Riung, Flores, Indonesia

8th - 10th February 2012

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

Arriving late afternoon we decided to leave the much needed wash until later and have a little look around the little town. We made our way through to the small harbour, past boys playing football near the road and along a road flanked either side by towering coconut palms, impossibly beautiful.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

We passed by wooden houses on stilts owned by the local Muslim community whose primary income is from fishing, small children, washed and in their pyjamas played in the street while the mums sat and chatted to each other or on the phone. We found a couple of boatmen and arranged ourselves a well priced boat ride for the following day and then settled down to wait for an hour and a half to watch the flying foxes come further inland for dinner. While we sat and waited the kids slowly gathered round and started chatting, they loved having their photos taken and one asked me to take a photo of 'Kamping' after quite a while a guy translated this request as a photo of goats, I obliged and it made her very happy. We left the cute kids behind, by now quite over excited and not at all ready for bed, and went for a good fish dinner.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

We were up super early the next day and after some sweet bread and a coffee for breakfast we walked back down to the jetty, past the houses on stilts which were bathed in the morning light and down to our boat for the day. The morning was amazing, nothing but blue skies and the deserted twenty one islands of the 17 Island National Marine Park to explore.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

We stopped off shore at the first island and jumped straight into the water for some early morning snorkelling, at 7.30am the sun was just beginning to illuminate the coral and the rays of light hit the surface of the sand and corals making rainbows underwater. It was beautiful but too dark to take any photos, there were also a few tiny jellyfish in the water and they gave us little electric shocks, not pleasant but not unbearable. Back on the boat we slowly, and loudly, made our way to the next island, Pulau Tiga (Island Three) for more snorkelling.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

The sun was a little higher up and the visibility was much better. The corals were beautiful, spread out with patches of brilliant white sand between, further in huge swathes of blue, orange and green corals formed a road which we followed. It was easily the best snorkelling we'd ever done, the amount of coral, all of it in pristine condition and close to the surface, was slightly overwhelming. We came up several times to reconfirm just how awesome it was and then continued along the coral road. Just before we got out of the water we saw a group of five fish, shaped like stretched out triangles moving languidly in the water, it was very exciting; beautiful fish we'd never seen before. We followed them for a while and took lots of photos before they got annoyed and swam off.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

We swam to shore and sat in the shade of a tree on the beach and ate several packets of the stale snacks we'd bought the day before, some of them were pretty rancid actually but we were hungry and that's what we ate, in-between mouthfuls of chilli flavoured corn snacks, marvelling at the beauty of the sea and how we were the only ones there.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

I had a little walk up the beach making it quick to keep out of the sun as much as possible but not quite believing my luck at being in the centre of such gorgeousness at the same time. We only saw one side of Pulau Tiga but it was enough; the light reflected off the water and the shallow sand underneath, Flores was in the background and blue skies with white puffy clouds overhead. After our snacks and some more photos of us in the water we made our way back to the boat which was moored just off shore, climbed aboard and in a few minuted we were pulling up at the next island for more snorkelling. Just for a change you know.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

The coral wasn't quite as good and we swam along in the direction our skipper pointed us in wondering when we'd get to the good stuff, either it wasn't there or we missed it. Actually it was still really beautiful, lots of little black and white coral fish never straying too far from home, floating like a zebra inspired cloud above heads of coral and disappearing like a flash whenever we swam overhead. It also seemed to be home to all the sea urchins in the water, there were small field of them waving their pointy poisoned black spikes in the water, one set was shaped almost like a question so while I hovered overhead Djalma dived down to complete the symbol. There were plenty of the annoying little jellyfish floating about and after twenty minutes of so we headed to shore and walked back along the beach.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

Feeling a bit cold from all the time in the water we decided to walk along the beach a little to dry out. The beach curved round and ended in stones and a small mangrove we stopped and enjoyed the view before heading back, less than half an hour in total but we were already hot and sweating underneath all the repeatedly applied sun cream. We jumped in the water to cool off and then got back on the boat to head to the second to last stop.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

I can't remember the name but there was a small hill people could climb and enjoy a view out over some of the islands. Our skipper dropped us off and waited for us in the little bay while we walked round the beach and climbed up. I cannot begin to describe the heat, we were soooo hot and we had plenty of beach to walk along before we could climb up. There were lots of small sea biscuits (a direct translation from Portuguese, I don't know what they're called in English) and the empty cases of sea urchins, I gather the better ones and made a smiley face, quicker than a sandcastle.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

We finally found a point to head up but it was overgrown with thorny bushes, despite getting caught up in the plants several times we made it up and stood under a tree trying to make the most of the breeze and stay out of the sun. The views were lovely, the water was a beautiful sapphire blue with strips of clear turquoise where there was white sand underneath. After a breather we climbed back down a much shorter and easier route getting back on the boat to go to the mangroves and see the flying foxes in their home.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

The previous day we had decided against this because all the islands we visited were next to each and one one side of the harbour and the headland where the bats slept during the day was on the other side and a good forty minute boat ride away. We negotiated a trip to bats for an extra 50,000 and set off, feeling more and more tired the further we went. Fortunately for us we didn't have to do anything, no more climbing out and walking along beaches, no more swimming – it was only 2pm and already we were ready for bed – we just sat in the boat until we got there.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

So, three quarters of an hour later, we pulled up at the edge of a huge long mangrove and stood at the front edge of the boat and took photos of the bats that were roused from their sleep from the all the noise the Captain was making. He stood at the edge of the boat smacking an oar onto the water and making a loud high pitched noise that had plenty of the hundreds if not thousands of bats that lines the bare branches of the Mangrove trees. The sight was impressive, the big furry bodies soared through the air making their own noise while they found a new place to rest.

From Riung, Flores, Indonesia

It was only a few minutes back to the pier and we paid the rest of the money, staggered back to our room to wash off the salt and then had another fish dinner at the same restaurant. Djalma lasted until 7.30 until he slept and I hung on for another hour, working on our many photos from the day out. We slept all through the night like babies and were up again at 5am feeling refreshed and raring to go. We had a rushed breakfast of coffee and cowboy biscuits while we waited for the bus to come and collect us and then we were on the road, another beautiful day unfolding. The bus ride was only four hours long and was incredibly beautiful, Flores is a rugged mountainous island and is utterly gorgeous. The road we followed wound up and down and round and round, each corner revealed deep valleys covered with palms, ferns and trees of every imaginable variety (or so it seemed) we sat and watched the view through the open door of our bus while it slowly made it's way to Bajawa. We pulled up in town and in the scorching mid morning sun set out to find a room for the night. After much debate we settled on a place and with Djalma feeling little poorly we stayed in our room, drinking tea and watching Dexter. After four episodes we went out for dinner and then headed back for another four episodes of Dexter. Yes, we were slightly addicted. After a little wait our bus to Labuanbajo picked us up from our hotel and then went and sat on the edge of town for almost an hour, I think it's fair to say I was royally pissed off and couldn't wait to hit the road, especially because we'd had to get up so early for the bus in the first place. We stopped midday for lunch and in the evening we pulled up in town. A mere eleven hour bus ride and we were finally at our end destination in Flores. Tired and grumpy we looked round, got ourselves a mosquito haven with a bed and went out for dinner.

Moni and Mt. Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

6th - 8th February 2012 Most of the day gone and only an afternoon of rain to look forward to we didn't manage to get much done. Djalma had the sniffles and try as we might we couldn't get a scooter to rent that was actually a reasonable price. It was rather disheartening although we found out later that the reason that people charged so much to rent out their bikes to foreigners was because they were worried that there would be accidents. We ate at the same restaurant I waited in, Bintang Restaurant, it was crap, not a chili in sight. In our cosy room we settled in to watch a couple of episodes of Dexter before getting an early night for a potential 4am start the next morning.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

That 4am start never happened, I wistfully thought I heard rain but it was just a breeze rustling leaves, I got up to look out the window and thought I saw clouds, an hour later at 5am I could see them and we slept until 6.30 before getting out of bed. A 6.30am start seemed like such a luxury, we sat outside on our little porch and had an egg roll for breakfast with some coffee that kept us buzzing for most of the morning. We set out in a bit of ruch to get to Mt. Kelimutu and its three lakes, after some negotiating, (how I long for fair fixed prices!) we jumped on the back of a couple of scooters and were taken up the winding roads and the 13km to the old volcanic lakes.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

The sky was cloudy on the way up but when we reached the crater rim there was plenty of blue sky even if it was chased away by fleeting clouds. The sight took my breath away. We were expecting the three lakes to be different colours from each other, the turquoise one was a constant, but there were another two which changed colour over time, they could have been dark green, yellow, orange or red depending on many different factors. There were two craters next to each other separated by a steep thin wall and in both were lakes of opaque turquoise. It was incredible, it looked surreal and to get a better look we climbed over the railings and made our way carefully to a higher vantage point.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

My heart was beating loudly in my chest and I was a little scared to be near the edge, it was a long drop down to water I didn't want to land in. Clouds raced across the sky and we waited for the intermittent light to shine on the water and make it sparkle, when it did it was breathtaking. After plenty of photos, more than half of which I had to delete, not because they weren't great just because there were so many of the same thing – I'll admit that I did get a little snap happy.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

We climbed back down just as carefully, and hurried onto the the viewing platform, a long walk up a hill with views out to all three lakes, including the one which, on previous occasions, was black. Today it was dark green and although not as striking as the turquoise lakes, when the sun hit the water it looked quietly spectacular.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

We got talking to the only other tourist, a lady from Italy who spoke great English and called me 'Darling' (I though she was great). We sat and watched the sky change and the clouds drift over hills in the distance, it wasn't long before the sun stopped and it was time for us to walk back.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

We raced down the many steps Katie style i.e. running and made it back down to the beginning in record time. We stopped for a quick drink and got directions from the friendly old guy who sold it to us. We followed the road for a couple of kilometres walking through clouds, which I decided was excellent fun, until it started raining and then it was, wet.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

In between the bouts of rain we took off our ponchos and admired all the green, much of it was similar to the flora in New Zealand, plenty of ferns for starters. There were also lots of pine trees, the air smelt incredible, so fresh and clean. That didn't last long, the heavy rain washed away the smell and filled up our trainers with water, we trudged for an hour in the downpour, dry except for our shoes which more than made up for the rest of us. At some point we turned off the road and followed a dirt path which was steep and slippery in plenty of places but looked out over some beautiful scenery – most of it we enjoyed on the go, it being too wet to stop and take many photos. I did manage to snap a few on the way down though, inbetween keeping my balance and getting muddy legs worthy of an adventurous 7 year old, the views were too good not to.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

At the end of a steep and moss covered concrete path we came to a short fat waterfall and crossed over via some strung together bamboo poles. Err, they were a little too bouncy and some of them a little old looking for the walk across to be casual but in the end it was fine, neither of fell in even though Djalma did goof about a bit for the camera. Naturally.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

A few minutes after climbing back up to the main road we were back in Moni, the rain stopped and we decided to have a wash before getting some lunch. The girl at the restaurant came out to see if our food was okay, it was, and gave me the once over announcing that I had beautiful hair and a slim figure – it made me grateful I wasn't bald and fat, she certainly would have commented on it and told me what she thought! She had two small, cute, bare bottomed kids who smiled and waved from across the restaurant before returning to their toys. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting our legs, listening to the rain and watching Dexter, feeling tired in a good way.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

That evening we tucked into a prearranged dinner, three dishes including; mountain rice, smoked vegetable soup and some banana flower served with fresh grated coconut. It was delicious and a nice change from all the Padang food we eat whenever possible. The knowledgeable cook stopped by to have a chat and his photo taken. We were in bed and asleep by 9pm. Up early the next morning we watched the sun come up from behind the mountains and had a rather odd breakfast; a slice of cake studded with sweets, fried and served with a savoury omelette. We were hungry so we ate it and washed it down with some good coffee, we said goodbye to Mama who sat in her porch in the bungalow next to ours and went outside to wait for the bus to Ende.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

While we waited for our bus small kids dressed for school stopped to say hello or just stand close and have a good look while the more confident ones practised their English. We only waited half an hour for our bus and we were then treated to the front seat and some incredible mountain views on the three hour trip to Ende.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

At Ende we got a bemo to another bus station across town and then cooled our heels for an hour waiting for the bus to fill up with a few more people. It wasn't the worst place to wait, there were a few stalls with some chatty people and we sat with them with the sea behind us and a few curious goats and loud cockerels scratching round in the hot morning sun.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

The views were almost as good but we snoozed for most of the ride, we pulled up in a small town a couple of hours later and after lunch at a Padang restaurant we hitched a lift the rest of the way to Riung. Sitting in the back, we had to hang on to keep in the truck, there wasn't any falling asleep. The first section of road was potholed and slow going, then we hit tarmac and picked up some speed whizzing past green fields and hills. Layers of clouds rushed across the sky and after a little wait we whipped out our ponchos and braced against the rain which, when it came, came quickly. We waved to children, returning smiles and hellos as we sped past roadside villages.

From Moni & Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia

The guys dropped us off at a cheap Losmen (cheap hotel/home stay) and after a wash we decided to stretch our legs and explore the little village.

Kalabahi, Alor, Indonesia

3rd - 6th February 2012 Having arrived midday on a weekday we decided to head to the harbour to see if we could arrange onward ferry tickets to Pulau Lambatu where there is a small whaling village called Lamalera (the tiny community living is based on the dozen or so whales it kills each year and the number is so small that it is one of very few communities legally permitted to whale). We stopped off to eat at a Padang restaurant and then continued onto the harbour where we narrowly avoided getting drenched in an afternoon downpour. After much dictionary consulting we discovered that the ferry was cancelled due to the sea being 'too big'. There was however, a smaller boat leaving that evening at 7pm, we went to take a look and promptly decided to do a bit of re-planning, there was no way we were getting on a much smaller, slimmer boat when a ferry couldn't handle it.

From Alor, Indonesia

That afternoon Djalma went to the airport and bought some tickets to Maumere, Flores, via Kupang, West Timor. I spent most of the afternoon hunting around for some chocolate, unsurprisingly, I didn't find any – none of the shops were air-conditioned so I settled on some winningly named 'fullos' they sounded too Australian to be true. They weren't too chocolatey to be true, though they stopped the gap nicely enough. Djalma was waiting for me when I got back and within seconds of sitting down in the chairs outside reception a teenage boy rolled up and introduced himself; Ryan was his name and speaking English was his game. He said that he saw me outside on the street (searching for chocolate) and knew that I was English (incredible since most people here take a look and guess Australian) he sat down and spoke to us for a good while, he was a sweet kid. I went to try and upload photos, even the quirk internet connection was teeth grindingly slow and nothing uploaded in the two hours that I was there. After giving up on uploading any photos we decided to go to dinner, according to the LP guidebook, the best place in town to eat in the evening is at the collection of restaurants by the harbour, so we made our way back there and tucked into some freshly grilled fish and some chicken satay sitting in a cloud of smoke (we choked a little but at least kept the mozzies at bay). We ended up eating at the same restaurant for the following two nights. The next morning we were woken up by the group of middle-aged dudes who were loudly talking on the phone and to each other from 5.30am on. The guys were friendly enough but come on! 5.30am?! After asking them, they kept the noise down and we slept till gone 6, a lie-in, what luxury. Neither of us slept particularly well – I was conscious of rolling into the little piles of bird shit, my bed was missing 2 slats and our fan wasn't working. We ended up getting up because we were too hot to do anything else.

From Alor, Indonesia

We wandered downstairs and were given some rather good coffee and some old banana fritters, we ate up and waited outside for a bemo, basically a minivan converted to seat plenty of people squished along narrow benches running under the windows, to take us to a little island called Kepa. It took less than half an hour and we pulled up a a tiny beach where some guys with boats were chatting and smoking. Djalma bargained the price down to something reasonable and we jumped into the impossibly narrow boat and within five minutes across the startling clear water, we were there.

From Alor, Indonesia

We had brought our masks and snorkels along, hoping for a chance to snorkel, Kepa didn't disappoint. We walked along part of the beach taking shelter when it started to rain and continuing when it had died down to a drizzle. There were piles and piles of broken coral washed up on the beach and the sand was bleached white, it made the shallow water glow a pale green whenever the sun came out.

From Alor, Indonesia

We weren't far from land on any side and we could see the rain going down in slow grey sheets and then roll in towards us. Walking round the beach a little further we found a spot where I could sit and keep an eye on the bags while Djalma went in to see what it was like. I took pictures and snoozed on the beach while he was gone. He took his sweet time and ended up befriending a group of spear-fishermen who showed him how to do it, on his one try he missed, I can't say I was sorry – the fish were so pretty!

From Alor, Indonesia

He watched them free dive in again and again swimming under water without air, snorkels or fins, I think it's fair to say Djalma was pretty impressed. By the time he came back to shore I was starving, much too hungry to go snorkelling myself and so after a few more photos of the gorgeous coastline and the beautiful sea we arranged a sail boat back and headed back to Kalabahi for some Padang food. The bemo back was packed with old ladies sporting maroon stumps for teeth and lips red from chewing betel nut, it would have been scary had they not been so friendly, one lady got on the small bus with lunch; a trussed up chicken and let it give Djalma a friendly peck on the knee. After another excellent lunch of beef rendang, curried aubergine and the bitter green leaves they eat so much here we went back to our little room and lay on Djalma's bed (his had all it's slats) and watched the end of Season 5 of Dexter, read books, washed the masks and fins, washed clothes and then settled in for more Dexter before bed. It had got to the point of addiction with Dexter, all the ser

From Alor, Indonesia

ies are so good, so we decided to watch as many as possible and finish it so we can be a bit freer in our evening activities. Sunday rolled rolled around and nearly everything was shut, even though Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation on Earth there are parts of it which are Hindu (mainly Bali) and plenty of parts which are Christian. After finding a place which was open we stocked up on crackers, chocolate biscuits and water for a little road trip round the headlands of Alor. We had breakfast, good coffee and doughnuts and then cooled our heels waiting for someone to bring us a scooter they weren't using.

From Alor, Indonesia

We sat and waited outside an internet café and watched a guy who looked to be in his teens sit and cut all the boys hair into the Mohawk which was so popular in Timor-Leste. The boys after a few minutes of trimming their dark wiry locks went on their way looking much slicker above the neckline but covered in their own hair below it. Our scooter eventually arrived around the same time that Djalma's little friend Ryan showed up, he gave us some times about getting round and then we were off.

From Alor, Indonesia

Just a few minutes driving, at the end of town we stopped to take some pictures of the sea which was really shallow and therefore utterly gorgeous, it looked like it should have been fringed with great swathes of white sand but it butted up against a small concrete wall, on some small steps leading down three naked boys splashed about and called out 'Mister!'. Here, as in Timor-Leste, 'Mister' and 'Missus' are taught separately and lots of people only know Mister so that's what they called us, me or Djalma it didn't really matter although it's not for the gender confused. We turned off to follow a road that lead up round the headlands that hug Kalabahi's long bay and were treated to some stonking views.

From Alor, Indonesia

The concrete wall lined beach that we stopped at first stretched out in shallow water to a sandbank with a tree in the middle, it looked like it was made for sandcastle making and sunbathing. The road was in good condition and with only a few small potholes and sections of loose gravel, it did twist and turn a lot though but I guess that made it more fun for Djalma to drive – he does love taking corners. We followed the corn lined roads and stopped at another beach, it was tucked away at the end of a large square decorated with scrub plants and the odd tuft of grass, over the wall we could see a lick of white and some serious turquoise in the back ground.

From Alor, Indonesia

We climbed over the wall and were treated to some outstanding beauty. The beach took our breath away, the white sand curved round the shore and the water was a pale clear green interspersed with darker patches further off but mainly just that gorgeous postcards that postcards love for a tropical island. It was baking hot, the sun was out in force so we hung about long enough to cool off our feet in the water, take some photos and sigh with pleasure. We jumped back on the bike and as soon as we got going enjoyed the breeze from moving.

From Alor, Indonesia

The next beach we stopped at was similar, the same white sand and the same clear green water but this beach had mangrove trees and stacks of coral, not to mention the odd newt. Djalma went in first to see if it was worth both us going in (we had brought our money belts full of USD and were not keen to leave them laying about on the beach).

From Alor, Indonesia

There wasn't anything but white sand and sea grass, the visibility was pants and although he wanted to swim out to the tree in the middle of the water (it was shallow until quite far out) there wasn't anything to see on the way. We sat in the shade of the mangrove trees and ate some chocolate biscuits before wandering back through the few houses near the beach and getting on the bike again. One of the little girls did cartwheels to repeated applause and the rest of the family smiled and waved, then we were off.

From Alor, Indonesia

The road wound round the hills and looked out to sea often over a steep hill planted with sweetcorn, there was a little bay with lots of small colourful boat bobbing in the water, we stopped for a few more photos and saw this old guy, I just missed the smile but he did have a good chuckle when I showed him his photo.

From Alor, Indonesia

The road led up again and we drove through more fields of sweetcorn, the stuff was growing everywhere, often it there was rice planted in the spaces between the plants and whole sides of hills glowed with the fresh yellow green of the plants. In plenty of places, especially along the more gentle slopes there were small grass covered shelters and the men and kids waved and shouted to us as we drove past.

From Alor, Indonesia

After a couple of lucky dip turns the road started sloping downwards and we headed back to Kalabahi. Despite being hungry for some proper food we stopped only to take a couple of pictures of the old harbour and eat some more biscuits before driving out in the same direction we went the day before. We passed the point where we crossed to Kepa and after buying some custard apples from old ladies with toothy red grins (or should that be toothless) we found ourselves one last beach.

From Alor, Indonesia

This one was beautiful and good for snorkelling, I started to strip off and then I noticed a couple of cheeky old boys sitting there watching me and then finished getting out of my clothes in true Mr Bean fashion. Bottom unflashed, until I got in the water (and then I white whales all the way), I joined Djalma in the shallow water and in-between checking the shore and our bags, I got a good look at the soft and hard corals as well as a few of the shy fish lurking about.

From Alor, Indonesia

We sat on the beach and dried off until the sun sipped behind the mountains opposite and the temperature dropped. The place was gorgeous, the light was beautiful and bounced off the hills behind us pouring out from behind big fluffy clouds. Back on the road we made it back to town before it got too dark. Djalma dropped me off at the harbour where I got stuck into another gado-gado while waiting for him. He pulled up soon after and we decided that after such a wonderful, and long, day that it would be a crime not to end it with a beer. We feasted that night,we ordered another gado-gado, some fresh fish and some goat satay and washed it down with our shared Bintang. It was gorgeous a fitting end to our brief stay on the island. I wandered round the small restaurants and took some photos but I was just tiddly enough not to be able to keep still to take any decent shots, oops.

From Alor, Indonesia

The next morning our new phone woke us up, we bought a new cheap one with an English woman telling us what time it was 'it's time to wake up, the time is 5o'clock' it worked, I worked out while Djalma finished his packing. We had a quick breakfast and then got on the back of a couple of scooters to take us to the airport. We got there half an hour later and when we tried to pay we were told that they didn't have any change. Note to anyone travelling in this part of the world; make sure you carry plenty of small notes, people don't like giving change here. After making it clear the rest wasn't going to be left as a huge tip we checked in, paid our departure tax and then paid them with the change. We settled in to wait, reading our books and annoying each other like kids, our plane was delayed and when it did arrive the tanks were too full so five passengers were told they wouldn't be flying that day. The flight was short and beautiful crossing over plenty of small islands and we arrived with only ten minutes before our connecting flight to Flores was due to leave. I rushed to check us in while Djalma waited for our bags to come through on the conveyor belt, we ended up re-boarding the same plane with the same air hostesses tagging on the end of the queue without having held anyone up.

From Alor, Indonesia

We sat down to the same complimentary box of white bread roll with brown filling and yellow and green cake that we had just an hour before. Well, free food is free food and we ate up even though it tasted over-sweet and revolting. Buzzing on a sugar overload and lack of sleep we arrived in Maumere, Flores around midday. We got straight in a taxi to the bus station and waited less than half an hour for our bus to Moni to depart. We sat in the back-seat which we had mostly to ourselves for the three hour trip and enjoyed the stupendous views of green covered mountains shrouded in wispy clouds and even greener valleys stretching out below us. The ride was smooth although the road was extremely winding and rain pelted down for the last hour of the trip not letting up when it was our turn to get off the bus, how rude. We braved the rain and legged it to the nearest hotel, which was rather expensive. I ended up waiting with the bags and a cup of ginger tea while Djalma nipped up the road to find us something better value. We ended up in a nice room with a big mosquito net and a decent bathroom at Maria's.