After leaving Labuan Bajo we grabbed a flight to Ende. This would put close to Kelimutu mountain located near the town of Moni.
As always whenever we get to a new place, Aina and I were attempting to get the best deal for our ride to Moni. Our plan: find the bules ( white person / tourist ) and combine with them to save everyone some money. Side note: brings a whole new meaning to the song: https://youtu.be/K6P7g_qz2OU
We had called our "hotel" in advance and they wouldn't offer us a ride for less than 400. At the airport in Ende Aina approached a couple and found they had gotten a car for 400. We said maybe we could go with them and split whatever cost the driver added. In the end we paid 600 (300 each). Not bad and everyone wins. Our driver was named Galan and he was a Rasta. We would soon learn the town of Moni has a sort of Rasta mafia and everyone knows one another and seemed to claim they were brothers or cousins etc. It was an expensive town by Indonesian standards considering where we were.
Once there in the evening we set about finding a moto to rent for the next day, as the car ride would cost 250 each way (500 total). A moto would only cost 100 about double the price of a moto rental in Bali. We were sent looking and in the end used our hotel owner's Moto that unfortunately didn't have functioning lights which meant no sunrise at Kelimutu and it also did not have a functioning horn a very important feature in Indonesia. Oh and the speedometer and gas gauge didn't work either. We were assured there was enough gas to get up the mountain and at the minimum we could just coast down we thought.
The crater lakes of Kelimutu are acidic lakes of saline or sulfur and their coloration can be due to oxidation levels, the light, or whether it is saline or sulfur. So the colors can change and we're told rapidly.
As always whenever we get to a new place, Aina and I were attempting to get the best deal for our ride to Moni. Our plan: find the bules ( white person / tourist ) and combine with them to save everyone some money. Side note: brings a whole new meaning to the song: https://youtu.be/K6P7g_qz2OU
We had called our "hotel" in advance and they wouldn't offer us a ride for less than 400. At the airport in Ende Aina approached a couple and found they had gotten a car for 400. We said maybe we could go with them and split whatever cost the driver added. In the end we paid 600 (300 each). Not bad and everyone wins. Our driver was named Galan and he was a Rasta. We would soon learn the town of Moni has a sort of Rasta mafia and everyone knows one another and seemed to claim they were brothers or cousins etc. It was an expensive town by Indonesian standards considering where we were.
Once there in the evening we set about finding a moto to rent for the next day, as the car ride would cost 250 each way (500 total). A moto would only cost 100 about double the price of a moto rental in Bali. We were sent looking and in the end used our hotel owner's Moto that unfortunately didn't have functioning lights which meant no sunrise at Kelimutu and it also did not have a functioning horn a very important feature in Indonesia. Oh and the speedometer and gas gauge didn't work either. We were assured there was enough gas to get up the mountain and at the minimum we could just coast down we thought.
The crater lakes of Kelimutu are acidic lakes of saline or sulfur and their coloration can be due to oxidation levels, the light, or whether it is saline or sulfur. So the colors can change and we're told rapidly.
A good photo above of the lakes with direct light. There was another lake called the evil lake, but it was quite boring looking the day we went. For an idea of what the evil lake looked like you can see it here, lake picture.
The advantage to going up to the lakes at the time we did was that there was no one else there at all. All the tourists in town, about 20 max probably had already gone up for the sunrise. So we had all the views to ourselves and no one in the background of our photos. While there a couple from Oregon also showed up. They were super nice and we chatted with them for about 20 - 30 minutes about our respective travels and what we are up to in general. We never got their names, but it was a nice experience as we don't meet or see many Americans on the trip or ones that are as friendly as this couple.
These small encounters by chance with people such as this couple are becoming an important part of the trip as we make friends with people whether it be for a brief conversation or possibly to hangout again in the future if our paths cross again, as we agreed with Christine and Daniel from our snorkeling in Labuan Bajo.
After saying goodbye to the great couple from Oregon we headed down back to Kelimutu. The views going up and down are fantastic and a car ride would have spoiled them as we would have missed the impressive ferns that are the size of banana trees.
Once back in Moni we checked out of our hotel. Thanked Brian, who seemed confused that we had already paid through booking.com. It was an odd parting, but at least he pointed us in the right direction for a bus, more or less.
We hopped on a Bemo bus after waiting a little more than 5 minutes said our goodbyes to Moni and headed to Maumere, a small very untouristic beach town about 4 hours away.
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