Day 24-38: Flores, Rinca, Lembata, Makassar

Summary

Flores is damn gorgeous and holds some of my best travel experiences so far! From the beautiful scenery that strikes you time and again to the friendly people of Flores and the rich traditional culture. I’ve seen Komodo dragons, waterfalls, hot springs and turquoise volcanic lakes, but it’s always the interactions with the locals that makes the best experiences. From a wedding to a gory ceremony and the hospitality of people despite a language barrier. I learned a little Bahasa Indonesia out of necessity when staying in a traditional village near Bajawa, and in the remote village of Lamalera, where the locals hunt whales from small wooden boats armed with nothing but tipped bamboo spears..

Day 24: Getting to Flores

Gili Trawangan to Labuan Bajo was a trip of about 36 hours something like this: boat-car-ojek-bus-ferry -bus-ferry, with a few waits here and there. The main part was the overnight bus trip through Sumbawa. I would like to see Sumbawa sometime, but you have to prioritize. On the ferry I met Daniel, Charly, Mattias, Matt and Juan and his girlfriend, whom I spent some time with in Labuan Bajo, and for Charly all the way through Flores. We also met some other interesting travellers on that ferry. I met an English girl who had a Danish mother and talked fairly good Danish with a strong accent. She was a pretty girl, wanted to be a singer, read popular physics books for fun, and had a surprisingly good understanding of quantum mechanics. Something didn’t seem quite right..

Leaving Sape, Sumbawa, by ferry.

Day 25-27: Labuan Bajo

The first day our group of seven decided to do a motorbike trip to a nearby waterfall. It was expensive renting motorbikes in Labuan Bajo so we were two on the bikes (well except for Matt, the motorbike virgin, who was soon on fire). Charly and I just started talking to a guy in the street with a motorbike and he agreed to rent it out for the rest of the day. We left quite late – seven people takes some coordination. It was fairly difficult finding the waterfall and when we finally came to the small village from where you do the trek, it was already 4pm. They told us the trek was about 40 min one way – no time to get there and get back before dark. The road to the village was really bad at some points, and the others didn’t want to drive home after dark.

Charly and I didn’t want to go back without seeing the waterfall, so we went with two locals to check it out. Good choice! Had a nice and peaceful time at the enchanting waterfall and afterwards we had a mie goreng (fried noodles) in the village with the locals gathering around us. Good time! We left the village after dark with Charly driving – tidak apa apa!

The waterfall near Labuan Bajo.

Charly enjoying the atmosphere…

… so peaceful.

The next day five of us went to Komodo National Park in Rinca. It was cheaper and faster to get to Rinca island instead of Komodo island, and supposedly they are very much alike. Actually Rinca should have a richer wildlife than Komodo, with deer, wild pigs, water buffalos, monkeys, wild horses and of course the Komodo dragons. The good dive sites are near Komodo island, but I still haven’t learned to dive, so yea.. next time.

Getting to Rinca around noon the wildlife wasn’t amazing. It was too hot and the dragons weren’t very active. We only saw some monkeys and a few dragons near the park. It’s better to arrive in the morning when the dragons are hunting and feeding. A Komodo dragon may take on a buffalo and a single bite is sufficient. Afterwards the dragon will follow the buffalo around – maybe for days – until it finally dies from the infections and dinner is served..

The boattrip in good company was really great, and we also stopped at a small island and snorkelled a bit to see corals and lots of colorful fish.

Great boat trip to Rinca in good company!

Oh yea!

Rinca – home of the dragon!

… there it is..

On the way back from Rinca after some snorkelling.

Going back from Rinca..

Life’s good.

Day 28-30: Bajawa

Charly and I had decided to cross Flores together and possibly make it as far as the Solor Archipelago before he had to catch a boat from Larantuka to Makassar, Sulawesi, on the 12th of July. We clicked really well; same kind of temper and attitude towards travelling and experiencing different culture with a smile and an open mind. Great guy!

We left in the early morning to catch the 9 hour bus to Bajawa. It wasn’t too bad actually, though the boy next to me got car-sick on the winding “Trans-Flores Highway” and threw up a few times, and a baby was screaming the last one hour of the trip. In Denmark a trip of 5-10 hours would seem like an eternity to me, even with the high standard and relatively comfortable buses and trains back home. Here, it’s different… probably a manifestation of a less stressful daily life combined with the lack of choice, or I don’t know.. It’s worth noting though.

Looking out the window of the bus..

Arriving in Bajawa we met Wilf, with whom we shared a triple room in Johny Hotel. The owner didn’t speak much english but told us there was a party in a big tent just next to us, and we were invited to join him – makan gratis – sure! Turned out to be a wedding, and we greeted the couple and all. There was a lot of singing. Someone would grab the mic and sing a song, and Johny asked if we wanted to do the same, but we didn’t really feel like it – plenty of attention already. One of the guys made some joke about the bule and suddenly everyone was looking at us and laughing – something about the three of us being single and available..

Later there was dancing and they wanted us to join in. Wilf was the first to join in his swimming shorts and hiking boots – haha – he dropped the boots eventually though. The girls wanted us to join as well and we did. It was good fun, but I think they were all a bit disappointed in the dancing skills of the three bule. One girl even left Wilf on the dance floor and he was so embarrassed! I joined mostly for the barn-like dances – of course we didn’t get it at all. Good fun though!

Suddenly we were guests at a wedding..

I didn’t expect to go to a wedding when I woke up that morning, but there I was. I really like the unpredictability of my days travelling on the road like this. It’s great! My days are usually defined by random stuff more than what I set out to do that particular day. With the confidence that I can (probably) handle whatever’s at the end of the road, I find myself preferring the unknown, and this is where I get my best travel experiences, I feel. The next two days would be a good example of just that..

We wanted to rent motorbikes to do a day trip to the traditional villages near Bajawa. It was difficult finding in Bajawa though. Wilf got one and went off before Charly and I. Charly managed to find an automatic, and I ended up with a manual. A few trips up and down the road and I felt reasonable comfortable driving the 4-gear machine.

The traditional villages of Bena and Wogo are the most impressive according to LP. We drove towards Bena, but took a right at a signpost to Bela village, not sure if they were the same. Bela was a very nice traditional village with thatched roof huts and we had a great time playing football with the local children. My small Indonesian phrasebook became handy soon enough and we talked about the size of our family and stuff like this. One little girl, Anas, seemed really bright and was reading through my phrasebook. She knew some english already but with this book she could probably have learned by herself. I was sad I didn’t bring an extra copy to give away. Anyway, from Bela we went to Bena which was impressive, but didn’t quite have the same spirit. The nature in Flores is absolutely amazing by the way. Going on motorbike through the winding roads the beauty will strike you time and again, and it is no wonder that the Portuguese named this magnificent place ‘Flowers’.

Bela had a nice ambiance and some lovely children.

Bela panorama with Charly.

Bela. These are the bhaga huts that represent female ancestors.

Bena. Very nice view from here.

Bena huts.

From Bena we went towards Nage but stopped at the hot spring that is somewhat in between. It was so great! There were two streams running down the mountain, forming a small river. One was uncomfortably hot, the other too cold, but together it was perfect! There were a few people swimming where the two streams met and we had to try – even if it meant no boxers for the rest of the day. It was great! Nice and warm and you could catch a cold or a hot stream by moving from one side to the other – spectacular!

You’re hot and you’re cold…

Hot meets cool – like the writer of this blog? Anyway, we had to try it! It was awesome..

Nage was great as well – the houses weren’t as traditional but the people were lovely! When we left Nage it was getting late afternoon, but we wanted to see one more village that was near the ocean. It shouldn’t have been that far, but I think we missed it somehow. The road was pretty bad and when we first saw the ocean it was already dark. It would be too dangerous to drive back the same road in the dark, and we were told to continue to Aimere and go from there on to the Flores highway back to Bajawa – a trip of maybe 40 km on small and winding mountain roads. Nothing appealing, but we accepted our luck and kept going.

Football in Nage.

Nage football team.

Leaving Nage..

Hmm… is it dark already? And where are we again?

Suddenly there was an open space next to the road – the scenery was stunning and we had to stop. There was a small village with many locals gathered around, and in the background the shade of a massive volcano. The moon was full and shone brightly through the white clouds down at the village and two water buffalos tied to one of the ngadhu (a hut associated with male ancestors – there are also huts for female ancestors called bhaga).

We talked to some of the men there and before we knew it, we were invited for dinner and gladly accepted. They were really nice and once again the phrasebook became invaluable as their english was limited. This is where you start learning language – when you have to..

Driving at night we were drawn to stop at the sight of this beautiful village! We ended up staying here in Foa for the night and watched the ceremony the next day. Very nice experience!

Full moon. Beautiful.

It seemed the whole village was in a particular cheerful mood because they had a big ceremony the next day, which would involve slaughtering the two water buffalos and 25 pigs – in Flores the majority are catholic not muslim. The animist rituals mixes with catholicism in some traditional villages. This practice is known as Adat. They urged us to stay for the night and stay for the ceremony the next day, and we really wanted to, but the motorbikes were only rented for one day, and we also had the key for the hotel room where Wilf had his bag. We didn’t have the phone numbers of Wilf or the hotel, but through the few Indonesian contacts we had, we managed to get a message through it seemed, and we were happy to accept their hospitality!

The village was named Foa and we were hosted by Apin who gave up his bed in his family’s house. He spoke some english and he was incredible friendly and positive throughout our stay in Foa. Great guy! “Don’t forget..” he told us with a smile when we had to leave in the end.

This is where we slept for the night. Apin (red shirt) gave up his bed to host us. Nice guy.

When we woke up that next morning it was the day of the big ceremony, and it started early morning with the killing of the two buffalos, followed by the screaming of 25 pigs being tied up and killed – all with a machete. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I think I was shaking just a bit after the gory affairs were over. It was all clean and quick and not in any way disrespectful or unnecessary gory, but indeed quite different from shopping minced beef in the supermarket.. Also, it reminded me how fragile life is – the strongest of buffalos – one cut, a few desperate kicks, and it falls to the ground, gone in a matter of seconds…

The water buffalos and their executioners..

Life is fragile..

…

Different from shopping beef in the supermarket, is it?

The 25 pigs knew they had it coming.. It was a terrible screaming concert when they were tied up and killed.

Did you live the life you wanted..?

They didn’t just kill for fun…

… dinner is getting ready.

We stayed for an early dinner – it seemed we were eating all the time that day – but we had to leave at 4pm to make it back to Bajawa before dark. Going back on the motorbikes on the winding trans-Flores highway was a lot of fun and we were going pretty fast round the turns sometimes (of course in a fully responsible way!). Once again, Flores is damn beautiful and the scenery never failed to amaze me!

Day 31-32: Moni

We got up early to get the bus from Bajawa to Ende (3 h), where we stayed a few hours to see the ikat (traditional weaving) market before catching the bus on to Moni (2 h). I bought a cheap scarf because I had a sore throat, and was afraid to catch a cold in the colder climate in the mountain areas.

Typical public bus – we were having engine problems and everyone got out. 5 min later we were ready to move on..

Typical public bus – I hope grandma loves extremely loud bas music. Crazy..

We were pretty wasted from the bus drives when we finally arrived in Moni. The weather was cloudy, wet and cold. We stayed with a nice family, who had an extra room to rent out.

The reason people stop in the small mountain village Moni is the three Kelimutu crater lakes with their characteristic colors – usually turquoise, red and black, respectively. They are said to hold the souls of the dead – the wicked go to the black lake.. The misty and rainy weather, however, meant that the lakes would not be visible from the viewpoints.

We showed the family the ikat we got in Ende, but they weren’t very impressed – of course we had paid a slight overprice. One place in Moni supplied the village with original hand-made ikat, and this was the place to get a good sarong. We went there in the evening and the woman showed us the process and explained how they made the natural dyes etc. It was definitely authentic ikat weaving and I ended up buying a sarong here.

A sarong ala Flores is basically a weaved bag with a hole in both ends, so you can cover your whole body to keep warm. At day you can roll it down so it is only covering your waist and down. Everyone in Flores wears these and it looks very comfy. I can picture myself curled up in my sarong in the cold winter evenings back in Denmark, reading a book, working on a physics problem, or maybe philosophizing about life..

This is where I got my sarong – with the pattern of a grand master of course!

Anyway, the next day it was still raining and misty and I was getting sick with a fever and flu-like symptoms. I didn’t want to stay any longer in the cold mountain area, but we were waiting to see if the sky would clear up in the afternoon. Charly slept most of the day and I was drinking tea and feeling sorry for myself – I hate being sick!

The family we stayed with was really nice though and the kid our age had a good stereo to help the mood. We decided to catch the next bus sometime around 3pm, and while sitting on the porch in the depressing weather, the stereo was playing a playlist alternating between Adele (someone like you is big here) and some happy reggae kind of music. It was like sad-happy-sad-happy-etc, but a good memory indeed.

On the porch with the sad-happy mood. Also a bit sick..

We had some trouble catching the bus, but in the end it was a good thing because the sky was clearing up a bit and the father told us there might be a chance to see the Kelimutu if we went up there. We borrowed their motorbike and drove up there, and damn, we were lucky! As we arrived at the top we had a clear vision of the lakes. We met some people there who told us it had just cleared up half an hour earlier, and when we left 45 min later it was all foggy again! Good timing!

Kelimutu crater lake.

New hobby – motorbike photography!

On the way down from Gunung Kelimutu.

On the way down from Gunung Kelimutu.

We shared a car to Maumere with the people we met at Kelimutu. From Maumere we would catch the morning bus to Larantuka, the easternmost village in Flores, from where we would take a boat to get to the island Lembata. I still had flu symptoms and I was considering if it was a good idea to go to the rather isolated island of Lembata, because it could potentially be Dengue fever or Malaria. These don’t start with a sore throat though, and I felt pretty sure it was just a regular cold. I am ok now, so I guess I was right..

Maumere to Larantuka. The bus was full, so we climbed onto the roof! It was cool, metaphorically speaking, in the beginning, but after two hours it turned literally cool when we went uphill. I was still feeling sick but luckily there was more space in the bus at this point.

Arriving in Larantuka by bus we got on this boat to take us to Lembata.

Day 33-35: Lembata

Not many bule (white people) make it to the eastern island of Lembata in the Solor Archipelago – according to LP only about 300 each year, and according to the people we spoke to while there even less. Indeed, we didn’t see any other travellers in Lewoleba, where we stayed the first night, and of course we drew a good share of attention, especially from the kids.

That being said, we didn’t feel as welcome as we had felt in the rest of Indonesia, and some locals were even acting rather unfriendly when we were walking through the market that next morning. Whenever we got a chance to talk to them and use the Bahasa Indonesia we had gathered, they would usually loosen up though, but I was glad to be travelling with a friend. We figured maybe they had some incident with previous travellers because we had to fill out several forms at the hotel, one of them for the police – something we have never encountered before.

It was a 4-hour bus trip on an extremely bumpy dirt road to get from Lewoleba to Lamalera – the only place in the world exempt from the international ban on whaling. In this isolated village they live from the sea and hunting whales from small wooden boats armed with nothing but tipped bamboo spears is a way of life.

The lower part of isolated Lamalera.

This is where the boats take off for the whale hunts.

I wasn’t sure whether to visit or not. On one hand I wanted to visit for the interesting anthropological and cultural perspectives, but on the other, I wouldn’t want to make tourism out of whale hunting, which I am generally opposed to.. You can’t really blame these people living in this remote society though (I had no cell phone coverage out here). Even if it is getting more influenced by modern times, it is still a tradition and the village depends on the practice.

Whale bones lying around..

Drying meat…

To take out the big whales the ‘jumper’ will stand on a platform in front of the wooden boat, from where he will jump onto the back of the whale using his weight to drive the harpoon. It is a dangerous trade.. Some weeks before we arrived a jumper died days after being hit by the tail of a big whale. The superstitious people there believed the incident was caused by a ceremony that had gone wrong..

Later we were told the incredible story of one time they harpooned a whale so big, that it dragged the boats far, far out to sea, and eventually all but one boat was sunken. They ran out of food and water and supposedly starting eating their own clothes before an Australian warship found them and picked them up. Yes, this village is definitely the closest you’ll get to living out the story of Moby Dick..

A typical whale hunter boat. You can see the platform in front from where the jumper will leap onto the back of the whale with the tipped bamboo harpoon.

The main whaling is taking 15-20 sperm whales a year, but they take on pretty much anything passing by; dolphins, manta rays, sharks and whales. I was introduced to an old jumper at a village party, who I think was some kind of a legend. At least I was told that he had taken out anything – even a killer whale!

We were invited on a boat that next day, but (luckily?) they didn’t catch anything. They were chasing around after a group of dolphins at one point, but suddenly they gave it up. I’m still not completely sure why.

Hunting dolphins…

The thrill of the hunt… never got one though. In a sense I was glad.

People here were friendly, but sometimes still seemed a bit reserved until you got to talk with them. As I mentioned, we were at a village party one day. I was telling a few guys about my family (the one topic I can say something about in Bahasa Indonesia), and from what I collected, the three guys told me they were all brothers, even though it seemed unlikely to me. There were a few guys speaking decent english and Charly and I came to realize that the village is supposed to function as a big family; us being there was almost like two strangers crashing a family party.. Of course we try to always stay respectful and smiling in an attempt to bridge the gap.

We stayed at Mama Maria homestay. She always referred to herself in 3rd person. Mama Maria made some pretty good whale dishes..

I’m getting used to toilets like this…

We left at 2am on the back of a too densely packed truck after two nights in Lamalera. I had a live rooster trapped behind my feet, kicking and twitching from time to time..

Surreal photo… I like it! Taken on the truck that took us back from Lamalera to Lewoleba. I couldn’t get a clean shot without the flash. Bumpy ride indeed.

Day 36-38: Larantuka – Makassar

In Lewoleba I said goodbye to Charly planning to meet again in Yogyakarta before I left for Singapore. He was going back to Larantuka to catch the 26 hour boat to Makassar, Sulawesi. I had decided to try to get a plane from Lewoleba to Kupang in West Timur, from where I could then get a flight to Java.

The “airport” in Lewoleba turned out to be a small hut with a window where you could buy your ticket. I looked around to see the landing strip and it looked like a small country-side road in Denmark.. I was later told that the plane holds maybe 8-10 passengers. Of course the next plane that wasn’t fully booked was not until 4 days from then, and it was expensive as well. I found internet in Lewoleba and it turned out that the cheapest and fastest way for me to get to Java was actually to join Charly on the 26 hour ferry trip to Makassar the next day and then fly from there to Yogyakarta. It was a bad time to fly since it was an Indonesian holiday – flights book up fast and prices inflate.

Anyway, I booked my flight and took the boat back to Flores where I met up with Charly again. We had a good evening in Larantuka with the local guy Anthony and the two English girls Alice and Sami.

The ferry that would take us to Makassar – a 26 hour trip.

Alice and Sami were getting on that same boat to Makassar that next day, and we also met Chris from Hungary before boarding the late ferry around 6pm. We all had economy class tickets and the ferry trip had the potential to be seriously unpleasant, but we were extremely lucky and had a great trip, really!

The overnight ferry was seriously overcrowded as you might expect. Everywhere on deck inside and outside were people lying around. Charly and I made it to the top deck where  not many people were camping. It was great and we could sleep under the open sky somewhere on the deck or in one of the big closed lifeboats.. We were joined by Alice, Sami and Chris, who were up for the idea. Unfortunately, as the ferry was setting out an officer came and ordered everyone down from there. That’s why there were so few people.. All the good spots were taken long ago of course, but as we were walking down from there an officer poked me on the shoulder and showed us inside, where we finally ended up in a nice and spacey conference room! Awesome! Sometimes it’s not bad being a bule after all..

Charly and I explored nice places to camp for the long ferry trip. We went up this tower but came down soon enough when we saw the giant horns up there. Standing on the top deck when it went off, I am very glad we did!

Our awesome conference room!

The conference room was everything we could have dreamed of. We had a few bottles of arak – locally distilled palm spirits – so we played some drinking games. Ring of fire and ride the bus. You really need a lot of crackers to ride the bemo drinking pure arak – haha – it’s disgusting! Eventually we ran out of arak though, and headed to the top deck to see the stars.. It was good but it got a bit cold lying there so after checking out the lifeboat we headed back to our nice room to sleep. Charly slept in the lifeboat actually..

But yea, we had an unexpectedly nice trip in our air conditioned conference room that next day also. Whenever you headed down decks to get to the toilets or to get food, you were surprised how many people were packed in there. It looked like a boat full of illegal immigrants as you sometimes see in a movie, with people lying and crouching in every corner and even on the stairs. Really bad, and the smell was a mix of sweat, puke, and urine. It was better outdoors of course, but still we were very thankful for the nice room.

Makassar is a big city and a main port to Sulawesi. Chris continued on the boat to get all the way to Java on a tight budget – that’s another 48 hours I believe.. Charly, Alice, Sami and I found a nice outdoor food court with live music and had a great evening with a beer tower and some good sate ayam (chicken skewers).

Alice and Sami posing in their new outfits from the Makassar market. Hah..

My flight wasn’t until 7pm the next day so we had time to see the Makassar Mall and market. Quite busy.. Charly had to buy a ticket in the airport so we shared a taxi to take us there. On the way I received a phone call from the airline (Merpati) telling me my flight was cancelled, and that I couldn’t leave until the next day. I told them I was on my way there already, and we would have to figure it out in the airport.. I had a suspicion that the flight had been overbooked – Indonesia is not very organized.

The Merpati office took some time and finally told me the airplane had not arrived because of bad weather in Manado, so my flight was cancelled. I could get a refund.. I couldn’t tell them it sounded like bullshit to me, so I told them I had booked the flight and if I couldn’t get to Yogyakarta today, I would have to get a large discount. One moment, sir.. While they took their time I went to check the monitors to see if they were really bulshitting me, and indeed, there it was. They still told me it was a mistake, so I went to the check-in counter and asked if this was the flight to Yogyakarta. Indeed. Coming back I told them they ought to check their information, and not long after I received my boarding pass, and some lame excuse about a miscommunication with Manado airport.. Of course they sent out the nicest young lady to deal with you, and it’s no use getting angry of course. I told her I didn’t like getting lied to even if I couldn’t blame her, thanked her, and went to my flight, a bit irritated after being treated as an idiot by the guys at Merpati.. Anyway, I was happy to get on my flight as planned..

Haha, saw this shirt in Makassar. Priceless… Note the ‘hello mister’ on his shirt. You hear this a lot.. I wouldn’t wear it though.

Day 13-23: Lombok and Gili Islands

Summary

Lombok and the Gili Islands were great too! There was the physical exhaustion of climbing Indonesia’s second highest volcano, Gunung Rinjani (3726 m), followed by exploring some of the best beaches in Indonesia in Kuta Lombok, then finally the island life of Gili Trawangan, chilling on the beach, watching the sunsets and partying to reggae music through the night.. Good stuff!

Day 13: Getting to Lombok

From Padangbai, Bali, I took the slow ferry (4 hours) to Lembar in Lombok. I have no problems on the sea, but a few people there got quite seasick and at one point I found myself snacking chips while a woman opposite to me was throwing up time and again.. Indeed, it was better sitting outdoors in the fresh air. A cute little story from then: I was sitting on the stairs between the decks and a shy little girl (maybe 7 years old) was circling around me with her phone playing very loud music. Finally she sat down on the stairs some five steps above me. Slowly she was approaching without looking at me really. In the end she was sitting right next to me, still avoiding eye contact. I was just smiling of course. Suddenly the music from her phone stops and a few moments later “click,” I hear the sound of her camera. Haha, I thought it was really cute – she was so shy, but finally she smiled at me and ran away.

Arriving in Lembar late afternoon without a bus wasn’t much fun. Seriously, that place is rigged and the minibus people there weren’t very friendly. They asked ridiculous prices to take me to Singgigi. I was looking for a public bemo but wasn’t sure if the last one had left already. On the ferry I had met a young couple from Canada and we tried finding shared transport. I didn’t care if I had to stay somewhere around Lembar for the night – I hate getting ripped off by this kind of locals – so I was just walking away, but the couple stayed behind. I talked to a local woman who was really nice and offered me a ride but then some of these harbour guys shows up and I can see she’s in a dilemma so I thank her and walk away. Similarly when I was negotiating the price of a bemo. Suddenly a motorbike from the harbour stops next to us and the guy asks double the price. Seriously! In the end I shared a car ride with the Canadian couple – paid a bit too much, but I didn’t want to stay there any longer. A negative first impression of Lombok I must say, but luckily it didn’t stick for long. 🙂

Arriving in Lembar harbour, Lombok. Warning: The minibus company guys here were extremely annoying and harassed anyone offering a cheap ride.. grrr!

Arriving in Singgigi after dark I was looking for a homestay and likewise I checked the price of the 3 day 2 nights Gunung Rinjani trek. I was offered a price of Rp 1,000,000 all inclusive, which is quite good actually. LP mentions Rp 1,750,000. I stayed in Homestay Sonia and she told me her son was arranging treks as well and a group was leaving 5am that next morning. I was offered a price of Rp 800,000 and I just said yes – didn’t think much about it really, but I kinda wanted to do it. I didn’t come prepared at all, but that next morning I got up at 4:30am heading for what was probably the most physically challenging experience of my life..

Day 14-15: Gunung Rinjani

Okay, that morning when I got up around 4:30am after some 4 hours of sleep, climbing Indonesia’s second highest volcano (3726 m) didn’t seem such a big deal to me. I had never before climbed any mountains – or volcanos for that matter – and I haven’t been doing any significant sport or exercise in the last 10 years (I’m a physicist – shoot me). Clearly I was a fool, happily ignorant of the suffering that lay before me. I had heard from a few people, that this was a tough climb, but I completely underestimated it.

We were a group of 6 people plus a guide and the three porters carrying supplies as well as tents and sleeping bags. The others in the group had done several treks before this one – clearly I was the noob.

Anyway, the climb started from Senaru at an altitude of approximately 600 m. That first day we would climb ~2000 m vertical to the crater rim at a height of ~2600 m, where we would be camping for the night. In the beginning we were walking up and down in the fields for some kilometers to get to the foot of the mountain. Then it went uphill and it got increasingly steeper until we were climbing the natural steps uphill – almost like walking up the stairs to my flat in Noerrebro where I used to live (probably the best preparation I have had for this climb). When we stopped for lunch we saw some people coming down from the trek – there was this one girl walking like a zombie with an empty look in her face and a cigarette that wasn’t lit hanging from her mouth – priceless! They told us it was fucking cold and damn hard, and that they were almost crawling that last distance to get to the top! That’s when I started realizing that this wasn’t a picnic after all!

It was getting increasingly misty as we reached higher altitudes and the visibility was really bad – hopefully it would clear up that next day when we would reach the top. Our guide was setting a tremendous pace and we passed several other groups on our way even though we told him to go slower. The last hour of climbing in the late afternoon before reaching the crater rim my leg muscles started giving up on me – sometimes my muscles failed to do another step and I would have to press down on my knees with my hands to make it. Taking a rest for a minute or so always helped but not necessarily for long. I wasn’t the only one suffering like this though, and I managed to keep up with the others – at least to a first order approximation.

The mist – luckily no Stephen King resemblances…

… well, we did see some monkeys appearing from the mist. This was at the crater rim where we camped for the night. To put it like thefuckingweather.com: IT’S FUCKING COLD!!

We got to the crater rim sometime late afternoon and it was freezing cold up there – maybe 5 degrees celcius or so. Not too bad if you come prepared, but backpacking Indonesia with a 33L backpack I had left my long undies at home – someone could make a good business selling thermal underwear up there, haha.. 🙂 I know I would have paid up!

Finally the porters arrived and we could camp for the night. Still, the visibility was zero and we couldn’t really tell that we were on the rim of Indonesia’s second highest volcano. After dinner we saw a large group of monkeys and the guides told us that the next morning they would go for our breakfast.

We got up and left the camp at 3am to do the last vertical kilometer and catch the sunrise from the top. It had been raining at night and none of us had been very comfortable in the thin sleeping bags, on the thin mats, in the small tents. At night we had heard distant howling from the dark – we thought it was wolves, but the guide told us it was wild dogs.

Guided by the glow of our headlights we walked towards the top. It was cold and dark and the path uphill was slippery and the small rocks were sliding under our feet – two steps up, one step down. We saw several people who turned around before halfway there. I have a pretty strong will power when I decide on something, so when halfway there my muscles started going on strike and I had to take breaks now and then, I told my group to continue without me so they could make it to the top before sunrise. See you there! The guide wasn’t happy about it – the path is quite narrow and it has happened that a guy fell to his death, but in the end I was left there in the darkness. We had caught up with a small group of Indonesians from Sumatra and Java, and Tanjung from Sumatra was struggling up the slope much like me. He was a nice guy and soon enough we found friendship in our common goal and struggle. I was shaking from the freezing cold whenever we took a break and he offered me his extra pair of gloves and some chocolate. Just what I needed! We’ll make it – slow and steady!

In the end we did, and it was very rewarding! We took maybe half an hour longer than my group and didn’t see the sunrise from the top, but it was so great to get there! The others later told me that they never expected to see me there. We could see all of Lombok, the three Gilis and all the way to Bali and Sumbawa. I had a great feeling of accomplishment and physical exhaustion. I did it!

Before sunrise – literally and mentally – on the way to the 3726 m peak of Gunung Rinjani. I know I can, I know I can!

Just before the top!

Jonas Karlsen 1-0 Gunung Rinjani. Victory is sweet!

The view from the top of Gunung Rinjani (3726 m). You can see the three Gili Islands and Gunung Agung (3142 m) of Bali.

The crater lake and the new baby volcano being born. Gunung Rinjani is still active to be sure!

Oh yes! My whole group made it to the top – even that slow Danish guy..

Nice little camp isn’t it? The photo is taken after coming back from the top on the second day..

The second day the mist was gone and this was the view from our camp site!

Everyone agreed that this was the hardest trek of their lives – mostly because it was so difficult to find grip and each step you were sliding. I later talked to people who had done Mt. Everest base camp and they agreed that this was a really tough climb. It takes you by surprise.

After being on the top we were supposed to go down the crater to the hot spring and then up on the other side to camp there for the night, but none of us really wanted to do the third day, and everyone in my group decided to go back the way we came. Going back it started raining and all my clothes and everything in my pack was completely soaked. To get to the car that would take us back to Singgigi we also enjoyed a rainy one hour trip on the back of a truck. I really needed a hot shower when I came back to Singgigi – a hot spa would have been the top – but for some reason I ended up staying in a cheap homestay without either..

The last stand – on the way back we walked in heavy rain and also enjoyed an hour in the back of a truck like this – everything was soaked!

Day 16-18: Kuta Lombok

Before I left Singgigi for the trek I had met Michelle and I met her again coming back from the trek. She was going to Kuta Lombok on a motorbike the next day, and I decided to do the same thing and meet her there. Kuta Lombok is quiet and peaceful with some amazing beaches and it was a perfect place to recover after the Rinjani trek.

Kuta Lombok – the beach at Kuta just a few meters from my homestay!

Michelle on one of the countless great beaches of the Kuta Lombok area.

Going there on a rented motorbike I stopped in Mataram in a big shopping mall to find a new pair of shoes. My other pair was completely wrecked by the Rinjani trek and they were old anyway. Well, I’m a size 44 – fairly standard in Europe – not so standard in Indonesia.. Most shops had only up to size 43 but I managed to find a nice pair of Levi’s in the end, and afterwards I paid McD a visit just because I could – I really like Indonesian food to be sure!

Anyway, the police stopped me on my way to Kuta Lombok because I ran down a street that suddenly changed to a one-way. There was a sign indicating it, but it was hardly visible. Also, there was this small hut with a policeman, who seemed to be there for this reason only. I wasn’t very happy because I also don’t have the international drivers license which is actually required. He didn’t ask for it though, but showed me a fine and demanded Rp 100,000 to pay for my crime. In case the police would stop me for the international drivers license I had only a Rp 50,000 visible in my wallet together with some smaller bills, and I got him off my back with this one. He didn’t fill out anything on that fine, and I’m pretty sure he just put the money in his pocket. Oh well..

In Kuta Lombok I stayed in Seger Reef Homestay – very friendly staff – incredibly nice rooms. I shared a double with a French guy, Quintin, so it was also cheap. We explored the area on scooters together as well. Kuta Lombok is laid-back and nothing like the Bali counterpart, but you can still meet travellers even out of season when I was there. There were a few good places with live music and we had a good beach party there one night.

Cowboy on a scooter! I stopped for a picture before zig-zagging through the cows.

The beaches in Kuta Lombok were stunning – white sand, azure blue water – and you might just have the whole beach to yourself. Really great! Best beaches I’ve seen in Indonesia. The roads to get to the beaches are pretty bad though – a bumpy ride indeed. I saw the beaches of Tanjung Aan, Kuta, Tampa, Mawi and Selong Blanak. Most of them are really great bays with dramatic mountainous surroundings. In Mawi you can be lucky to catch a barrel wave if you are good with a surf board and come at the right time. My personal favourite was probably Selong Blanak in the west. It had nice surroundings and seemed to be sheltered from the wind better than the others. It wasn’t as deserted as some of the other beaches, but a few people and a small shop in one end of the beach is cool with me. There might be more tourists in the high-season of course.

Tanjung Aan beach – we had it all to ourselves…

… well almost..

Mawi beach – good for surfing – a few kids playing on the beach as well..

Selong Blanak beach panorama! I liked this beach..

Footsteps at Selong Blanak – I made most of these myself actually..

Another beach – what was the name again?

And another one.. still, I didn’t even see them all..

Day 19-23: Gili Trawangan

Gili Trawangan – oh man – this Island known as the ‘party island’ can definitely break your budget! The three Gili Islands are located just off the north-western coast of Lombok near Bangsal. You can walk the shore around the biggest one, Gili Trawangan, in about 2 hours. There’s no motorized transport on the islands, only bicycles and horse carts. Gili Trawangan is busy, and presumably Gili Meno is very quiet, while Gili Air is in between. I wanted to start out at Gili Air but could only get the cheap boat to Gili Trawangan when I arrived in Bangsal in the late afternoon.

Getting there I was only planning to spend a few days in the Gilis, but I ended up spending 5 nights in Gili Trawangan, without seeing the other two islands apart from a daytrip on a snorkeling boat around the islands. I met people who planned spending a week there but ended up spending a month instead!

Great sunsets…

Great market…

Great people… (this original known as Barney)

Great bungalow… A bit more expensive than my usual accommodation.. I only expected to stay a few days… but then… oh well.

Great outdoor shower… Showering in the evening while watching the stars and the moon..

So why did I stay? For a start I really liked the night market where I had food every day. Pick a fresh fish, a squid or something else and they will grill it on the spot. The market had a great ambiance and it was very easy to meet people and continue to some party afterwards. So much fun! I met some really fun and interesting people in Gili Trawangan and we had some great nights partying at the reggae club or in one of the many other places you could go to. Also, there were the sunsets among new friends, the beaches, the snorkeling, and my nice bungalow with an outdoor shower, where I would shower in the evening, watching the stars to the sound of reggae music in the background (or maybe the sound of the mosque at mosque o’clock). Oh, and my open ticket to go from there to Flores through Sumbawa by ferry and bus (overnight trip) required leaving at 7:30am – something that’s not particularly easy if you’ve been partying most of the night..

I wasn’t alone at night… apart from a gecko I had this giant spider in my room for a few days, until one morning a big wasp was chasing it around the bungalow. It was quite a sight – the spider was running for its life! When I got back from the shower the spider was done for and the wasp was gone. Brutal!

I like the blue color nuances in this photo…. this day I was just baking in the sun with a few people.

Rafaella sunset..

Chain saw to split the logs in half – looks a bit dangerous to me…

Snorkelling I saw turtles, lots of colorful fish, and even one shark swimming around a shipwreck below me. I never really snorkeled before and I was surprised how much I liked it – definitely looking forward to learning to dive in the Philippines!

I rented a mask and some fins one day and went snorkelling with my waterproof Sony. You had to get out far to find the turtles at around 4 m depth. The next day I went on a snorkelling boat trip!

Oh, by the way. This is a good time to mention my funky shirt that changes color every time I get it back from laundry. It started out white, next time I got it back it was mint green and in the Gilis it turned sand color… It’s like getting a new shirt each time! Haha, awesome! 😉

Everything is more expensive in the Gilis though and since you have no choice but to party it will definitely break your shoestring daily budget. Also, after 5 days in Gili Trawangan I think I needed to detox, so I decided to get up early and catch the boat so I could move on to Flores.

Day 1-11: Bali

Summary

I’ve had a great time in Indonesia so far! Bali is great! Lots of interesting culture and beautiful scenic landscapes and villages coming your way. Sure, Bali is the most touristy part of Indonesia, and you can definitely feel the impact in some areas, but it seems much of the authentic Balinese culture remains, and if you want to escape the tourists I’m pretty sure a 20 min drive from anywhere in Bali will get you to a nice little village where you will be greeted by the local children with big smiles and the everlasting “Hellooo!”. Yes, Bali is truly wonderful, and traveling on a budget makes the experience even better, interacting with the locals in your homestay, in the public bemo (minibus), or with the villagers in some remote little village asking for directions or maybe checking out their local temple. And the cold showers? Well, with the warm weather I pretty much got used to those from day 1. Sure, traveling is more interesting and twice the fun when you just wing it! I’ve had some great experiences so far, and I’ll share some of it in the sections below. For some reason this update got really long. I won’t apologize – read it if you’re interested! 😉

Day 1: Kuta

Okay, this is a sad place to start actually. I certainly did not have my best experiences in this place, which reminds me of some unfortunate combination of Las Vegas with all its vulgarity, and some south-european tourist attraction with all its street-sellers. Add to this the beaches and a lot of young people and surfers looking for a party and you have Kuta. It really wasn’t for this I came to Indonesia, and it seemed like everyone was just trying to exploit you. I nevertheless decided to try what everyone seems to come here for – go out. I had a few cheap beers and a decent time chatting to some Australian girls, but I’d seen enough and decided to move on the next day.

Kuta had its highlights as well. In the evening the tides were low and the local children played football on the beach while the sun was setting. A delightful contrast to the hectic streets of Kuta.

Day 2-5: Ubud

I went by a comfortable new and free public bus system (airconditioned!) from just outside Kuta to Batubulan and from there to Ubud by public bemo. The free buses were introduced just recently and not mentioned in my Lonely Planet (LP) guidebook. People in Kuta kept offering transport for around Rp. 150-300,000 (~ $15-30) which I guess is pretty cheap for a one and a half hour drive, but I was determined to do it budget-style by public transportation, and eventually I found out about the bus. Most people in Kuta insisted that there were no longer public bemos or that it would take most of the day by public transportation in order to make me buy a ride, which maybe illustrates why I didn’t like Kuta very much.

I came to Ubud and what a relief! There are still a lot of tourists, but it has a completely different and laid-back feel to it, and I liked Ubud from the moment I stepped out the bemo! I lived in a nice and clean homestay on Monkey Forest Road called Dewi Ayu 2, in a room with cold water and a ceiling fan, Rp. 100,000 per night (~$10), and I might even have had a better price had I known I would stay this long in Ubud. My budget is around Rp. 250,000 a day (~$25 – you figure out the exchange rate), and this is perfectly doable if you stay in places like this. I stopped thinking in kroners and dollars, otherwise you’ll end up buying a lot of stuff because it’s so cheap, and it makes me feel more authentic as a traveller and in better contact with the local culture, as compared to people spending their dollars in fancy hotels and expensive restaurants full of western people – no offense.

Just as I arrived in Ubud I went to this cafe promising a great view. I had lunch with an Australian woman who had been traveling as part of her job with undeveloped communities for the past 15 years. We had a very nice and interesting talk about life in remote villages in Africa and Australia and many other things.

The Monkey Forest at the end of the road where I lived. There is a temple there. Watch out – the monkeys will steal sunglasses and other loose items!

Traveling by bemo.

Day 3 was my tour de France day! I rented a bicycle to go north and see the rice fields. I just went by my inner compass and picked some random small road heading north. I thought I would somehow make it a roundtrip and find another way back. Around 2 o’clock, when I had gone north up and down the hills (mostly up!) for more than 3 hours, I was exhausted and my clothes were all soaked. I was really hoping for an intersection where I could turn left, but no luck. I recorded some pretty funny videos of me catching my breath and giving a tour-update in between the climbs, while losing hope and later getting it back when I had word that I could make the roundtrip and still make it back before dark.

The area was beautiful and the villagers friendly, but most only spoke very little english and my Bahasa Indonesia is really nothing to brag about. I never failed to get the “Hellooo!” from the children whenever I reached a little village, and once they even ran after me cheering while I was fighting the mean slope uphill. Oh yes, it was truly my greatest tour-de-france experience yet! I got pretty tired of pedaling though, and decided I was ready for a motorbike with a convenient gas-handle and no pedals the next time I would be going on adventures like that.

I went north by some random road, and in the end I found a way to make it a roundtrip. It was tough, but I survived and even made it back to Ubud before dark.

On my way back to Ubud via the main road I had a constant downhill slope and didn’t have to use the pedals – absolutely loved it! It also explained my suffering going uphill most of the time on the winding road north. Suddenly I was in this area full of tourists and tourist busses, and indeed it was worth stopping to take a look at the scenery. I was proud to say I came by bike!

Also, on my way back to Ubud on bike, I stopped to get a drink in a small shop. The owner was really nice. She told me they were preparing a homestay and showed me the room. How do you like the view above? It’s yours for $2.5 a day! Maybe next time..

Haha.. passing on my bike this made me laugh and I had to stop for a photo.

Day 4 I was at Goa Gajah (known as the elephant cave – no elephants) and Yeh Puluh, a 25 m cliff wall with stone cut figures, and I had an interesting trek through the jungle to get from one to the other. Inside the area I had to wear a sari around my waist since it was a holy area used for prayer and meditation. At Yeh Puluh I had the best Balinise crepe at a small cafe!

Coconut (the one to the right).

On the trek between Goa Gajah and Yeh Puluh I met this little family. The woman guided me down the river and showed me some amazing places I probably would have missed otherwise.

George of the jungle..

Down the river. Probably more interesting than Goa Gajah and Yeh Puluh together!

This quiet and peaceful place down the river was used for prayer and meditation.

Same day I ran some errands in Ubud and forgot to pick up my laundry at 9 pm (they were closed the next day, sunday). On my way back I met a young Danish couple going to a bar to watch the Denmark-Netherlands football match. I joined in, and we ended up 7 Danish people watching the game surrounded by dutch people. I talked a bit to the owner and he was dutch as well, so no wonder. It was good fun though, and Denmark won 1-0 as you may know. Allan, in his 30’ies was quite a character playing the bongo-drum and convincing some French girls to cheer for Denmark, eventhough he didn’t care much for football like me. It got pretty late, maybe 2 am, due to the time difference, but I must say I feel very safe here in Bali even at this time of day. The biggest safety concern may be the stray dogs that seem very territorial and sometimes can get a bit angry with you.

I met some danes in Ubud day 4 and ended up watching Denmark-Netherlands surrounded by dutch people in this dutch-owned bar!

Next day in Ubud I just walked around and I talked to this local guy with a son my age who showed me a temple and explained some details about hindu tradition. There are all these small bamboo-boxes with flowers in the streets and those, apparently, are to scare away evil spirits. Shiva is the god of ground and I don’t remember the names of the god of fire and water. Together they form a trinity and each god may be reached with the colors yellow, red and white, respectively. Other colors are not important but still present in the ceremonies.

Afterwards he took me to the Blanco museum of art. There was an entrance fee of Rp 50,000 and I suspect he got a commission for taking me there. This is usually how it works for accomodation as well it seems. I was sceptical but nevertheless paid up and went in to see for myself. The entrance included a welcome drink (iced tea) which helped my mood. A pretty garden met me and there were a lot of exotic birds. I felt a little sorry for the birds as many were caged and the others stolen their ability to fly. I got some pictures of me with a parrot on my shoulder, and I guess it was somewhat a dream come true – I have a drawing I made in the zeroth grade of the exact same thing!

Parrot on my shoulder at the Blanco Museum.

It seemed that Blanco as an artist had been obsessed with the female body (can’t really blame him now, can we). Most paintings centered around this theme, there were some hot statues on the roof of the building, and even on the entrance to his old Hindu temple there were woman carved in stone!

Statue on the roof of the Blanco Museum – hot!

Another one… not bad.

As I’m planning to be in Indonesia around 7 weeks before I move on, I need a visa extension (I didn’t apply for a 60 day visa in advance – don’t know why – maybe I just wanted to wing it..). From what I had read it can be a hassle to get the extension and you need to go to an immigration office 3 times in 3 days and whether or not you get the extension might depend on the mood of the immigration officer. Also, the cost is $25. I found a small office who would do it for me for $55 and I trusted him my passport (I carry a copy) and agreed to pay when I received my passport with the extension (got it back, no problems, office called Bali Lines, Monkey Forest Road).

This way I could rent a motorbike and go explore central and northern Bali, then come back to pick up my passport, and continue to the eastern islands of Nusa Tenggara. Quite perfect!

Day 6-11: Scoopy and me

I rented Scoopy, my motorbike, for Rp 35,000 a day ($3.5) in 6 days. Scoopy is an automatic and easy and fun to drive! Seriously, this is such a fun, independent and easy way to explore Bali! Scoopy with a full tank will get you across the island and filling the tank is only about $1. It’s pure freedom and I found myself with a big smile cruising through villages, up mountains, around and about. Once you figure out the traffic and get used to driving in the left side of the road it really is awesome! As a bonus it’s much easier to get lost and find yourself in an adventure! 😉

Me and Scoopy near a waterfall in Munduk.

Gunung Kawi ancient monuments.

After stopping in Gunung Kawi, I drove north to Penelokan to see Gunung Batur, an active volcano and a common destination for sunrise treks. The LP guide had warned me that the viewpoint in Penelokan would be full of aggressive street-sellers as well as hordes of tourists. This was all very true and the aggressive sellers and the people constantly bugging me about accommodation completely spoiled it for me. It was a nice view of the volcano and the lake, but I didn’t enjoy it much in these surroundings.

Gunung and Danau Batur from the (not so pleasant) viewpoint in Penelokan.

I continued to Kintamani where I stayed in a very basic room with shared bathroom and no running water in Homestay Miranda (only hotel in town). It was a bit chilly up in the mountains at night, and I decided a cold bucket shower wasn’t needed that next morning. Also, I didn’t do the sunrise trek as you need a guide and it is expensive due to some monopoly mentioned in LP.

However, I am really glad I stayed in Kintamani. I had some great experiences with the locals here. I was just strolling down the street when on the backside facing the volcano I came by this family playing badminton on the street. They asked if I wanted to join them and I had an amazing time playing badminton on the street with a view of Gunung Batur in the background. The children gathered around and there was a great deal of laughing. Good time!

Badminton buddies in Kintamani.

Street badminton in Kintamani – comes strongly recommended!

VW enthusiast in Kintamani. Nice car indeed.

Later walking down the street I talked to this local guy who had two old VW bubble in his garage – I had to compliment him on those and he talked enthusiastically about it and showed me the engine, which looked as if straight out of the factory. At the end of the day back at my homestay I met Jannis from Germany. We had a long and interesting talk. A pretty good day despite my initial disappointment in Penelokan – the people were more interesting than the sight..

The next day, I drove from Kintamani to Lovina. Took the wrong turn here and there, which led me to a temple full of locals preparing some ceremony. I took a look and moved on to Lovina, on my way passing through Singaraja where the traffic was quite heavy. I found a nice homestay at Lovina beach, Puri Mandhara, which also featured a cheap restaurant, a shelf of english books, and even a computer with internet. People were bugging me to go see the dolphins on a boattrip, but Jannis had told me the day before that it’s not worth it – 20 boats chasing after those poor dolphins whenever they show. Apart from that Lovina beach is very quiet in June and I found it a good place to relax, read a little Fitzgerald, and write down some of my experiences. From the beach you can see distant mountains – Mount Bromo on Java I was told, where I plan to go after coming back from the islands to the east.

Lovina beach. Very quiet in June. Spent one day just reading and writing on the beach.

From Lovina I went to Munduk, where I stayed at Karang Sari in the nicest room for Rp 100,000 so far. It was usually more than double, but coming out of season I got a good price. Very nice staff there. The room had a hot shower which is nice in the chilly mountain areas, a nice bed with extra blanket, and toilet paper at the ready (first time I see this). It even had a painting on the wall. Anyway, I explored some of the trails on motorbike (sometimes very bad roads) and got to Danau (Lake) Tamblingan late in the afternoon. Part of the small village and their temple has been flooded. I had a short boat trip around the lake and the sunken village in the quiet, late afternoon. Very nice.

MC-trekking in Munduk.

Danau Tamblingan with parts of the sunken village and temple. Quite amazing in the late afternoon.

Danau Tamblingan. We’re on a small floating fishing platform, where we dropped off two boys who were here to fish in the evening.

Quite an amazing view just above Danau Tamblingan (to the left of the image).

Me and Scoopy enjoying the area around Danau Tamblingan.

Sunset in Munduk from the roof of my hotel.

I decided not to stay another night in Munduk and had to say goodbye to the nice room at the nice price – otherwise I would have to backtrack – and I only had one night before returning the bike in Ubud so that seemed like a waste. There were some real nice scenery along the way to Pancasari and Candikuning. I went to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, which is an important temple dedicated the goddess of waters. It is an important hindu temple and many tourists go here, but I found it kind of overrated and plastic. I was in the Bali botanical gardens for an hour as well, but didn’t see many plants to be fair – just read a bit and had a snack in the green.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan – a bit overrated but a nice picture.

Afterwards I went on with Scoopy to the Jatiluwih rice fields. Arrived late afternoon. Very nice scenery in a peaceful setting. The rice was all yellow and ready for harvest, however, so it wasn’t all green as some of the other rice terraces I had seen. Anyway, I decided to try to make it to Pura Luhur Batukau and on to Tabanan, where I thought I could find accommodation before it would get too dark (I thought wrong! I didn’t realize Tabanan is a big and traffic’y city – definitely not nice arriving there late at night on a scooter). Getting to the temple from Jatiluwih took me down some small roads in a pretty bad condition. Oh, I have driven several at this point – small roads where you zig-zag left and right to try to stay on whatever asphalt is left (if any). It can be very bumpy and with a constant fear of a flat tire.

Jatiluwih rice fields.

Pura Luhur Batukau was something – not like the disappointing Pura Ulun Danu Bratan that seemed all plastic. This was the real thing. I arrived late in the evening before sunset and pretty much had it to myself. First you have to follow some quite deserted roads up the mountain, which builds up the Indiana-Jones sort of feeling. The temple had the same feel to it – large, deserted and remote. I liked it more than the other temples for sure.

Pura Luhur Batukau – remote and mystical, very Indiana-Jones-like temple.

Pura Luhur Batukau and Indiana Jonas (forgot the hat).

Getting late I went towards Tabanan to find accommodation for the night. On my way there I saw a couple of homestays but decided to go all the way. Had I known Tabanan for what it is, I would have stayed away – especially in the night. Traffic was building up and it revealed itself as a big and polluted city that I found hard to navigate at the late hour when it had already gotten dark. I wanted to go to Ubud and saw the road to Bedugul and Singaraja and got on this knowing it would head north, and I needed to go north-east. I thought there would be a small road east at some point, but was mistaken. The road was not lit, and I just kept going and going, headlights flashing my vision time and again. At some point I just wanted to survive, really. Going fast in all this traffic on a small scooter in shorts and short sleeves in pitch black darkness seemed like a hazardous thing to do, and as I was climbing the mountain road and it got later, it also got a bit chilly.

I knew I had passed Ubud but there were no eastern-bound roads so I decided to try to find a place for the night. This didn’t happen until Pacung (which is actually not far from where I started out that day), where I stopped at a small shop with some people in the street and explained my situation. I was led to a nice little homestay, and had to pay a bit more than I usually spend on accommodation. It was a nice room though, and I was grateful to find something for the night. I hadn’t had dinner, and was told there was a night market just 1 km further up the road. I went there and had an awesome time mixing with the locals. I like getting lost! It always leads to some interesting interactions and situations! 🙂 People always look a bit when a ‘bule’ (foreigner) approaches a local scene like this. You always feel welcome though. I had an awesome time with the guy next to me while eating. He had traveled quite a bit and spoke perfect english. I gave Bahasa Indonesia a shot and we had some good laughs when instead of saying “I want to learn Bahasa Indonesia” said something more like “I want an Indonesian girlfriend.” Anyway, he told me that was not a bad idea actually, since they would make me coffee in the morning! Haha. We joked around quite a bit and they were mocking me for driving a Honda Scoopy, which (as I might have suspected) is mostly for woman. It has too little space for my knees as well, and next time I was told to ask for a Honda Vario instead. Haha.. good times!

Making friends at Pacang market. They were mocking me for driving a ‘girls-scooter’. Good times!

Pacang market. “I love getting lost!”

Next day I went through some winding small mountain roads to get on the road to Ubud. Arriving in Ubud I almost felt like home, knowing the streets and even some of the local faces from shops etc. I looked around for a Honda Vario to go east, but most people wouldn’t rent out scooters to go off Bali. I did find some who would, but I wasn’t sure how it would work with insurance and I also didn’t bring an international driving license, which might get me in trouble, especially if driving with Bali license plates as these might attract more attention to the east. I decided to just go by bus, and then maybe rent motorbikes for daytrips. This is the plan as I am writing this right now. Tomorrow I will go to Padangbai, maybe stay a night, and then catch the ferry to Lombok from where I will eventually head east over Sumbawa to Komodo, Rinca and Flores.

Oh yea, and in between writing this and the last section, I just went to one of those traditional dances that you are somewhat supposed to go to in Ubud. I chose Legong which sounds more graceful than the other traditional dances (also, it’s the one with girls in tight golden dresses). It was performed in the Ubud palace and it was quite ok. I wasn’t exactly blown away though.

The traditional dance Legong at Ubud palace.