Flores further rounded out our emerging sense that the only cohesiveness of Indonesia is the islands' geological proximity to one another. First Hindu Bali with it's luxury seeking tourists. Then Muslim Kalimantan with it's steamy jungle. And now Catholic Flores with it's spine of dramatic volcanos traversing the island. We've met travellers who have 6 months in this country and still can't fully experience it all. So for all you who thought Indonesia was just beaches, think again...
Our first stop on Flores was the small town of Moni to see the crater lakes atop Kelimutu. With it's primary source of income being tourism in a country that's been hit hard by a reduction in travellers, Moni was a bit depressing and hassling. But the sites of Kelimutu made the stop well worth it. As we watched the sunrise over the colored lakes, we learned that five of us eight travellers on top of the volcano were from California. Seeing as that's probably about as many American travellers as we've met in total all year, it was quite a remarkable coincidence. We traded stories of where in the world we were for election day and what $500,000 will buy you in the Bali real estate market versus back home. One of the Californians also happened to be working on updating the next version of Lonely Planet for Indonesia and so we felt some karma at work as we'd just been wanting to send in a complaint about our less than stellar accomodations in Moni.
Our next stop in Flores was the small town of Bajawa, set in the middle of the island. The area is known for a continued strength of its traditional Ngadha villages and culture. We were lucky to meet some travellers who had hired a fabulous guide, Florean, for the day and they let us tag along as he took us to several local villages including his own where we shared lunch with his family. Because he is himself so strongly committed to the beliefs this culture, Florean's descriptions were incredibly rich and at times intoxicating. He described the details of rituals still performed to this day -- such as the process of building a shrine to ones ancestors which involved the burial of a live pig, a duck and a chicken under the wooden structure. Perhaps most interesting was his description of how he had found peace in the harmony of still being deeply committed to the beliefs of his traditional religion while now also practicing as a devout Catholic. In all of the villages we visited, Catholic crosses - the result of Dutch missionary work - sat next to the traditional houses and ancestoral shrines.
Our third and final stop in Flores was Labuanbajo and the Komodo National Park where we did two days of absolutely incredible diving -- the best either of us had ever done. We also visited the island of Rinca to see the komodo dragons. Though interesting by virtue of being so unique to this part of the world, the dragons ended up paling in comparison to all the creatures down below the sea. A highlight was watching the giant (4-5 meter wingspan) manta rays surf through the "airstrip" where they come to be cleaned by fish and the coral was like none we had ever seen before, particularily at the dramatic Batu Bolong site. We also say black and white tipped reef sharks, greenback and leatherback turtles, porcupine rays, napolean fish, scorpion fish, barracuda...the list goes on and on... Ah, if diving all over the world was only as inexpensive as it is here in Indonesia...
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