Category Archives: Indonesia

Day 103 – Waterfalls

We had booked a half day hike for this morning. It was supposed to start at 8am but our guide turned up early so we left early as well. We started with the hike to the waterfall. There is an official path to get there but we took the unofficial road which leads along the artificial waterway and gave us great views over the valley with rice fields.

Beautiful place and enormous ...

Beautiful place and enormous …

We basically stayed on the same height line until we could see and hear the first waterfall. Apart from the waterfall, we could also hear something resembling thunder. Rani told us that those are eruptions within Rinjani, though, when the magma hits the water of the crater lakes. That was not the most reassuring of all explanations.

Going down to Air Tejung Sendang Gile, the view was lovely. The water falls down in two steps from a steep wall that is completely covered in green; ferns and jungle creepers. It has been ages since we saw the last waterfall…probably back in NZ.

You shouldn’t go underneath the water (it is falling down about 60 meters) but you can still get close enough to get wet from the spray. A couple of photos and a biscuit break later, we started for the second and more important waterfall. Again, you follow the artificial waterway and even cross an aqueduct with a drop on both sides before you have to cross the river twice to get to the place. The river is quite cold and the water is so clear that you can see everything. Rani helped me through the crossings; it’s just a bit hard crossing with bare feet rather than in water shoes as the rocks make footing uneven. It was much fun nevertheless. Continue reading →

Day 102 – Mehs and Yays

Google is wrong! Well, maybe not in general, but regarding the geolocation of Dalam Loka, a historic sultan’s palace.

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

But in order: We managed to do as we set out to and pack up early enough to get on the road before the heat is too unbearable. Nina wanted to see the weaving of traditional cloth, called ikat by the lonely planet, first hand. We have seen woman dying cloth and weaving in mountain villages on Flores, but did not stop to take photos or have a chat. Going into more and more developed parts of Indonesia, this felt like one of the last good chances to do so. But alas, the geolocation demons struck again. The directions in the lonely planet were sketchy at best, the open street maps has the village mentioned in the wrong place and it was Friday early morning in an Islamic part of the country. We did not even find the right village in the end, but the round trip on beautiful back roads through lush green rice paddies was worth it none the less.

With that first failure under our belt, we decided to give the sultan’s palace a go. Google said it is 20 km south in the mountains. It was also a point of interest on the OSM map, so we let the GPS guide the way. Turned out we ended up back in Sumbawa Besar after all – within walking distance of our hotel …

The palace was a nice photo-op but not much more, and we decided that it was time to head east for good. When we came upon the fork in the road, leading either south to some more Sumbawa surfer beaches or east to the ferry to Lombok, the discussion was a short one. Although we met amazing people, we never really warmed to Sumbawa and we went towards the ferry. We are here to enjoy ourselves after all.

nice place for a ferry port ...

nice place for a ferry port …

The ferry was quick, painless and reasonably cheap. The sea was roughest of all ferry rides so far though and poor Rocinante got a good spray of salt water on the way. Well, at least it was quick this time.

On Lombok, the route was pretty clear: North, up the mountain where it is nice and cool. And green, oh such sweet green. I can honestly say, I am over savannahs. Too dry, too hot. And gosh, Lombok delivered. Lush, green rainforest enveloping the beautiful, winding road. Vistas, monkeys. Our spirits sored. Nina got fresh strawberries in a mountain valley!  Although, we got more than a little homesick for New Zealand at this point.

The accommodation was good, much better than what we got for that price so far, and the climate really suited us. We booked a guide for tomorrow for a half day track through the surroundings and two waterfalls nearby, since Gundung Rinjani (the big volcano on Lombok) was still closed for all climbers due to its recent activity.

Day 101 – A day in Sumbawa Besar

We didn’t make a lot of plans for today just one which was to get up early and visit the market. The day was quite the burner so during breakfast we broke our first sweat. It didn’t help much that we had fried rice and egg omelettes.

People, motorbikes, wares, all zipping around

People, motorbikes, wares, all zipping around

Afterwards, walking to the market was quite the trial. The market itself is gigantic, under a roof and a complete maze to me. I followed Flo around first through the fruit and vege section and then through the clothes section. In between there was a stretch with fish and chicken which I tried to pass quickly only to find that I had entered the innards section. Ewww…the only stall with sweets was right in the middle so I had to pass on those as well.

Within a short amount of time, we were overwhelmed and ready to leave. Not without buying more, strange looking fruits though.

On the way back, we had to take breaks in the shade as the sun was just scorching us. Luckily, our room is air conditioned. It was then that we decided to take a rest day to replenish our batteries. For the rest of the day, we lounged around our room, watching episodes of a series and listening to an audiobook. Despite thinking we’re having a rest day at a beach, we ended up taking it in a city. Flo and I are simply city people and we enjoyed it muchly to walk around one corner to top up our phone credit and around another corner to great street food. Sumbawa Besar is super convenient for us, as there is even a laundry service on the opposite side of our hotel. All our clothes now smell like flowers which hasn’t happened in a while.

Day 100 – Centpostial

One hundred days ago, we left a cold and rainy Wellington, for good, at least for now. If we were a government this would be the point at which pundits would call for a first resume. So did we archive what we set out to do?   Continue reading →

Day 99 – Incredible Hospitality

We took our time this morning, hogging the free wifi at the hotel for a bit longer. Breakfast was included but, again, tested our resolve as it was fried rice with fish or vegetable fritters. I am really struggling with the food for breakfast which I would find tasty at a later point in the day… The tea on the other hand was the best I had in quite a while and it didn’t go well with the fritters.

This is how selling local ice cream looks like

This is how selling local ice cream looks like

Leaving Bima which we found to be an interesting and lively place, we stopped at a gas station again to refuel. It was a swelteringly hot day and we had run out of drinking water in the hotel so it didn’t take long for us to stop at a roadside warung to buy water and peek into the freezer to check out the ice cream.

Unfortunately, there was no ice cream to be had and I saved Flo from buying a Fanta with strawberry flavour thinking it to be a coke. Instead, we had an orange juice and a big, chilled bottle of water. Everybody was super nice to us and when we opened the bottles in the shop, chairs appeared in the shade and we were sat down.

Ladies were keen for me to try the ice cream (and get into the picture) :)

Ladies were keen for me to try the ice cream (and get into the picture) 🙂

At that moment, one of the local women came back with another woman in tow. It turns out that Wati was called to translate for us. Since we had already bought all we wanted, we had a conversation with her instead which she partly translated for the crowd which was swelling and ebbing with the arrival and departure of school kids. The local ladies asked if we had tried “Indonesian ice cream” already and were quite keen for us to try when the answer was no.

“Indonesian ice cream” consisted of a few ice cubes in a bowl to which are added red and green jelly blobs. As a sauce, you get coconut milk poured over it, then some kind of sugar melasse as a sweetener and bits of bread as crunchy pieces. I actually enjoyed it a lot, clearing the bowl with just one spoonful for Flo to try.

Just before I caused an uproar with my camera

Just before I caused an uproar with my camera

Wati turned out to be an incredible human being and she shared her very personal and touching story with us. Also, she invited us to “rest” aka stay overnight at her parents’ house or at least have a shower. At some point we relocated to her parents’ veranda where we were fed with water melon, mango and a kind of dessert cucumber I have never even heard of. Flo also got a taste of home-made lunch and, of course, the local coffee. I caused a minor incident with the school kids who had followed us to the house. I picked up my camera to take a photo of them and instead of laughing or running away as I expected, they all ran towards me right onto private property, only stopping short of hopping onto the veranda themselves. Oops. The commotion meant I only got a blurry picture of the kids though.

Saying good-bye

Saying good-bye

When it was time to continue on our way, I got really emotional. I wish just the best to Wati, her husband and her family. She is about to leave for Japan again with the plan of staying a couple of years so hopefully, we will catch up in Japan at some point.

Back on the road, it looked like rain and yes, we had our first tropical rain downpour today. It didn’t rain for long but the streets still flooded while the kids played in the enormous puddles at the roadside wearing nothing but underwear and having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, we have no pictures as I didn’t want to expose my camera to the rain.

Arriving in Lakey Beach, we had a look around the beach and despite Sumbawa being not very touristy developed, this place already seems too touristy for us. I am not quite sure what we will think of Lombok and Bali.

Day 98 – On to Sumbawa

tucked away behind all the little ones

tucked away behind all the little ones

After our two day holiday from the bike, we were back to business today. Since we had reached the western end of Flores in Labuan Bajo, it was time to hop on the next ferry bringing us to Sape on Sumbawa. The ferry goes every day and was scheduled for 8am this morning.

To make this rather early cut-off, we got up at sunrise which is about 5.30am at the moment. Packing still is rather quick (if you don’t have to put the tent down and store all the sleeping gear) so Flo got Rocinante out of her safe parking spot in the hotel yard to put the panniers back on. The bike didn’t fit through the gate to the yard when it was fully loaded so to manoeuvre it, it had to be without luggage.

At 6.45am, we were on the bike, driving to the ferry terminal. These tickets turned out to be expensive, probably because Flo ended up paying bemo fares for Rocinante which means she was treated like a mini-bus. One of the first on the ferry, we again, selected two empty rows for us and I lay down for another nap. Being scheduled to leave port at 8am, we finally left Labuan Bajo at 9.45am. While the cargo hold was pretty full, there were still many empty seats on the ferry. We had feared that it might be overcrowded with the volcano on Lombok playing up and all flights being cancelled. On the other hand, we trusted that vendors will come on to the ferry to sell us lunch but we were disappointed as they only sold bananas and snacks this time. Flo braved his first “Pop Mie” instant noodles cup while I stuck to oreos and TimTams.

No trouble with space this time

No trouble with space this time

We had lovely company for hours on the ferry, meeting Katja, a German backpacker, and Clement, a traveler from Slovenia. They both told us more about a story we heard…a tourist dying while snorkeling at Komodo. At first, it was said through the grapevine (aka news that travelled from boat to boat) that the tourist stayed in the water too long and exhausted herself which lead to her breathing in water and she basically drowned. Katja and Clement said it looked more like a stroke or so in the water. The tourist lady was about 70 years old.

Despite our late start, the ferry arrived in Sape at 3.30ish. So the ride itself was not nearly as long as getting to Flores and passed quicker than we had thought. There was a bit of chaos at the port as everyone tried to leave at the same time and get to their further means of transport on land but we managed to get out fine. We even found an ATM that would let us withdraw about NZ$250. The limit on the ATMs here seems a bit arbitrary and each withdrawal costs us fees at kiwibank.

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Coming to a new island is always exciting. Sumbawa is less developed in tourism then Flores but, all in all, it seems to fare better. The houses all look bigger, all built out of stone and quite neat. The fuel at the roadside often comes in little pumps with the same brand as the gas station rather than in reused water bottles. However, there are also horse-drawn carts on the road which seems slightly weird. It’s not a tourist attraction but a legitimate way of travelling. Those poor horses must be close to a heart attack in the dense traffic.

Riding out of Sape, we headed for Bima, a town further north. The road was again in very good condition (but most roads are compared to East Timor) and we came through quite a few roadside towns. Now, it is noticeable that the majority of the people here are muslim. Mosques can be seen quite often and some of them are really impressive. The majority of women also wears hijab, most of them in very colourful tones.

We booked into a hotel for the night and it has free wifi, something we haven’t had in ages. On top of the free-ness, it is also quite fast so Flo is in internet heaven at the moment. 🙂

Day 97 – Manta Manta

Morning mist hiding the sun a bit

Morning mist hiding the sun a bit

To our surprise we had a good night’s sleep in the cabin of our little boat near the flying foxes. The sea got dead calm over night and once  everyone was settled into their resting place, the swaying stopped and the boat stood calm and still through the night.

We got up early to watch the sunrise and the flying foxes one more time. The vistas were once again beautiful, the breakfast of batter fried bananas and Flores coffee rocked and soon we were well under way towards Manta Point.

Passing close to the boat

Passing close to the boat

Once again, we scored with the wildlife! Two rays were feeding at this point, and we got within meters of them snorkeling around. Nina was a bit apprehensive of their tail spikes and got back onto the boat while I stuck with them and got to swim a while longer with these majestic creatures.

After that cool start, we made our way, roughly back towards Labuan Bajo to stop at the last itinerary of our excursion: Kanawa Island. We did another two great sets of snorkeling to explore the reef. Once we were good, the last lunch of the trip got served (I got the fish that Aco caught last night). And that was it, two hours later we were back in Labuan Bajo, gave our exhausted but happy goodbyes to our crew and retired to our hotel for some wifi and packing.

Tomorrow, Sumbawa …

Day 96 – Here be dragons

Komodo. For us, it was all about this island. One of those things that we both had seen documentaries about as kids with a “one day I will go there” notion in our heads.

The two days and one night on the boat encompassed more than just Komodo but we were mostly excited about the dragons.

A map of the Komodo National Park

A map of the Komodo National Park

We had what is called an “early breakfast” at 7.30am which was actually late for us. The guide was said to pick us up at 8am but he was a bit early too. A hasty breakfast with coconut-filled buns later, we were trailing behind Aco to the boat. Flo and I expected other people to join us for the cruise but it turned out that we had chartered Aco and his son Side with their modified fisher boat all for ourselves. Having the deck just for us meant a lot of space on the ride out to Rinca our first stop for the day.

Rinca, as well as Komodo island, belongs to the Komodo National Park. There are fewer dragons living on Rinca but over two thousand nonetheless. It took us two hours to get out there during which Flo and I had the provided tea, coffee and water. Once landed, a ranger took us to the ticket office where you have to pay a fee for almost everything (the park itself, visiting an island, snorkelling, trekking, camera etc. and at last, the ranger’s services) before we were taken in a guided tour. At the start, you can choose if you wanna do the short, medium or long trek and we were unanimously agreeing on the short trek. Needed the time for the long trek on Komodo, you see? Continue reading →

Day 95 – Into the heat (again)

Our lovely room for the night

Our lovely room for the night

I might be getting old, but curfew rocks 😉 – we slept blissfully in the clean beds of the Congregation and got a hearty breakfast to kick start our day. I even went for the rice for the first time (the whiter than white bread is dreadful).

Because we pushed so hard to get to Ruteng yesterday, there were only manageable 120 km left to go to hit Labuan Bajo, the western port of Flores. On the way, we rode through forested hills on windy mountain roads, then through a large plateau covered in ride fields and onward, always down and west. This will be the general direction until we hit the end of Java in a month or so.

We arrived before lunch time and were happy with the first hotel we picked from the lonely planet. $17 NZD for the night, including breakfast and it had a secure spot for the bike. While still checking in, we got the first offer for a boat tour to the islands of the Komodo national park (the main reason to come here). The price was mid-range to what the lonely planet suggests and I felt absolutely no desire to shop around the harbour and main street to compare offers in the afternoon heat, so we took it.

So touristy, they even have Nutella! And no, I didn't have a crepe

So touristy, they even have Nutella! And no, I didn’t have a crepe

Labuan Bajo gives us a first taste of regions “developed for tourism” and I am getting wearier about being fleeced or taken advantage of, but so far our open and straight forward approach has worked for us. Still, seeing whites on the street and being the constant target of sales pitches is surely not something that we will overly enjoy.

… said he and went all out tourist for dinner 😉 We had fancy Italian tonight, costing about a third of what we would pay in NZ, but after almost exclusively eating in warungs with the locals for the last week, this felt supremely decadent. The pizza was OK, but we both miss our favorite Italian restaurants: Renato in Frankfurt and Scopa in Wellington.

Day 94 – Trans Flores

Today was the first time we had rice for breakfast; rice, spicy vegetables and an egg to be precise. Our accommodation included breakfast but what happened was that we got a voucher and were sent into the warung next door for it. They were slightly surprised about the early customers.

In an attempt to make it a bit more breakfast-y, we ordered tea and coffee to go with it but, honestly, it didn’t improve it.

A good way to start the day

A good way to start the day

On the way out of Ende, the road lead along the coast with beautiful black beaches that we admired profoundly. The surf breaking against the black rocks and then going up the black sand would have justified a lot more pictures than we took but we were just starting the day and didn’t want to stop too often.

Soon, the road began to lead away from the coast, into the hills and then mountains. We had entered the city of Bajawa as a way-point today. On the way, a volcano appeared on the horizon, still sending small plumes of smoke out into the atmosphere. It was a majestic sight. Flores has many volcanoes and we had been to the crater lakes of Kelimutu just yesterday but an actual volcano with smoke is an amazing thing.

May not look like much, but good food!

May not look like much, but good food!

Getting hungry, we started to look out for a warung makan at the roadside and spotted one before we reached Bajawa. It was quite crowded but as soon as we entered, a group of school girls left and thus made space for us. Stretching the little bahasa we know now and with the help of the google translate app, we were able to order for me and Flo chose a fish dish. The food was incredibly yummy, probably the best warung food we had so far. The rice and tofu came with gado gado, a local green vegetable salad and an extra bowl with soup. The soup was a vegetable broth with chives and roasted garlic but really quite spicy. Still too spicy for me to be honest but so delicious that I kept eating it despite coughing and a runny nose. Similarly, the tofu came with a sambal olek that was just a touch too hot but way too yummy to be ignored. Even Flo struggled with the hotness of the sambal and he eats way hotter than I do. So we had our meal with occasionally blowing our nose; however, we enjoyed it immensely.

As soon as we finished eating, some of the local people eating here started asking questions: Where we come from, where we are going and then, the conversation took a different turn. Instead of shifting to motorcycle talk, Primus and another gentlemen were interested in our motives for such a journey. We ended up comparing the family life of Germans and Indonesians over Flo’s local coffee. This was probably the first in-depth conversation we had with local Indonesians as they spoke English very well and if something remained unclear, google could translate it into Bahasa for us.

This is one of the reasons why I write so much about food in my daily updates. We eat in the local places, getting off our bike and taking off the helmets, having time for interactions with people that goes beyond a wave or a smile to someone at the roadside. During meals, we actually meet locals. So far, the language barrier was a big problems but the lunch conversation was simply great.

More like home: Clouds, water and ferns in the bush

More like home: Clouds, water and ferns in the bush

Back on the road, we felt energized from the encounter. Also, since it was still in the middle of the day, we skipped going into Bajawa and headed straight for Ruteng. Now the road really headed for the mountains and we were reminded of NZ a lot with all those windy roads going up and down the mountainsides, crossing over into valley after valley and taking pass after pass. Flo was pretty much in motorcycle heaven and there aren’t even many villages around to disturb the driving flow. The landscape varied between mountain tops and lush green rain forest with occasional rice patties. All of it was beautiful to behold.

I, once more, had the advantage of being able to look around, greet a lot of folks in the villages and wave to all the children at the road side. There were some heart-warming moments for us including a group of schoolkids singing a song while playing and then all waving to us and a couple of kids on the road with home-made sledges that used wheels so it would go downhill on the road. I really wish I could have taken a picture of them playing but we passed them without me even having the camera on me. Stopping and going back would have ruined the scene as they would have flocked to the spacemen with the big bike then instead of playing. Oh well…you just cannot have everything. 🙂

Individually packed cups of drinking water ... hate!

Individually packed cups of drinking water … hate!

Arriving in Ruteng, we were looking for a convent that the Lonely Planet suggested as accommodation. As always, cities are chaotic and crowded and we couldn’t find it even by going around the block. So we thought, drawing from our experience yesterday, that we try the police station again. Indeed, right after I said the words “Di mana kongregasi?”, he first pointed in a direction and then personally escorted us there on his police motorbike.

The convent turned out to be luxurious for our standards. The rooms are big, there are real showers with hot water, giving you a western standard for your $30 a night. It might be a bit pricey for us but after a long day on the bike, we took the luxus with gratitude. The guy at the reception was very surprised that we didn’t come from Bajawa or Labuanbajo but all the way from Ende and in a record time to boot.