I’ve just had the bestest holiday! It was Idul Fitri so we got weeks’ holiday and I went to Flores with another teacher. Flores is amazing, all rugged hills beautiful sunsets. We had the bumpiest flight ever on the way over, and when we arrived we got off the planes at the heat hit us like a furnace. Even though it was so windy we could hardly walk, it was intensely hot. But that was just at the airport, as soon as we got furthur into the town, it got calmer. This guy drove us to the bus terminal, and he wanted us to use him as a guide for our whole trip, so he tried to scare us with tales of buses rolling into rivers, and people grabbing us as soon as we got out of his car and all sorts of crap. But we ignored him and took the public buses. Which are horrible!! But very cheap. The first trip was the worst for me, casue I had a guy crammed in next to me, and he like stared at me and leaned all over me for the entire four hours we were on the bus. And it was so hot! Even at night, it’s really hot in the buses, and you can’t believe how full they are, and then they cram in some more people, complete with kids and a pig or some chickens. And just when you’re feeling like you can’t stand it any longer, a whole bunch of them will light up cigarettes. Yuck! And I can’t believe the way the treated the animals, mostly they strapped them into the top of the bus, but the chickens they hung outside the window. Anyway, we got to Moni and it was beautifully cool there cause it’s quite high in the mountains. The next morning we had to get up at 4 o’clock so we could go up Kelimutu, so we went to bed straight away. The next morning we got up and jumped in the Bemo, which picked up some French people and then took us up the mountain. It was incredible! Kelimutu is famous for it’s three coloured lakes, which change colour suddenly and randomly, something to do with minerals dissolving in the water. The people of Moni think it’s the gods that change the colours depending on their moods, it’s a very holy place for them. It was stunning, especially after the sun hit the water. I took about a million photos. One of the lakes was black, the other was bright turquoise and the other one was brownish red. We stayed up there for ages, admiring the view, and taking pictures from every possible angle. Then we walked back to the car park, waited for ages for our bemo and finally jumped on the back of a truck full of people that was heading down our way. It was really fun going back, chatting with the kids in Indo and trying not to fall off the back.
We were going to leave that night, but the bus didn’t come, so we went to a traditional dance. It was really great, very different to Balinese dancing, no jangles or amazing costumes, just dances that represent day to day things. It was crazy too, the language they spoke was so much like Maori. It was heaps of the same words as Maori, although I don’t think they meant the same thing. And the singing was really similar too. We crashed in some tiny huts that night, with a very hard bed and a dodgy toilet, but a nice landlord. (So pretty much the same as every hostel in Flores.)
The next day we went to Bajawa, famous for its hot springs and traditional villages. The villages were incredible, I just couldn’t believe there were people who still lived like that, in tiny grass huts with no running water or electricity. It was fascinating, they’re still so undeveloped and they still retain all their old traditions, like ceremonies with animal sacrifices and other things. And they chew on this crazy mixture of nuts and leaves, which makes their mouths totally red. I just about had a heart attack the first time someone smiled at me, it looked like their gums were dripping blood. Very hard to get used to! The kids were the most adorable things every, and they were everywhere! There are so many kids in Indonesia, always just running around and playing together (when they’re not doing their chores.) And they’re so not used to white people. I felt like a celebrity, everywhere I went the people were waving and saying hi Missus! Hi Missus! Or hi Mister, often as not
Especially the kids. And when you wave back or smile at them they just love it. They laugh and wave and beam these lovely white teeth at you.
We got these two guys as guides, and they drove us around on their motorbikes all day. We went to Bena and Loma villages first. Actally they had just finshed a ceremony, that at first I was really disappointed to miss, until I saw a great dead buffalo lying in the middle of the circle. We got the pleasure of watching it later on a video from one fo the Dutch tourists we kept bumping into. It was amazingly horrible. Christine just about threw up just from watching it. We also went to the hot spring, which was so beautiful, a big river in a forest, with heaps of rocks to flop on, and lovely hot water. The only drawback was that there were heaps of people taking a bath there. So we tried to get upstream as much as possible. But then it turned dark and almost everyone left. We just lay there for ages just relaxing and getting clean. We also went up to a volcano, and stood really close to it, while all this smoke gushed out. You could feel the heat, and actually see the ground bubbling. A great view too, down to the rice paddys. Actually there were fantastic views almost everwhere in Flores, it’s hard to stand on any hill and not be amazed. Everything is so green!
End of Part 1.
I have much more to say, but I think I better say it later. Hope you guys enjor realding this!
We were going to leave that night, but the bus didn’t come, so we went to a traditional dance. It was really great, very different to Balinese dancing, no jangles or amazing costumes, just dances that represent day to day things. It was crazy too, the language they spoke was so much like Maori. It was heaps of the same words as Maori, although I don’t think they meant the same thing. And the singing was really similar too. We crashed in some tiny huts that night, with a very hard bed and a dodgy toilet, but a nice landlord. (So pretty much the same as every hostel in Flores.)
The next day we went to Bajawa, famous for its hot springs and traditional villages. The villages were incredible, I just couldn’t believe there were people who still lived like that, in tiny grass huts with no running water or electricity. It was fascinating, they’re still so undeveloped and they still retain all their old traditions, like ceremonies with animal sacrifices and other things. And they chew on this crazy mixture of nuts and leaves, which makes their mouths totally red. I just about had a heart attack the first time someone smiled at me, it looked like their gums were dripping blood. Very hard to get used to! The kids were the most adorable things every, and they were everywhere! There are so many kids in Indonesia, always just running around and playing together (when they’re not doing their chores.) And they’re so not used to white people. I felt like a celebrity, everywhere I went the people were waving and saying hi Missus! Hi Missus! Or hi Mister, often as not
Especially the kids. And when you wave back or smile at them they just love it. They laugh and wave and beam these lovely white teeth at you. We got these two guys as guides, and they drove us around on their motorbikes all day. We went to Bena and Loma villages first. Actally they had just finshed a ceremony, that at first I was really disappointed to miss, until I saw a great dead buffalo lying in the middle of the circle. We got the pleasure of watching it later on a video from one fo the Dutch tourists we kept bumping into. It was amazingly horrible. Christine just about threw up just from watching it. We also went to the hot spring, which was so beautiful, a big river in a forest, with heaps of rocks to flop on, and lovely hot water. The only drawback was that there were heaps of people taking a bath there. So we tried to get upstream as much as possible. But then it turned dark and almost everyone left. We just lay there for ages just relaxing and getting clean. We also went up to a volcano, and stood really close to it, while all this smoke gushed out. You could feel the heat, and actually see the ground bubbling. A great view too, down to the rice paddys. Actually there were fantastic views almost everwhere in Flores, it’s hard to stand on any hill and not be amazed. Everything is so green!
End of Part 1.
I have much more to say, but I think I better say it later. Hope you guys enjor realding this!