An unforgettable experience awaits the hardy traveler Nusa Tenggara, the islands of southeastern Indonesia. The region is home to hundreds of ethnic groups, speaking scores of different languages, practicing in the animist beliefs prevalent, combat arts, tribal dances mass and the unique religious festivals. Astounding natural wonders include three meters long Komodo dragons, virgins reserves Rinca game, volcanic lakes color from another world Kelimutu volcano on Flores, and one of the premier surfing world Meccas Hu u in southern Sumbawa.
We started our adventure on the same day the price of fuel and hike early in the summer holiday break, so we had to deal with artificially inflated prices as soon as we left Ubung Bus Terminal Bali. We got into a semi-express bus Padangbai where we met the ferry to East Lombok and the beginning of our journey, leaving the year long season rains Bali behind us.
The time has brought gargantuan changes since my last visit in 1989, one year I remember very well because it was the fall of the Berlin Wall. The signs of modernity in Nusa Tenggara are increasing the number of English speakers, the appearance of laptops and baby carrier, the much wider use of jilbab headgear and the phenomenal expansion and improvement of the interisland ferry system in Indonesia. Passages from six to seven hours on these ferries subsidized by the government were an incredible bargain
Still very much in evidence are the old dilapidated bus -. 1960 ancient remains that will never die! Traveling these broken gear was like being thrown inside a cement mixer surrounded bickering babies, captive goats, chickens in bamboo cages, bags of rice and cassava, boxes of ramen noodles, Baskets bulging with fruit and vegetables while passengers are smoking cigarettes clove stinging alongside plastic jugs of gasoline. They do not leave until the greatest possible number of people are packed inside.
The facial features and body type are becoming increasingly Melanesian. The hair becomes curlier, the darker the skin, softer hand grips, looks fearless and the most melodious languages. The food also becomes more basic, the more frequent power failure and the poorly equipped infrastructure to manage the increasing development of the region.
A Chinese Mandiri bank employee, a surfer longhaired of San Bernardino, a talkative Australian couple from Adelaide, a textile trader Nggela, a grandmotherly Catholic sister of Sumba and a delicious 33 Lebanese Christian woman travel the world were some of the characters we encountered during our three week trip. These new friends, we would like to again share the most intimate confidences in hotel lobbies and all day bus rides, parties would instantly with the blare of a horn bus or ferry and a wave and a smile . Ask their names seemed unnecessary civility.
Startling changes had taken place in tourism, technology and living standards. In the 1980s everything you want to hear is the wind but now in the hands of people around the world were flashing, ringing and chiming electronics. Even in these distant islands, the conversations could not wait. Smartphones quickened trade. Drivers, bus drivers and agents perpetually used them to fill the bus, passengers or meet for dinner. Hotels touts and used them to fill rooms. On the upside, my daughter Aysah was able to send and receive emails when his Blackberry has a signal. The entire kingdom is Wallacea wired! No Wi-Fi required!
Many ancient places I went was gone to seed, only now concrete slabs, turf and broken walls or been reborn as another or transformed into a Alfamart. Homestays, who were "known for good service" in the guides, now had terrible service. The rooms were often without outlets or power mirrors with broken showers and toilet seats, no blankets and served the coffee undrinkable.
The superb snorkelling on islands off the coast, the splendidly isolated beaches Lunyuk and four meters waves crashing on the reef -High were still there. The most important lesson I learned to travel with children is to go slower and spend more time on beaches. Our goal was to reach Kelimutu and return to Bali in three weeks we had before classes start again, but the travel pace was just too hard for them.
When it came time to go home, get on a huge bus long distance conditioning management is another luxury that was not around back in the day. Gliding over the clear sea on the half empty ferry Lombok-Bali with large flat screen televisions, electrical outlets and vendors selling ice cream and fresh pineapple on a stick, we reclaimed civilization.
I thought back to those strange and beautiful remote islands of the East - the great adventure of a novel by Joseph Conrad, the crew members wearing Kris in their belts, the bottle of rice wine and a shared thread with a fellow traveler and vessels that leads us through the night as the North star. I wanted this trip never to end.
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