Flores - Mantas & Dragons

We left Kupang, West Timor to fly to Flores where we were looking for a bit more turistic of places and lots of nature. We had a good feeling we would not be disappointed.

We flew to Labuan Bajo as this is the nearest town to Komodo National Park. The flight was supercheap, 100000 Rp. per person, less than 10 euros each!

We stayed out on an island called Sebayur and is situated near the islands of Komodo and Rinca. It would serve as our launching off point for our snorkle trips and tour of the komodo dragons.

An experience we will never forget was swimming with the gentle giant manta rays. They were absolutely beautiful and so graceful in their movements. We found ourselves in a lucky moment and were able to swim within a large group of them twice. It was an exhilarating, thrilling, and almost scary experience all at once as we found ourselves with 10 - 15 mantas swimming past us and so close we could touch them. The rays were massive measuring about 3 meters (9") across.

We were also stunned by abundance of fish and gorgeous reefs on offer. Every time it was a new experience seeing turtles, eels, little neon colored shrimp and a whole host of varieties of different fish. I could snorkle everyday if it were possible. I find it so extremely peaceful.

We also managed to see the Komodo dragons. The park rangers claim to not feed the dragons, but it seemed the water buffalo were being feed and these are the main diet for the dragons on the island. In general I didn't realize that the dragons mostly hunted by biting and tracking their prey. It can be a process that can take two weeks as the bacteria from their infectious bite eventually causes the animal to die and permit the dragons to feed. If it is a large buffalo there can be up to 15 dragons feeding on the animal. We also learned they are cannibals and will eat their young. Making it to adulthood is difficult.

We also visited the pink beach which sits on a small island between Komodo and Rinca. The beach gets its pink hue from the surrounding corals which are a bright red and when broken down create the color of the beach. The large pieces of the pink coral look like dehydrated strawberries you get in your cereal.

A view of our bungalows on the island.

Soe, West Timor

After a 7 hour train ride we were ready for rest in Surabaya a large eastern Java city. It is much prettier at night than day or so it seemed to us. We arrived late and took a taxi for our brief stay in a capsule room. The price was cheap, but I feel for caged animals, all the snoring must be why people make a fuss for cage-free eggs and free range meat.

The next day we were on a flight again for Kupang in West Timor with intention to arrive in the north central city of Soe before midnight. Arriving in Kupang we jumped in a cab and immediately made our way to a Bemo, small lively buses always accompanied by music, in Oesapa. As we paid the taxi our Bemo was leaving and we stepped on as it pulled off. We found two seats in the backrow of 5 and settled in. We were both buzzing and really happy to be on our way again. The bus was actually really fun with music (they love good country music and bad country music) and because where we were was so remote you could see so many stars and the milky way easily.

We planned a day of visiting present and past tribal communities of West Timor. This would take us to visit the Boti and None tribes. 

In the morning our guide arrived for the negotiation process. This is a hobby almost as everyone seems ready to discuss prices. Its feels at times as if I could just start saying numbers to people and immediately get a higher response and begin to work each other down. 

With an agreed upon price we headed out to first visit the Boti community and along the way would purchase betel nut as a kind gesture. They chew the betel nut with some lime stone powder and another thing. It turns their mouths blood red and it seems a little odd, but this is also popular in Myanmar too and seems more prevalent there than in West Timor.

We arrived in Boti and were presented to the Chief or King of the tribe. He was a man of about 60 years old and was still single. Our guide explained he had forbidden the community from dancing as they were in mourning from his mother's death five years ago. 

He was a really nice host and offered us coffee and fried bananas, which were really good and would serve as our lunch for the day.

We chatted for about an hour with the guide being our translator. We asked various questions about what it meant to be a Boti person and their beliefs. In general he explained how the people have a strong connection to the earth, its plants and animals. They worship the earth and the sky for they provide to their people. He seemed to be a very kind person and said he appreciated our visit, but he was not interested in us, as I would attempt to explain things about ourselves. 

After visting with the chief we walked around his property as the Boti people number in about 300 plus people and they have many huts around the area.

Tools for chewing the betel nut.

Our next visit for the day was to the None tribe and community. These were former headhunters until the end of World War II. When the Japanese invaded Timor and more or less killed anyone that stood in their way or could be considered in their way. The tribe of None was forced from their dwellings and lived in caves near their village until the war ended and the community ceased to function in the same way as it had before.

We briefly met with the villagers and were able to explore the area of None.

Sacrificing area.

After our visit to West Timor we headed back to Kupang to catch a flight to Labuan Bajo. There we would do some snorkling and visit some komodo dragons.

Bye Java. Hello West Timor.

Our last days in Yogjia have been pretty nice and more relaxed due to the fact that our travel plans changed slightly. We could not travel to Probolinggo where we would have visited Bromo National Park and seen the sunrise from one of its mountains and volcanos but all train tickets were sold out due to an Indonesian long holiday weekend or Easter break so we had to stay in Yogjia. Our last day we visited a "water castle", Samir Tamar, an underground mosque, a local fresh market, Bheringajo market and walked the old city centre of Malioboro. The next day we had a train journey to Surabaya, where our plane to Kupang (West Timor) was taking off, was also a pleasant one although we could only book the economic class tickets and we were sitting in 3 seats rows. It was nice though that we had a very smiley family of four with a toddler which provided lots of funny faces and expressions throughout the trip.

In Yogjia we used Grab a lot, their extra-cheap Uber app service that would take us around the city in a hearbeat for just a few thousand Rp. We both wonder how this is gonna affect all the tuktuk drivers that approched us constantly. For about a fair cheap price you get a car with AC and there is no haggling. Sorry guys, it is a clear win.

Curiosity that I had to google: We have seen a lot of indonesians, specially javanese men, with extremely long nails. Pinky and thumb fingers. When I say long, I mean VERY long, which to be honest has been very hard to look at. I have been pretty grossed out about these. Turns out -google says - that having these long nails is a way to show others that they are some sort of high-class as they could not have these long nails if they were to work in a rice field. Which it kind of makes sense...I guess. Some other people say its fashionable and some other say that means they use these nails to sniff cocaine which by the amount of people I have seen with these nails would mean a huge problem for this island is that was to be true.

Again, all the people have been extremely nice and as helpful as much as their poor English allows them to be. That does not mean they respect lines and taxi drivers don't try to suck your money up but it is what it is.

During our trip to the market I thought of buying some pants and trash a pair shorts. I would get to cover my knees more often and they are actually like pyjamas so they are pretty comfortable. Having said that, I was in no rush and neither had a real need so I played the haggling game with some vendors that had the patterns I liked. A girl from the Philippines that morning had told us she got them for 25000 so I was going for that. Obvious "challenge" though is that I am pasty white and I could not get a lower price from 35000, which is OK but I ended up not buying them.

We also visited Taman Sari Water Castle, the site of a former royal garden of the Sultan of Yogyakarta) where the highlight was the underground mosque of Sumur Gumuling. It was intended to only have access from the castle, but the entrance from the castle is now blocked and another entrance now exists to enter it.

Our stay in Yogjia was very nice overall and we got to meet other nice travellers that are awesome for interesting and amusing coversations and getting some travel tips for future destinations. Hola to David, Zorrina, the french couple, Rachel from Phillipines, the three superyoung and blonde german girls, Andy, Mike, Tia, Bonzo (the diva dog) and Damon!

We also wanted to share David's Book of Names. He collects in his book each new language he encounters on his travels and asks the person to share a thought or comment. We found the Catalan one with, of course, a call for a free Catalunya.

Java: Borobudur and Prambaran

We love Java. But most of all we love its people. Not that balinese weren´t nice but javanese people welcome you with a smile and to them you are more than a $ sign.

These past couple of days we have visited the two most important temples in the country: Borobudur and Prambaran. The first, the biggest buddhist temple in the world, the second the oldest and biggest hindu temple of the world. Amaaazinng!!

Here some pictures. My mom has requested that I post more. Here some of Borobudur:

 Cary and I felt like movie stars that day. All the same without the glamour. The temple was packed with local tourists and asked for pictures with me and Cary. Like, all the time. We probably took 30 pictures. At some point we had to say we could not take more. At points was so overwhelming but people were so damn nice. At points Cary was surrounded by 20 girls but not only teenagers, grown women and entire families asked for pictures and some shy ones would follow us and take selfies behind us!

Now Prambaran:

We loved Prambaran but that is because we had an amazing trainee guide that explained us everything there was to learn. We learned so much about hinduism today! She was amazing and the place is such a jewel!