Ende on Flores Island)
Today was certainly one of the earliest starts ever – we had a wake up call at 4am as we would be leaving the hotel at 5am!!!
Point of information: in this part of the world and being so close to the equator, the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm throughout the year with little if any change.
Our drive to the airport today took around 1 hour on extremely empty roads which became busier as we reached Denpasar in the growing light of day.
After checking in and passing through 2 security checks we had no sooner arrived at Gate 2 than we were called to board our Garuda Airlines ATR72-600 aircraft. We took off at approximately 7.30am and flew directly to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores passing some impressive Volcanoes as we did so. Flores with its 1.4 million inhabitants is just one of the thousands of islands which go to make up Indonesia.The flight was comfortable enough and we were provided with a rather strange snack to eat en route.
We arrived at 9am and waited on board while some of our fellow passengers alighted, then, following a quick cleaning and tidying of the aeroplane others boarded in their place all to fly onwards to Ende, our aptly named final destination. At 9.45am we again took off, were provided with yet another snack, although most people declined the offer this time and flew for approximately half an hour.
Point of information: Flores is a predominantly Catholic Island.
We reached Ende, a little airfield with a small arrival lounge if you could call it that and a more manual system of baggage collection. We climbed aboard our ‘Executive Class’ mini bus, aptly named as it was rather small to accommodate the group and our luggage and then drove to the mini market to buy some cold drinks as this would be the last shop available for some time. It was going home time in the local school so, just as back home, parents were waiting to collect their children but in this place taking them home on the back of a scooter/moped instead of by car. School’s here start at 6.30am and finish at 1.30pm. We then drove up into the highlands along winding and sometimes exposed roads before dropping down into our resting place for the next 2 days, Moni and the Kelimutu Ecolodge.
This hotel was set in a river valley surrounded by tree covered mountains and with padi fields alongside the river; a peaceful, quiet retreat from the bedlam that was Ubud. We ordered lunch and whilst it was being prepared were shown to our bungalow with its balcony and outdoor shower room and toilet, it was clean and looked comfortable enough to us. We popped back to the dining area, ate our lunch and went for a stroll first along the river then across a bridge and through the padi fields back to our hotel.
As a number of people were feeling unwell last night, Maggie included, dinner was eaten at the hotel. Bedtime tonight was 9pm as tomorrow we would be getting a 3.30am wake up call!!
Day 5 (Wednesday 30th August – in Moni)
As anticipated, the wake up call came at 3.30am when all was dark and still, however, we had stolen a march on the caller and were already up and about and fully prepared for our trip to see the sunrise from the summit of Kelimutu Volcano.
Unfortunately Maggie had to drop out at the last minute due to a tummy upset. She insisted I go so I did armed with warm clothes and both cameras. Those of us making this trip met at the minibus which then drove us the 15km, mostly upwards and along a snaking hairpin road/track to the parking place, the starting point for a 30mins fairly arduous stone stepped walk through the dark to the viewing point at 5,600ft where we waited in anticipation to watch the sunrise. It was cold and dark and the sky was filled with stars as other people joined us to sit on the steps below the summit monument.
As the horizon began to glow more fiery red the bird song increased along with our anticipation and as we looked back towards our once dark trail numerous previously unnoticed landmarks appeared and to my surprise, as the light grew better, 3 crater lakes just below us started to show and grew in detail as the minutes past.
Finally the brilliant orange sun made its scheduled appearance and the place lit up.
People were taking photographs from every possible angle in order to capture the moment, what a unique place this was.
And as if just to add to the scene a number of monkeys paid us a visit and posed in the early morning sunshine as we just happily photographed them.
After quite some time we retraced our steps (literally) and visited another viewpoint to get a different perspective on things before walking back to the mini bus amidst a cacophony of birdsong. We were driven back to the hotel where we had breakfast and time to share our experiences.
After having a rest and then a walk around the hotel Gardens and padi field we went with the rest of the group to have lunch which for us consisted of a couple of soft drinks, a plate of fried sweet potato slices and a large omelette each all for the princely sum of about £8. The food here is certainly fresh, all from the local area and is extremely good value for money. Following lunch some people simply returned to the hotel whilst the rest of us went to visit a local village popping in to see a street market along the way. The fruit and vegetables for sale were an array of colours and looked delicious even though many were new to us. We tried snake fruit and were shown, passion fruit, rambutan, brown bananas, various types of pumpkin and many other things which were thankfully more familiar to us.
We then drove for another 20 minutes to eventually arrive at one of those typical villages we had spotted occasionally in this area, this one, Wologai, with buildings made from wood and corrugated iron, red roofed and clinging to the hillside. It was here we met our local guide who showed us around the original settlement just along a nearby track, one of wooden buildings with palm thatched roofs. This one was quite recent replacing the houses that had previously been destroyed by fire and as yet unoccupied until the villagers could be sure that the bad omen which had caused the fire had been banished. The buildings were beautifully made from a type of teakwood and each balcony displayed a variety of carvings.
We met some of the villagers who seemed very pleased to see us and accompanied us around the village.
When we had seen everything we said our goodbyes and returned to the hotel to take it easy before our evening meal which was at 7pm and in the same restaurant as lunchtime. We had an ant attack at dusk with small ants covering everything from floor, walls, mosquito netting, the bed etc. so Maggie called for the ant spray man who performed his magic, the ants were no more. With little ambient light, the night sky was filled with stars.
Day 6 (Thursday 31st August Moni to Bajawa)
Thank goodness we had a lie in today, breakfast was from 7am-7.45am ready to leave the hotel at 8am for what was to be a full day’s drive.
With the back seat of the minibus loaded with our luggage and the 15 of us including Sylvia, the driver and his helper on board we began our winding ascent, one of the many we would experience throughout the day. Our first stop on the way to the town of Ende was a quick visit to one of the many cultivated river valleys that we would be noticing throughout the day. This one was viewed from both sides of the river via a very busy rickety wooden suspension bridge, one that had certainly seen better days, still, it was a bit of fun to break the monotony of travel and must have been safe to cross as mopeds were being driven across it by the locals!
After a good hour and a half we reached the outskirts of Ende and stopped to visit the general market beside the main road. Everyone here seemed very friendly and welcoming, a characteristic we were beginning to realise common to most of the local people we were coming into contact with. Fish, fruit, vegetables, clothes and other essentials of life were being sold here. It was busy and bustling but no one minded us taking photos and I was even asked to take a photo of a couple of random stall holders.
We got back on the bus and drove a few kilometres to the petrol station or gas station as they call it here, where our driver filled the bus whilst we bought cold drinks. After half an hour it was lunchtime so we stopped at the aptly name Blue Stone Beach and after a stroll and paddle on the beach and in the water were treated to a buffet lunch of fish, rice, vegetables and bananas which went down very well with the whole group.
Again we drove upwards along those zigzag roads and quite close to a still active volcano, one steaming from its vent just letting us know that at anytime it just could………..
Finally after what seemed a very long time we arrived in Bajawa a busy town lying around 4,000ft above sea level. After checking in to our infamous hotel (see Tripadvisor), The Hotel Edelweiss (NO, not at all small, not white, nor clean or bright but the people are always happy to meet you. Ref: The Sound of Music) we went for a walk around town. It was rather run down in parts, a mixture of old and newer buildings built alongside a network of roads. As seems to be the case in all Indonesian towns, the moped was master of the roads here being driven by the full range of inhabitants young, old, smart, less smart, and carrying the usual range of goods and numbers of people and in all states of repair. It was noisy, smelly but nevertheless interesting and every corner and crossing that we made was an experience not to be missed. We returned to the hotel to unpack some of our things and put on long trousers as now it was beginning to get much cooler.
Our evening meal, another group affair, was taken next door and was cheap and cheerful with the highlight for me being a can of Orange Fanta (a true rarity) when previously only Raspberry or Strawberry flavours (disgustingly sweet) had been available.
Even though we hadn’t done anything much today we were tired so went to bed at 9pm from where I write this blog laying beside a sleeping Maggie, shush!
Day 7 (Friday 1st September – Bajawa)
Today is a national holiday in Indonesia.
After a surprisingly good night’s sleep in this not too pleasant hotel we woke at 7am for breakfast. Please note not breakfast at 6.55am nor 7.05 am as yesterday evening we had to complete a breakfast request form stating time, our choice of either a banana pancake or omelette and toast accompanied by either tea or coffee, all rather weird and in a Hotel staffed, or so it appeared, by no one over the age of 20! Anyway breakfast duly arrived and was a quite simple affair which happened to match perfectly with these strange surroundings. A hotel which from the front looked quite ordinary and reasonable but once inside became a step into a much darker dim and distant past. They’d built it but obviously had never planned for its upkeep hence………! One saving grace – reliable hot water, electricity that worked and clean bed linen.
After breakfast and a complaint from one of our group about the poor condition of her room we left for a visit to two local traditional villages, Bena and Luma. We drove for about 40 minutes stopping on the way to look at yet another volcano; this island is covered with them.
We arrived at Bena and our local guide for the day explained about taking care to ask before photographing any of the villagers, taking care not to walk across any graves and not to touch any of the totems. The village was quite interesting and we were shown around and our questions answered by Benny, a very knowledgeable and caring guide.
Photographs taken we walked the short distance to the much larger and more sophisticated Luma with its grander houses and central platforms.
We spent a long time here and the locals, many of whom were weaving, were quite at ease when having their pictures taken.
We retraced our steps in the mini bus back to our hotel and whilst some people went out for lunch we decided to relax in the hotel, at least it had wifi.
This afternoon, those who wanted to took the extra excursion to the Mangeuda hot springs. Once again this was a 40 minute bus ride along rough tracks as well as tarmac ones until finally we reached the hot springs area. We got changed and joined many local people by taking a dip in each of the areas available ranging from rather hot, ouch! (39 degrees C) to warm to cooler. The water which travels 21 km from a nearby volcano was fast flowing and tried its hardest to push us down the river but we somehow managed to hang on with our legs and hands to the underwater rocks and boulders which lay in the channels and waterfalls created by the rushing water.
We both really enjoyed the experience. We were there for around 1 hour and after getting dressed were given a cold drink. What a great end to a busy day.
Day 8 (Saturday 2nd September – Bajawa to Ruteng)
We left at 8am after breakfast for what was today another long drive punctuated by a variety of breaks. Once again we drove up and down along winding and twisting roads through forests, over ridges, alongside beaches and crossing ravines and rivers on bridges which always seemed to be in a state of repair or replacement. The trees in this part of the world all appeared to be producing something useful or edable ranging from kapok, avocado, bananas, coffee, cocoa, papaya, guava and coconut to mangoes, pineapple, cinnamon, cloves, cashew nuts and candle nuts. Now I know why cashew nuts are so expensive, they grow singly in their own shell at the end of a fruit and have to be individually picked, so how about that. Candle nuts on the other hand are so called because their oil was originally used for lighting oil, they are often mistaken for macadamia nuts and should certainly not be confused as you can only eat one or two candle nuts without becoming unwell.
Our first short stop today was beside the road to take a shot of Inerie volcano which looked resplendent against the bright blue sky.
Our next stop took us close to the sea to a place called Aimere where we were shown around an Arak distillery. This sounds like it should be a large factory business but instead consisted of a man who climbed a type of palm tree to cut the tips of the fruits so their liquid could ooze out into buckets suspended beneath them.
This liquid was then poured into three bamboo tubes and heated from underneath with the vapour being funnelled down three longer bamboo tubes and collected in plastic bottles. It appeared that the more this heating process occurred then the more alcoholic the Arak would become. We tasted a variety of strengths and boy was it potent, I’d love see one of the million mopeds on this island powered by this rocket fuel, there’d be no stopping them. The distillery was certainly a bit Heath Robinson to put it mildly, a bit of a cottage industry.
Next we drove for another 2 hours and stopped at what passed as an Indonesian take away. You ordered your hot food of noodles+ or rice+ or whatever and 10 minutes later you collected it in a box in a carrier bag to eat later.
Our later was just a few minutes down the road at Borong Beach, not the most picturesque of places, grey sand, not a shell on the beach and a lot of plastic rubbish laying around behind the beach. It undoubtedly had been a beautiful beach at one time before the influence of man had played its part. It was here we sat and ate lunch and my fried fish and rice was quite tasty. Lunch finished we were back on the coach once again. Another 2 hours passed as our bottoms became more numb than even we had thought might be possible until eventually we arrived back up in the mountains once again this time in a town called Ruteng. We stopped to refuel which was another eventful activity. There had been a recent diesel delivery which had brought out everyone and his uncle to come to the pumps carrying all sorts of unofficial jerrycan type containers and as we filled the bus, they were filling these containers with diesel in the hope of making a killing later in the week when they could sell this fuel at an inflated price when the petrol station had inevitably run dry. Our hotel The Revayah was a large modern place with what seemed to be plenty of rooms, plenty of staff but few guests. After a quick freshen up we were off out again, this time to visit Liang Bua caves famous for its little hominids. Two small mini buses appeared, both of which had certainly seen better days, anyway we climbed aboard for what was one of the strangest driving experiences we had ever had. We first passed through the town full of madness, cars, lorries, mopeds all doing their own thing and then we found ourselves out in the countryside passing villages and padi fields all beside the single track road that everyone now seemed to be using at once. The mini buses and I mean MINI buses that we were using were wrecks and felt as if they would conk out at any moment but they toiled on across road surfaces that at home would have been regarded as off road, everything rattled as dashboard warning lights appeared and were duly ignored, the driver seem undeterred whilst his mate hung out of the open door like a free fall parachutist ready to jump. After 50mins we arrived at the cave site. We walked 100m and entered the large open cavern, a place of archaeological interest where the remains of a prehistoric man (Flores Man) had been discovered.
After looking around for some time we crossed the road and visited the museum which was again quite interesting. Thence our journey home retracing our route driving past some of the most poorly constructed buildings we had ever seen with people living in what could only be described as very poor conditions all amidst the acrid smell of wood burning fires percolating through the forest air. People were washing their clothes and themselves in the rivers, people were working on their fields or toiling under the heavy loads carried on their heads or backs or simply sitting looking out at the constant stream of passing traffic. No doubt we were a welcome break in the monotony. By the time we got back to the outskirts of town it was dark and guess what, neither of our buses had working lights but no, that didn’t matter after all it’s best not to be too easily seen when every other user is following their own interpretation of the Indonesian Highway Code. You’ll be pleased to know that we all got back in one piece. Our last job of the day was to order our evening meals, eat them and pay for them which we did before going to bed.
Day 9 (Sunday 3rd September Ruteng to Labuan Bajo to Rinca and Komodo Islands)
Once again our chosen route by mini bus took us up and down many tight winding roads some even steeper than we had already encountered but with Frank at the wheel and Hendricks as co-pilot we knew we were in safe hands. After a hour’s driving we stopped to take a short walk up to a viewpoint to take a look at some so called Spider web padi fields. These were different from those we had previously encountered as they were centrally fed with water and so radiated out from this central point making for some very interesting patterns in the valley floor.
We then drove for 2 hours and stopped for a drink. I have to say that the tea was delightful. It was then that we undertook the longest part of the journey arriving at Labuan Bajo and the hotel where we dropped our luggage for safe keeping after having first taken out the things we would need for the next 24 hours aboard our boat.
We drove the short distance to the harbour where we boarded our boat, the Bintang Laut 04 meaning Sea Star 4 as it was one of 4 boats in the group. We set sail or rather started the motor and headed out to sea past numerous islands some with beaches, others with reefs or shallows but most of them seeming to be uninhabited.
Point of Information: There are 13740 islands in Indonesia and we will have visited 4 of them by the end of this holiday so only another 13,736 to go.
After motoring for 2 hours we arrived at Rinca pronounced Rincha Island and moored up in Crocodile Bay along with a number of other boats near to the Mangrove swamp.
We were ferried ashore in two groups aboard the small tender belonging to the ship and met our 3 guides who would see us safely on a walk around the park. After only a few moments we came across our first Komodo Dragons or simply Dragons as they are referred to in these parts.They seemed quite relaxed and sleepy but we were assured this was never the case with dragons hence our 3 guides and their long forked poking sticks used for fending off any unwanted approaches. We took some photographs and moved on around the park keeping at all times to the path and with the rest of the group. We came across a Dragons’ nest and were told that this would originally have been made by birds called Orange Footed Scrub Fowl of the family Megapodes and then used by female Dragons in which to lay their eggs. 15 to 30 eggs are laid in the nest and remain there for a gestation period of 9 months. Upon hatching only about 20% of the hatchlings manage to survive as the individuals who do not manage to escape safely to the trees are eaten by their mothers or other adult Dragons. After about 5 years and when they are large enough, they return to the ground but at this time do not yet carry the deadly bacteria that the adults are renowned for, particularly the most deadly, Listeria. This bacteria cannot be transferred to the young Dragons until they eat some meat killed by an adult Dragon and can transfer saliva left upon this kill into their own system – I never knew that!
Further into our walk we spotted another nest with 2 adult dragons then a bit further on some monkeys, deer and OFS Fowl. All in all a good introduction to these giant reptiles. We reboarded the boat and as it became darker we anchored and night fell as the myriad of stars appeared in clusters unknown to us we motored our way to Komodo Island. The sea was calm and dinner was served with a wide variety of food on offer from soup to fried soya bean toast to vegetables and prawns and noodles, ample for everyone. Following dinner, people started busying themselves choosing their sleeping places. Most chose to bring up mattresses from below deck and lay them out on the open decks under the night sky, whilst some simply opted to use those mattresses already in situ and others stayed below deck even though these quarters smelled dreadfully of a toxic paint and fuel mix. We set up home on the main deck at the front of the boat next to the railings and it proved to be the perfect location as we were away from the main gangway. Mummy liners out and changed for sleep we took to our bed at about 9.00pm, many had already gone to bed and as the sea became calm and I listened to my iPod, the ship’s engine was switched off and the lights turned off, it became silent. The stars were amazing, there was no ambient light and we drifted off into a cool sleep.
Day 10 (Monday 4th August – Komodo Island, Manta Ray point and Labuan Bajo)
We were up with the sunrise after a peaceful night’s sleep and had agreed yesterday evening that we would go direct to Komodo Island and have a later breakfast upon our return. As agreed the captain took up anchor and we sailed the short distance towards the pier where we disembarked for our visit to this special place. A place, rumour has it, that upon the first maps it simply showed, ‘here be dragons,’ and they weren’t kidding.
After the obligatory short safety briefing we set off with our 3 guides on the medium trek. The land was very dry but plants were growing everywhere. We spotted wild pigs, deer, megapodes, wild chicken, butterflies and then dragons. One in the undergrowth then one on the hillside, a small one on our way back and then 2 walking behind the beach. Finally 4 large ones in a group near the buildings, they seemed very passive until one started to move slowly towards us and then we appreciated just how large it was! So we had fulfilled a life long ambition to see Komodo Dragons in their natural home habitat, they didn’t disappoint us I’m pleased to say.
Following a little bit of retail therapy for some of our group we walked back along the pier and boarded our boat. The captain started the engine and headed for The Pink Beach whilst we were served breakfast of boiled eggs, cheese, toast and tea. After about 2 hours we dropped anchor just off Pink Beach and whilst some used the launch to get to the beach, Maggie and I donned mask, snorkel and flippers, walked down the ladder and took a giant step into the Timor Sea. The water was surprisingly cool but clear and full of fish and coral although a great deal of this had suffered damaged.
We enjoyed swimming around, diving to the seabed and taking photos and eventually returned to the ladder and whilst one of the crew took our fins we climbed back aboard. Now we were off to Manta Ray Point to see if we could spot any of these amazing underwater aeroplanes. After 2 hours we joined a group of boats whose captains were here for one thing and one thing only, to find a Manta Ray or two. The word went out and, Maggie and I being already kitted up, were given the all clear to jump off our boat and swim towards where people were pointing, we were going to swim with Mantas. At first we couldn’t see anything other than 3 scuba divers in the distance below us when suddenly we were told to quickly get back on to the safety boat which then rushed towards our main boat near to where a Manta had been spotted. We dropped back into the sea and there it was not 20 metres below us, the unmistakable form of a black and white Manta Ray using its wing like fins to effortlessly glide through the water below us. We followed it sometimes diving to take a closer look then another appeared, then 3 then 4. It was a breathtaking experience and a privilege to have shared the sea even if only for a few short minutes with these majestic animals doing just what comes naturally to them, moving through whilst feeding in the ocean – our thanks go to the Captain and his crew.
Back on board and lunch time with yet again a wide choice of dishes. We took it easy for the next 3 hours as we motored back to Labuan Bajo harbour. Upon our arrival in the harbour it appeared that there was little space to dock so the captain tied up against another ship which meant we had to clamber across 4 ships to reach the pier, we all managed to do this albeit with a lot of huffing and puffing. We met our coach crew and were taken back to the hotel via Labuan Bajo Main Street which was rather rundown and dusty and were reunited with our luggage after having found our shore legs once again. This hotel was great except for the steps, of which there were many. We freshened up and eventually, even though the others had gone into town for their evening meal, made our way to the open air dining area and had a very pleasant meal together. Lovely, a wide bed and a/c; this place is exceptionally hot and humid.
Day 11 (Tuesday 5th September – Labuan Bajo to Sanur)
Today began with a relaxed and extensive breakfast in a very hot Labuan Bajo Hotel. The sun was beating down as soon as it rose. It was one of the hottest place we had ever visited, you couldn’t even walk down the path looking at the butterflies without breaking into a sweat.
After our leisurely breakfast we finished our packing and at 10.45am put out our luggage and somehow managed to drag ourselves up the 3 flights of stone steps to the lobby followed about 20 minutes later by, would you believe it, one of the room boys carrying both our cases, one on his shoulder and one in his hand, those people are made of tough stuff.
Our bus arrived and the tips duly presented with our thanks for a job well done. Frank and Hendricks were returning to Ende, 13 hours away that same day after first dropping us at the airport. We arrived at Labuan Bajo airport and said our goodbyes. We checked in as a group, passed through 2 sets of security and waited for our flight. The Explorer plane arrived on time, we boarded it and flew back to Bali as easy as you like.
The flight took 1h 25mins, we collected our bags and boarded the coach which drove us to our hotel, The Sri Phala, and a very splendid hotel it was. We had a large cool room opposite the pool and next to the lobby, a perfect location.
We made ourselves at home and later went for a short walk along the nearby beach, a busy place bustling with people and crowded with mopeds, before returning to check in online for our flight home. You see, we like to sit at the back of the plane and by checking in promptly we managed to do just that.
The others had already left for the restaurant by the time we had finished checking in so Sylvia had organised a car to take us to join them at the Retro Restaurant in downtown Sanur. The meal and drinks were excellent and cost around £20, very cheap by our standards. I had a prawn starter followed by oven cooked Mahi Mahi and Maggie chose pan seared Mahi Mahi; we cleaned the plates!
We paid our bill and waited for our transport back through the busy streets to our comfortable cool room and even more comfortable bed.
Goodnight.
Day 12 (Wednesday 6th September- in Sanur Beach)
Today was our day for relaxing and taking our time to walk around and see some of what this particular area had to offer. Some was as to be expected, some was strange but it was all enjoyable.
We got up late and mosied down to breakfast around 8.30am to the dining area next to one of the 2 pools that this hotel has to offer. After breakfast we tidied our bags, read and used the wifi until 11.00am when we took the free shuttle bus down to Sanur’s main shopping area. It was extremely hot and humid so we walked slowly around popping into the odd shop to see what they had on offer and eventually pausing for a cold drink and some cooling shade. Some shops had the usual tourist bits and pieces, various souvenirs, Tee shirts, key rings, magnets, flip-flops etc but we were looking for carvings of masks or things to take home and hang upon the wall. Eventually we came across the wood carving shop we had spotted yesterday evening on our way to the restaurant. Much to Maggie’s disapproval mainly because of its size I opted to buy a what I will refer to as a good sized carved wooden panel which she assured me I would not be able to get home. It only cost £15 so we will see about that!
Anyway, we stopped for lunch by the side of the road and sat in the shade eating and having a cold drink and generally just watching the world go by, oh, and yes, watching a drone being down dangerously up and down the centre of the busy street until it’s controller unfortunately let it drop just a little bit too low, it got hit by a lorry – oh dear, it’s now a drone with 3 instead of 4 rotors!
We decided not to wait for the 3.20pm shuttle back to the hotel but instead to walk back via the beach, a long golden stretch of sand backed by eateries, hotels and a small covered market and fronted by lagoons and good sized breakers further out to sea.
We dropped into the mini market just before entering through the rear of the hotel and then going for a swim. We tried both pools the second bluer one being a lot warmer than the first. At 7pm we all met in the hotel restaurant for our last meal together as people would be leaving starting at 8.00pm this evening and going on in singles or groups throughout the day tomorrow, some going home and others moving on to various places around the world. Sylvia would be leaving at 5am tomorrow so Alec presented her with the tip. We said our goodbyes and wished each other a safe and pleasant journey. We returned to our room for our last night’s sleep in Indonesia for tomorrow at 7.20pm we would begin our journey home.
Day 13 & into Day 14 (Thursday 7th and Friday 8th September – In Sanur Beach and travelling home)
We woke up around 7am and after a shower went for a leisurely breakfast. The day was hot but there was also a breeze and we sat in the shade just taking our time and were in no rush. We clarified our checkout time of 2pm and returned to our deluxe room and completed our packing and generally sat chatting, reading or listening to BBC iplayer.
At lunchtime around 12.30pm we returned to the hotel restaurant and bought some sandwiches, very grand affairs they were too and accompanied by French fries and drinks and all for about £8 which was amazing value for money.
After lunch we collected our luggage from our room and left it in Reception while we sat on some comfy armchairs and waited for our driver. He arrived at 2pm on the dot and we both, along with Julie, climbed on board a small mini bus for the drive to Denpasar airport. The roads were busy as usual but guess what, to our great surprise we were undertaken, that’s not the surprise but this is; by not 1 but 3 brand new Ferraris followed by a Mercedes AMG and then a police car complete with flashing blue lights – how odd. I am sure that this has never been seen before nor will ever be seen again in these parts – Jeremy Clarkson et al possibly? Oh yeh, and a large lady on a very overloaded moped, frequently seen I’m sure, that I would have loved to have grabbed a photo of.
We reached the airport and towed our luggage into the Departure area where Maggie found a cool 101,000 rupiahs laying on the travelator.
We checked in and managed to get our opted for seats on the first flight but not on the second. There had obviously been an administrative mistake when booking in online, never mind. We passed through security and passport control quite smoothly considering how busy it was and found some seats to await boarding. Our first flight lasted 2h 25mins and flew by, no pun intended and when we arrived in KL we hurried to the Departure Gate as our next flight was already boarding so no waiting between flights then.
Our route on this second much longer leg took us a lot further south than on the way out, passing overhead Mumbai, south of Pakistan and the Caspian Sea and then over Europe to home, nearly 13 mind and bum numbing hours! We passed through Heathrow passport control in no time and were soon on the platform waiting for the underground train, a quick change at Barron’s Court and on to Victoria where there was an overground train waiting at platform 7 to carry us home to Bexleyheath all for free to boot! Jane met us in her car and we were back home after 24 hours of travelling.
And according to THE HOLLIES :-
“The road is long,
With many winding turns,
That leads us to
Who knows where
Who knows where………….”
They were and we certainly drove along most of them!
Just to finish off by saying especially for all you disbelievers out there who thought the same as Maggie. We are now the proud owners of an undamaged and beautifully carved Indonesian wooden wall panel which takes pride of place in the hallway of our house – so there!