lush hills and steep cliffs overlooking the lively villages and azure shores adorn the winding roads of Flores from one corner to the other. So I went to my share of Indonesian islands that I called beautiful, I must say that there is something special about Flores.
Despite the growing popularity of Flores as a tourist destination, it still offers many off-the beaten track encounter. The peoples of Flores enjoy life as it is; refrain from defects in excess, to celebrate the values of life through creative expressions, and generously welcome visitors from afar. In addition, Flores is perhaps the Indonesian island where I felt safer as a solo hiker.
Our first stop was Roë Flores, the village where the first Taman Pelangi Bacaan Nila Tanzil (Jakarta Expat number 99) has been found. It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon, but about 50 children ages eight to 12 braved the time to meet us at school that manages the library.
The children seemed enthusiastic visitors from Jakarta. Most of them have never traveled outside Flores. They seemed to find a treat to be able to look at pictures of Java, Papua and Sulawesi to the screen of my laptop, and we asked many questions about our families and our jobs. It was fun to see my travel companion Tino try to explain what a computer programmer did.
We also heard that the children tell us about life in Roe. Many of them help their parents run the family farm or plantation, but going to school with an enthusiastic spirit of learning. A number of them are talented singers and poets too. Later that evening, our hosts slaughtered a chicken for us and Manggarai cook traditional dishes.
Our next stop was Wae Rebo, a village famous for its small mountain conical straw houses. Be frugal, we took a oto kayu (a modified truck that looks like an open-air bus with wooden seats) to Dintor. With speakers booming with Indonesian ballads Eastern sappy, the four-hour drive through the narrow winding roads, mountain jungles and villages of the valley, made for an adventure in itself.
Dintor, a fishing village on the south coast of Flores, is where guests Wae Rebo (or their alter ego semi-modern) live. We spent the afternoon walking through the rice fields and sitting on the banks of the white sand beach of rock overlooking Pulau Mules. Our arrival coincided with a special ceremony officiant for the renovation of a rumah adat Wae Rebo in the morning, so we left Dintor at 3:30 to get to Wae Rebo walk after 8am .
sacred aura of Wae Rebo, I believe, has nothing to do with the traditional own fashion, architecture, or music. It has more to do with respect to this contemporary community pays their land and values of their ancestors taught them, and affirmed expectations that visitors do the same.
Our next stop was Ruteng, where we visited Liang Bua cave where ancient hominids lived. Homo floresiensis , also known as "Flores hobbit 'was a kind of short human beings were thought to be fast and speakers capable runners. We spent time with a local man who claims to be a descendant of the hobbit.
Tino and I went back to Labuan Bajo and parted as he caught a flight back to Jakarta. After spending the afternoon quiet Danau Sano Nggoang with friendly locals, I tried my luck the next day walking around cheap Komodo National Park. I found myself in a boat to Rinca with a middle-aged couple Riau.
The trip to Rinca was gliding on marine landscapes of emerald, with a myriad of green islands in sight. There we spotted a band of the famous Komodo dragon, looked nests, and went for a short hike - that I was too short but Mrs. found exhausting. We then went to snorkel in Pulau Kelor, which unfortunately has a miserable underwater to bleached coral death.
The local architecture is embedded with the philosophies of life, procreation and the struggle to survive. . The landscape is surrounded by green mountains overlooking the coast
My next stop was Ende - a beautiful coastal city laced with black sand beaches and mountain views, where Sukarno spent some time in exile. Unfortunately, every historic site, it appeared to be closed for stupid reasons -. The house keeper Sukarno did not want to work, and the theater where the former president had written pieces of wild plants growing on it
When the road to Ende Kelimutu collapsed on next day, I wish I had gone to Riung on the north coast instead. To get to Maumere I had to make a detour via mbay north - the one hour drive to Riung - but could not visit the famous white sand beach as the bus leaving for Maumere the north coastal road hell left at dawn
in Nita, a village south of Maumere, I spent a night at Sentra Tenun Ikat Lepo Lorun. There, I was greeted by the ladies who were busy doing bolo plagar - rice flour biscuits produced in the form of textile patterns Maumere, mother to daughter taught to do one day for the man who asks their hand in marriage.
Alfonsa Horeng internationally renowned leader STILL, took me on a personal tour through the gardens, showing me the plants from which the fibers and colors of its textiles come. One of his weavers demonstrated the fermentation of indigo and cotton spinning son. We had a lively conversation about the role of tenun ikat Textile keeping life in community values, and compared with the value of the economy based on traditional agriculture to the economy of Flores oriented money-modern.
My visit tricolor Kelimutu lakes the next day has not been very encouraging that the thick fog descended on the view. But maybe this just a sign that I should come back here one day. After all, the colors of the lakes change like the coat of a chameleon -. They will not be the same lakes on my next visit
I ended my trip to Maumere with a mass on Christmas Eve in Katedral St. Yoseph and a white Christmas morning. No, it was not snowing - just terrible rain that covered this coastal town with bad fog
an alternate universe where the ancient and the modern coexist, the dragon's lair, hobbits in a cave, commoners . wearing woven dresses fit for royalty with embedded secret messages, and mysterious lakes that change color - they might as well have been written in an exotic oriental fairytale. But in the enchanted island of Flores, I've seen these tales than real life. . And share some of them with another adventurer who stole my heart that multiplies the joy of travel collectors
Country: Indonesia
Province: Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT)
House: 14,300 km2
highest Lift Elevation: Inerie (near Bena Bajawa) 2245 m AMSL
The largest city: Maumere
population 1,500,000 (06 estimate)
How to get
- daily flights to Labuan Bajo Jakarta and Bali (Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air)
- daily flights to Maumere from Bali and Kupang (Sky Aviation TransNusa, Wings Air)
What to bring
Sunscreen, hat gear, snorkeling and scuba diving, hiking shoes.
0 Komentar