Lombok to Flores adventure

From Lombok I took a 4 day-4 night boat to Flores visiting the islands of Komodo and Rinca, aka The Komodo National Park, home to komodo, dragons or how we called them – dinosaurs.

There are only two “budget” boats operating this route. The well-known Perama boat reaches Flores within 3 days and costs more than $400 and Kecana tour that costs merely $150 for 4 days. Given the savings, it should not come as a surprise that Kecana boat did not have any safety measures or any decent navigation system. The food was bare minimum, we slept on the deck, the “guide” did not really speak English, but since we have not drawn, I cannot complain. At times through I was wondering if we'd ever make it. To make us feel save we were told "if waves are too big, we will wait".

We have seen komodo on both Komodo and Rinca islands, but significantly more dragons on Rinca (as everyone says!). It was the mating season so we witnessed a magnificent dragon fight for a female. There is only one female for 4 male komodo. The most fasinating way to see the fight is to have photos lined up. I was impressed! Those heavy carnivores only seemed to be sleeping in the sun. Another second they were fighting with their blood vessels flexing scarily just about 3 meters in front of us.



On the way we also snorkeled at two superb locations. Satonda National Park was maybe the best coral collection I have seen to date. Snorkeling at Red Beach near Komodo was also amazing. The beach itself is also interesting. It is white from the far, but pink up close thanks to red coral pieces.

The landscapes on the way were stunning and different from anything I have seen before. Barren islands with no vegetation, life or people are surrounded by amazing warm blue waters with colourful corals. Some views:








Labuan Bajo is where we ended the trip. The place did not reveal anything special to me except for lack of decent budget accommodation. An expensive hotel outside the city was a nice change after 3 days without fresh water on the boat - we enjoyed the pool for $5/day.



Did I mention the earthquake? Yes, it happened while we were having dinner, but it was weak, not even our plates fell.

My advice is to book an ticket in advance to get out of Flores the very moment you arrive (in high season ppl get stuck there for 10 days). Unless, unless you dive. I heard diving is AMAZING but difficult around Laub Bajo (very strong currents). It costs $80 for two dives.

KOMODO TRIP album on flickr with more dragons and views

Next stop was Sulawesi with a day layover in Kota.

Dragons in action, Rinca Island, Komodo National Park, Indonesia

more to come shortly

Lombok

I was lucky to get an individual tour of Lombok behind the adventurous, as he calls himself, travelmaster. Still undeveloped compared to the Gili Islands and Bali, Lombok felt like real Indonesia – Muslim, poor and beautiful. Three days on a bike (btw, my ass still hurts a month later!) and I began to discover this island - the green rice and tobacco fields, wild beaches of the north and south, waterfalls by the Rinjani, sunset over Bali, photogenic locals and hyperactive kids screaming “Hello Mister, where you going!?”, the worst roads ever in Southwest Lombok and an amazing cafe Ashtari.

Here is my "favourite" old lady that we caught by chance before sunset.



Other amazing photos on flickr.

Hopping the Gili Islands, Indonesia

Gili Cat speed boat from Bali to Gili costs ridiculous $60, but if that was the only problem.

High season on Gili Trawangan and I wanted to kill myself how much I hated it. So many people, so much development, so little beach and quietness. I definitely did not understand what the hype was all about. Koh Phi Phi seemed like a paradise right there and then.

The next day I took a public boat to the next island – Gili Meno. I was happy I moved. This was more in line with what I was looking for. Quit and very tranquil Meno with its beautiful beaches won my heart over for the next 4 days. I met two sisters from Moscow, so the days went by very quickly, perhaps even too quickly. We took a snorkeling trip around the island and saw the turtles. The corals were not that great, so I just hope people who dive at Gilis are not disappointed.

In two days families with kids arrived to Meno, so kids-haters beware!

I heard Gili Air is the compromise of the party Trawangan and the quiet Meno. Still with magic 8 to 9 hour daily sleep, sun baths and swimming activities in the perfectly warm days (breeze + no humidity) I was getting my rest.

I stayed at Kontiki on Gili Meno. Good value for money.

More photos of Gilis


On another note.

Now I had time to read my Indonesia guidebook. Because of Bali tourism, arranging travel from Bali is easy. However, travelling between different regions of Indonesia appeared to be much more challenging, it requires significant amounts of time and best arranged on the spot. Thus, risks must be taken of flying into, say, Maluku, looking around for ferries that take ages (and sink?) or flights that fly couple of times a week. When I read Lonely Planet off-beaten path routes requiring 6 weeks to 2 months, I thought they were kidding or planning long breaks in-between destinations. No, that is just remote Indonesia. Given that 30 days is the longest tourist visa on arrival, I can’t see those areas (Papua, Maluku, Katinkalan) developing any time soon.

Bali stories, four days in Ubud

Three hours of sleep, 4:20 am wakeup call and I am on a 6 am flight to Bali, half dead. What Indonesia? Why? Just put me to sleep.

Nevertheless, I opened my 2 kg Indonesia guidebook to read where I was going. Having been told multiple times NOT TO STAY in Kota, I figured I would head straight to Ubud (Kota was not too bad 2 weeks later, actually). I skipped the whole southern Bali with its surfing vibe for more Balinese inspired Ubud and surroundings.

An official taxi costs $19.5 for an hour and half ride to the center of Ubud (for the simplicity purposes I will mention all prices in dollars, US$1=Rps10,000). I chose to stay on a quiet street Jalan Bisma, romantic hideaway west of Forest Monkey road, next to my very own rice paddies. My advice would be to leave bags at fancy Café des Artistes and shop around for rooms. Rooms costs from $15 to $35/night. However, Bisma street is a 15-minute walk to the bulk of restaurants.

I fell in love with Ubud before I even reached the center. Streets of galleries and beautiful houses plot a dramatic entrance to town. For the first time I have experienced Balinese architecture and style with its attention to detail and embodied peacefulness. It made the city unique and I would say the most special I have seen in Asia. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering on Main road towards Monkey Forest and beyond. Every house had a temple inside the beautiful yard behind exquisite doors with sculptures of mystical animals at the doorsteps. Streets beyond the center are quiet and wonderful. I cannot recommend enough taking time to stroll.

That’s exactly what I did for 6 hours the next day. Equipped with Lonely Plan’s recommended walking tours and a map of Ubud’s surroundings I walked through amazing Campuhan Ridge to the small village of Bangklang Sidem and Payogan. Learn how to say “Selamat Pagi” (Good morning) as everyone nods at your appearance.




I then also toured artists’ village of Penestanan. Every house is a residency of an artist with his very own exhibition that seems to be unattended most of the time. After being lost for a couple of times I finally reached the Sayan Terraces (hotel) where one can hike down to Ayung River. Next door is Four Seasons Hotel with an amazing pool at the drop of the hill. If I had extra $600 (standard room rate) I would not mind a night there.

My third day I spent touring north-west part of Bali. I left Ubud at 7 am with a private driver ($30/day) and luckily was the first one to arrive to Lake Bratan and its Bedugul temple. Up and down the slopes we reached twin lakes of Buyan and Tamblingan and then the coffee plantations of Munduk. The highlight of the trip was the rice terraces at Jatiluwih. They are so amazing that tourists are being charged $1 to drive through them. Further climbing up Mt. Batukaru through some narrow roads and tiny old villages untouched by the development happening in Ubud/Kota, we reached lonesome, mysterious covered in green moss Batukaru temple. What a contrast was Tanah Lot Temple where I arrived 2 hours later – surrounding shops and vendors take more space than the Temple itself. It’s tourism at its worst. Too bad, the temple off the coast in the waves of Indonesian Ocean is impressive.

Bedugul Temple



Rice Terraces at Jatiluwih



Batukaru Temple



Tanah Lot Temple


Taxi drivers in Ubud start to annoy me. It is impossible to walk by without being offered transport service literally every 15 meters. iPod helped a bit.
Fourth day and last in Ubud I went to the east Lake Batur.

It’s time to leave Bali behind. Next week I am winding down on Gili Islands, the white beach paradise with famous dive sites.

40 more pictures on flickr

Mt.Bromo, Java, Indonesia

Two weeks before coming to Bali I spent one weekend in Java, witnessing sunrise over Mt.Bromo. It was worth the trip, but maybe not the Friday night spent in horrible Surabaya. NO decent budget accommodation was found and we spent a night in one of the worst hotels I witnessed in my life. Cockroaches were there too.

The viewing platform is easily reached by car early in the morning if you stay overnight somewhere in the vicinity. It was fully packed with Indonesian students due to the summer vacations in the country. The fight for the view was severe, but the foggy view over volcanoes is stunning. After the sunrise we head down to the valley to hike Mt. Bromo – over three hundred steps (??) to see the smoking mountain.







The pictures are on flickr.

10 days LEFT in Indonesia

I am sitting in a nice cafe with wifi in the middle of another country in Indonesia. It is called Kuta, Bali. It is the surfers' paradise with waves that seem not to end, millions of surf board shops, restaurants, bars and population of average age 25, white fit male that just stepped off Billabong advertisement. Rio is nothing compared to Kuta. Jeffrey's Bay was never found on the map...

Why am I here? It's been 17 days since I arrived to Indonesia. I saw the other Bali first (Ubud and the temples), relaxed on Gili Meno, discovered Lombok, made my way on a crappy boat to Komodo & Rinca, Flores islands to see some dragons and nice corals. Today I flew back to Bali to connect to Sulawesi. All the seats were sold out, so I got stuck for the night here. I left my backpack at the airport and decided to enjoy the civilized world before I head back to the real Indonesia. I am actually enjoying Kuta's vibe for the night.

I have all the gritty details as always but... I have been hoping to update my blog, but Indonesian internet is not cooperating with me at all. I cannot upload any pictures and it's been killing me. One day...

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Another weekend trip that happened ages ago and I only got around now to post some pictures. We went to a city on Java Island of Indonesia that I have never heard of before. Yogyakarta is close to two UNESCO sights but still has not developed into a touristy enclave like Siem Riep. It is quite authentic - you will get plenty of sincere smiles and questions. For especially brave ones I would recommend to spend an afternoon in the bird market near the palace. Animal right activists would be very upset to see all those cute animals locked up in inhumanly tiny cages next to each other.




The highlight of the trip was the magnificent Borobudur, ancient Buddhist temple from 8th century that is built in 9 terraces with special stupas on top and Buddha in each of them. Early morning makes the vistas romantic with fogs hugging the valley and hiding the volcanic Mount Merapi in the far. Another hour and the temple is swamped with local tourists in groups, and so are we. I must be appearing on hundreds of pictures. Lesson learned- never say YES to a picture unless you are ready for hundreds of them. But seriously, school kids were super cute and shy and we were only happy to pose in not-touristy Java.








The next stop was the partly destroyed by 2006 massive earthquake Hindu temple Prambanan. I have to admit that the midday heat took away our ability to admire this beautiful temple.



The day ended with an amazing two hour massage at a local place for about $10. Not a bad weekend trip at all!

Yogyakarta set on flickr