--------------
despite the bad rep it's gotten in recent years, couchsurfing has in fact changed the way people experience travel, and beyond. it was through this community that i met floris, and a number of great people whom i still keep in touch with to this day. couchsurfers are a great resource for useful practical information that help me plan travel and it was always an easy way to find like-minded folks when i feel like being sociable especially when on a solo journey.
late january last year, a good friend i met through CS came to visit after moving back to budapest. of course it prompted reunions, giving me a chance to come and see local CS regulars since i don't usually attend the thursday meet-ups anymore. one night i met up with her and derrick for dinner and he started talking about plans to visit flores, indonesia. kelimutu crater lakes is one of the items in the F list which is exactly what he wanted to see, and i got so excited i invited myself into his plans. LOL. luckily he was accommodating.
and so we started making plans. by mid april, the flight tickets for this 3-day trip were already ridiculously expensive, but i was glad that both derrick and i were determined to make it happen. initially we wanted to fly over the national day weekend in august but $700 for a flight to indonesia just seemed absurd, so we had to do it a week earlier, saving a couple hundred bucks (still not cheap!). also, there were not many places to stay in this area, so i booked a lodge via booking.com only to realize that in fact, had we walked in, an overnight stay would have only been a third of the price quoted online. in any case, i didn't want to risk not having a room available for us, so i booked it.
the way to flores was to fly to bali first, and then a domestic flight to ende. from the airport, it was going to be a 2-hour drive up the mountains to get to moni. no one warned me that it was a two-hour nausea-inducing roller-coaster ride. luckily, the auntie in me decided to bring chinese oil which i shamelessly sniffed while focusing on not throwing up. derrick and sushan made fun of me for
 |
| touchdown ende |
 |
| so green - like that nauseated emoji |
we left singapore in the morning and only got to check-in to the lodge at around 5pm. i was nauseated and exhausted but we were only there for 3 days and there was no moment to lose. as soon as we dropped our small backpacks we headed out to wander. as we walked about, i saw women wearing woven sari which i later on found as ikat cloth, and ikat weaving is a pride of their culture. i tried to sneakily take a photo of local aunties but i couldn't get a good one, so i asked them to join in. only this auntie obliged. awesome auntie!
 |
| camera shy aunties |
this remote town is of course quite sleepy, and it was a great getaway from our beloved city. the sight of the rice paddies was soothing as my churned stomach started to uncoil. we walked around in search of dinner.
our hike to kelimutu was scheduled to start at around 4am the next day. everyone woke up on time, which was not difficult given there was so much noise outside! dogs barking, the sound of motorcycle engines racing by, and people who seem to think everyone should be up at 3 in the morning as they talked and laughed loudly. with that, we were ready before our hired transport arrived. not a bad thing though, we had some time to enjoy star-gazing. as residents of singapore, we have really bad light pollution at night so we never see that many stars. looking up at the glistening bodies amidst the darkness was definitely worth the little sleep.
it was still dark when we reached the viewing platform. it was so awesome to see the light appear at the horizon, creating that thin orange layer which you only normally see when airborne. people stood in awe, mostly taking photos, but otherwise just collectively admiring a beautiful rarity.
slowly, the lakes started to appear. kelimutu crater lakes are a set of three volcanic crater lakes whose colors differ and change regularly. from the viewing platform we could see two lakes next to each other - named atapolo (enchanted) and nuwamuri ko'o fai (young men and maidens), and the other one atabupu (old people) on our backs. i don't recall seeing anybody who had a drone, because otherwise there was no other way to get a photo of all three lakes together.
as the sun shone prominently, the real colors of the lakes were revealed. the twin lakes were of the same olive hue, and the other one dark green/almost blackish. there were several photos on boards showing dates in which the lakes were all in different colors. the best set was probably when one of the lakes was red, one green and the other black. there's a whole science about the changing colors which i won't bore you with, but those lakes were truly special! a local uncle insisted to take a photo of me, so here's one in my oversized PayPal windbreaker.
at this time it was beginning to be quite warm and as spectators already had their fill of sunrise photography, the next order of business is food, naturally. there was an auntie selling cup noodles and other snacks and drinks. this attracted some resident monkeys to sniff around, and so cameras were out once again as they emerged. i'm one of those who like taking photos of monkeys but get jumpy when they approach. hehe.
we walked around to further investigate other angles. the lakes were then becoming rich turquoise under the beautiful sunlight.
i couldn't help myself so i went a bit further to take photos. the rangers said i was not supposed to be there because it was dangerous. i promised to retreat, but not after a few good photos haha. honestly though, i wasn't even close to the edge.
 |
| because of 'tourists' like this one, they eventually put rope barriers (photo by: sushan yow) |
there were more to see in kelimutu, so we planned how to spend the rest of the day. after all, this is the only day we have here, as we were going to fly back to bali the next day and chill for a few hours before heading back to singapore. we used this map to figure out what's reasonable to walk within whatever time we had left.
we decided to see murundao waterfall, waturaka village and kolorongo hotspring. we walked towards the kelimutu national parks office as we were told that's where we'd get ojek (commuter motorcycle) to bring us to other places otherwise they would be quite a walk and we couldn't afford to lose time. waturaka village is a vast rice field and looked really picturesque under blue skies and fluffy clouds. it's what school kids have in mind when they draw plains surrounded by a couple of mountains with the sun rising in between them :)
kolorongo hotspring was really just a small water hole, just like a bigger jacuzzi! there were a couple of local enciks when we got there so we shared space with them. later on they made way for us to be alone, but then a family with some kids in tow arrived and then we had to make way for them. it was nice to dip our toes in warm waters after a few hours of walk even for just a few minutes.
 |
| sleepy eyes, warm feet and big smiles |
as we had a very early start and not much food, we were
 |
| a clumsy tree pose attempt. and can you spot the bird? |
hunger has a way of making people speed up decision-making, and sometimes being careless. we found a shortcut to get down to town as opposed to having to take a long walk around the bend. we were practically walking on people's backyards. when i climbed over a bamboo fence, i miscalculated the level of the ground and ended up in a misstep. my ankle twisted and i felt something snap. yyyooowwwwch!!! i let out a loud gasp and felt a sharp, body twisting jab of pain. auntie is down.
 |
| THE SHORTCUT. photo by: sushan yow |
 |
| growing pains: hunger and sprain (photo by: sushan yow) |
but nothing was gonna take me away from my lunch and that ice-cold coca cola, so after some rest we walked slowly to the nearest eatery. my dear friends asked the lady for a bag of ice to put on the injured ankle while i let my leg up on a chair. meanwhile, a cute dog approached derrick for scraps.
post lunch we finally headed to murundao waterfalls. we took the muddy trail to get there and luckily i didn't injure myself further. there was an ingenious bamboo bridge to get closer.
 |
| bet you've not seen this artsy kind of photo before :-D |
the rest of the afternoon was spent in moni. i believe the duo went to explore a beach, but given my ankle condition, i stayed behind. i walked around the neighborhood and said hello to curious locals. life here was very reminiscent of my childhood, when we played with stuff we found in nature (and junk) and we climbed trees when we're bored.
 |
| po-me-lo! |
 |
| sunflowers ALWAYS make me happy |
early the next morning we flew back to bali, and headed to a spa where we hit the pool first and got some soothing massage. post lunch we flew back to singapore, and went back to work the next day feeling tired but happy. it was an amazing long weekend with these two darlings :)
No comments:
Post a Comment