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Well, what an interesting couple of weeks it's been! Our stay on the Gilli Islands was excellent, lots of sun and snorkelling. Kind of went downhill from there....
Had a couple of days to go and see Mount Rinjani in Lombok but it was thunderstorms the whole time so didn't even get a glimpse of the mountain through the cloud. So headed straight off to start our journey over land and sea to Flores, via Sumbawa. The first ferry was fine, just an hour and a half and then an overnight bus journey across Sumbawa which wasn't particularly comfortable but fine. Then came the fun part. Got to the port of Sape on the east of Sumbawa to be met by another 3 travellers who had been waiting for two days for the ferry over to Flores. They had been told lot of different things by people as to why the ferry hadn't arrived and when it would be arriving but the truth wasn't clear. Anyway, they were proposing chartering a boat over to the island between 10 of us. We had one look at the boat (very small and decrepid) and decided that this wouldn't be the best choice of transport for the 8ish hour journey! So we went off and got a room for the night hoping the ferry would arrive in the morning and the others braved the charter boat only to have to turn back about an hour in because of the rough seas. We spent the next few days with this group, an American couple, one Cech (don't know how to spell that) bloke, 3 Swedes and 2 American guys.
The ferry arrived the next morning and we boarded at about 8am, didn't leave until about 10am however. The journey is supposed to take about 7 or 8 hours so we were thinking worst case scenario, 10/11 hours. 15 hours later we finally arrived in Flores, thoroughly sea sick and starving at the same time. Unbelievable. They had to go extra slow because the sea was rough which in retrospect we are grateful for but at the time we were pulling our hair out! Paid extra for a 'vip' room in which the aircon wasn't working and the no smoking signs were ignored by everyone so that didn't help with the sea sickness.
The next morning we attempted to get a boat over to Rinca Island to see the Komodo Dragons, the main reason we came to Flores, but had to turn back after about half and hour when a storm set in and the waves became too big for the boat. This was enough to finish me off so Michael went on his own with the others the next day at 5am. The sea was a lot calmer that day and they got there ok and had a good time, saw a few dragons but they were fairly lethargic by the sounds of things, the guide had to prod one with a stick to make it get up onto it's legs for example! Not quite the dinosaur like savages you see ripping goats apart on wildlife programmes!
Since then we have travelled across Flores bit by bit by bus, stopping in Ruteng, Bajawa and Moni along the way to visit various volcanoes and traditional villages. Have had a nice time the last few days staying at homestays and having the family cook us gorgeous traditional food. The 3 crater lakes we saw at the top of Mount Kelimutu yesterday morning were amazing. The lakes are all in the crater at the top and are all different colours, two are right next to each other, one is chocolate brown and the other bright turquoise. Very strange. Will have to put some pictures on in the near future.
Now we are in the north east of Flores and have had to debate whether to make the minimum 48 hour overland/sea journey back to Bali or a 2 hour flight. After that ferry journey it was not much of a choice however and we will fly at 4 today. Although we have had no internet access since Lombok and no English newspapers, news has filtered down to us of the various disasters that have happened in Indonesia over the past couple of weeks and i am therefore dreading the flight but we have little alternative.
Anyway, have a few nights in Bali before we fly to NewZealand and that will feel like relative civilisation compared to these past couple of weeks. Didn't realise it would be such a backward country before we came. On that note, Michael has listed a few of his favourite things about Indonesia-
1. Cold showers
2. No sinks in bathrooms
3. Honest people (everyone constantly lies to you e.g. " there are no public buses Mr" and it is impossible to get the correct price for anything)
4. No toilet seats
5. The weather (our fault for coming at the end of the rainy season mind you)
6. Public transport
7. Smoking - everyone, everywhere (if you say you don't smoke they think it's hilarious)
8. The constant threat of death by natural disaster or number 6 above!
There are loads more but it would take all day to list them! Despite all these things, it's still a very interesting and beautiful country to visit and we have enjoyed most of it. Back to Bali for some normality now and then on to New Zealand on the 20th which i am reeeeaaally looking forward to.
Nicola and Michael xxx
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