Market

grafitti

A nice road

Local woman

Local man

Local woman

Local woman

Local man

Local man

When we arrived we found a nice place to stay infested with millipedes and woodworms, but apart from that, it was perfect, with clean crisp white sheets, something we haven’t seen in a long time!

written by  chrischarly on June 12, 2011 from Riung, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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2 local guys

Chopping up a coconut for us

Locals

House on the water

House

Man with a big gun

Us being given coconuts

So finally, about 5 hours later than planned we made it to the beach, which was amazing!

Goats on the beach

It wasn’t white sand and perfect turquoise water but still great.

Fish

A sea urchin

We found some locals who cut us down some coconuts to eat and drink and we shared biscuits with the local children whilst Chris played football on the sand/mud with some older kids and we played in the sea.

My new-best-friend after feeding him biscuits!

Cute boys

Chris playing football with the local kids

Chillaxing

After a mud fight

The beach in Riung

Lovely beach

On the boat

Nice straight jetty

Entrance to the 17 islands

We got up at 7am to have breakfast, before walking to the harbour to go on our snorkelling trip, stopping off at 3 places along the way to pick up snorkelling gear that we had reserved with different people.

Unfortunately, the other 4 travellers we were going with took all the best gear from the town, so we were left with the not-so-great equipment.

Flying foxes

Flying foxes

Me and Isa

Rod

Flying foxes

Us

Lovely beach

We stopped at a small island and went snorkelling from the beach, which was amazing, and the coral was beautiful so we had a great time there and Rod was kind enough to lend me his mask and snorkel so I could appreciate it as well.

Swimming in the sea

Chris

Isa and Rod

Fish

Star fish

Coral

Coral

Beautiful coral

Rod trying to catch a lobster

Chris

Chris

Rose coral

Coral

Coral

We stayed there for a few hours having a tasty fish BBQ on the beach before going back to Rihon late in the afternoon.

Fish BBQ

Chris

written by  chrischarly on June 14, 2011 from Riung, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Chris and I

Me and Rod pulling over

Chris and Isa all smiles :)

Me on the back of Rod's bike

Local children

I am in fact so proud of ourselves for finally plucking up the courage to do it! Rod and I went on one, and Isa and Chris went on another and neither of us fell off! The cultural villages were nice to walk around, but it was quite set up and the first on we went to, all the young children kept shouting, ‘GIVE US MONEY!!!’

Cultural village

Cultural village

Not looking very happy!!

An old man

An old lady

Buffalo horns

Kids playing in the fog

Cultural village

Cultural village

Cultural village

Me holding vanilla pods

Cultural village

Cultural village

Cultural village

Me standing next to where they sacrifice

Cultural village

This was really irritating and upset us quite a bit, you had to give a donation to enter which we didn’t mind so much as long as it went to the community, but we also had to pay the locals to take their photos and with children asking us for extra annoyed us and didn’t make it feel so natural. So, we left and found another village that wasn’t in the Guidebook hoping that this one would be better. We did have a far better time here and we met with one of the villagers who had learnt English from speaking with tourists so she was great to speak to so we could learn about the culture and the history from her. She also gave us coffee, roasted sweet corn and some local spirit to try, which was kind.

Inside a local home

Inside a local home

inside a local's home

inside a local home

She also didn’t ask for any money, although we did offer, so we instead brought a couple of souvenirs from her. On the way out, the chief’s wife asked us to sign the guest book and to give a donation, which was fine, but you had to write down the amount you were going to give and hand it to her personally instead of putting it into a box, like the one before. So we all put an amount together and gave it to her, and then she just said, ‘More’. We were so disappointed and we were then forced to give her double and as it was a donation and not an entrance fee, it made us realise just how places like this have been destroyed by tourism, so we left there quite disheartened and decided to just go back and leave the rest of the villages.

Laughing

Kid firing a sling-shot

A local man

Today we spent a few hours walking around Labuan Bajo finding the best company to book our Komodo trip with.

Local house

Gorgeous scenery

We eventually found a nice woman to book through who was flexible so we managed to make our own tour hopefully avoiding many of the other tourists who will be going to Komodo and Rinca Island as well… can’t wait!

written by  chrischarly on June 17, 2011 from Labuan Bajo, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Choppy sea

me on the boat

trekking

Today we went and met the captain of our boat at 5:45am to go on our boat trip for 2 days. We were so excited about seeing the Komodo dragons we couldn’t wait! Our first stop was to Rinca Island, which is the first of 2 islands to see the dragons.

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

We were the first ones to arrive as we left 2 hours earlier than the other tourists and on Rinca, we had the best chance to see the dragons but as they are wild animals it wasn’t guaranteed so we had our fingers crossed.

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

Trekking

A baby Komodo

Chris and I

wild buffalo

A wild pig

Komodo Dragon

As soon as we got off the boat and walked to pay for a guide, there was one walking towards the ranger’s station and 5 sitting outside the kitchen where the rangers were cooking their food, as they could smell it! So we had already seen 6 before we even started the trek!

Trekking

Where a buffalo once sat

However, we still wanted to see some out in the wild so we went on a 2-hour trek around the island and there we saw one baby one and a large female. When we got back to get on the boat, there were loads of other tourists getting off so we had timed it just right!

Komodo National Park

A Komodo on Komodo!

We then made our way to Komodo Island, which took a few hours on the boat, also when we arrived there the everyone else had already left so again we had the place to ourselves!

When we got off the boat, there was one Komodo dragon walking down the jetty from the boat so again we were so lucky as we had spoken to many travellers before going on this trip and they didn’t see any at all on Komodo Island!

Komodo Dragon

Me and a Komodo

We also went on a trek there, but this time just for one hour, as we wanted to spend some time snorkelling in the evening.

Komodo

Komodo Dragon

We didn’t see any on the trek, but again when we were about to leave we walked past the ranger’s station where they were cooking food and there were 3 dragons sitting outside the kitchen.

Us

Komodo Dragon

This did however make us wonder if the rangers feed them, which they swore that they didn’t, but then it doesn’t make a lot of sense as to why the dragons would be sitting outside? So maybe they are not completely wild after all.

Wild deer

Komodo Dragon

On both of the islands, though we did see wild deer, pigs and buffalo, which is the dragon’s diet, but I suppose we will never know for sure whether they are fed or not.

Orange moon

After Komodo Island, we made our way to Red/Pink beach to do some snorkelling, which was in fact incredible! We were lucky enough to swim with 2 turtles as well as see some amazing coral and other pretty fish.

On the boat

The sun about to set

Fast asleep still

Chris and I

Isa

Fish

Fish

Beautiful Coral

We all had our fingers crossed, as there was still no guarantee at all that we would see them. When we arrived at Manta Point, the current was really strong, so Matt dropped us off, and we had to follow the current back to the boat. We were so glad he dropped us off as it was impossible to swim anywhere but where the current took us, we travelled about 1km every 10 minutes so that’s how fast it was.

Huge Sting Ray

A Manta Ray!

After about 20 minutes in the water, right at the bottom we saw a huge manta ray! We were so excited! However, it was about 15 metres deep so too far for us to dive down and see with the current flowing but still amazing! Then, after we saw this one, there was 7 more just lying on the bottom all different sizes, we were all so happy! When we climbed back into the boat, we told Matt that we saw them, but unfortunately, they were all just still and not swimming. So, he told us that we would wait an hour until slack tide when they will all be moving and we would go back in again, so we went to another point not too far away where we snorkelled for ½ hour before going back and on-route we saw one even jump out of the water!

Chris with a manta!!!

Chris with a manta!!!

He was right about waiting, and although we only saw 2 this time, they were huge and one swam right up close to us before it flipped over and swam away! Amazing!

Chris and I

Amazing!

Gorgeous, massive turtle

Rod with a turtle

Then on the way back to the boat we saw a huge turtle swim right past us, swimming so fast, we didn’t think it could be possible, so it was a fantastic spot and we were all so delighted.

Chris going very deep

A puffa fish

Chris diving deep

Hundreds of fish

A Napolean Fish

When we got back, Matt then took us to another spot, which is supposed to be the best snorkelling point in the region and to be honest it was spectacular.

Chris and I

It is just a huge rock and it is covered in coral surrounded by loads of big and small fish, and definitely the most beautiful spot we have ever snorkelled. So we spent about an hour swimming around and a 1 ½-meter white tipped reef shark swam just underneath me!

Chris

Chris and Rod

Me!

Me!

We then went to 2 more spots before going back, but we had definitely been spoilt, as they couldn’t compare to what we had seen previously today, turtles, manta rays, and sharks in one day! We were so happy and glad we picked carefully before writing and picking our tour. Then when we got back to Labuan Bajo we booked our bus and ferry tickets for tomorrow, sad that our 2-day trip was already over as it had gone by so fast!

written by  chrischarly on June 19, 2011 from Komodo, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Our first ferry from Flores

We woke up early yet again, seems to be a habit with our Flores adventures, to head to the ferry for our epic journey.

On our first ferry

We boarded our luxury liner fully decked out with hard metal chairs and flat screen TVs on which were shown whatever the captain felt like watching. The journey of 9 hours was fairly uneventful although I did get to spend a few hours with Rod getting many hints and tips on our further destinations.

Team Flores, on the roof of our bus

On arriving in Sape, Sumbawa, we waited for the crowds to disembark and then made our way off in search for our bus. This was a mistake. See our nice 40 seater bus, ok acceptable bus, was not here, but 2 hours away and awaiting us was a 25 seater minibus. Most people buy this trip as a package and therefore most of the 40 passengers were here for the same minibus! I peeled away the metal lid and peeked inside only to find as expected about 35 people crammed inside. In previous similar situations like this there would have been some shuffling and squeezing and we would have got in, but this was beyond full. We asked our driver if there was a second bus and he chuckled and pointed to the roof. Hmmm, options here, get on the roof, or miss our bus……

We're not scared , honest

Passing through a village from the roof of the bus

Photo from roof of our bus

We climbed the ladder and the four of us setup camp sitting on our bags on top. It all started off fine, we had great views and the locals thought it highly amusing requiring us all to wave continuously like the queen on a tour.

Charly holding on tight

From our bus roof

We weaved round the mountains and all was well before we got stuck behind a banana truck on a dusty section, we got clouded in dust and couldn’t breathe.

Passing banana truck causing lots of dust, yeh!

From our bus roof

After passing said truck we went through some villages that had some lovely trees lining the streets, only problem was that the low hanging branches had never come across big European travellers on the roof and we had to continually shout “Canard” and dive for the surface. We made it through, with only a few scratches and a nice fake tan from the dust.

View from top back seats

We waited at the bus station for 2 hours before getting underway for our night bus adventure……..To be continued.

written by  chrischarly on June 20, 2011 from Sape, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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More roof travellers passing us on Sumbawa

Lucky as we are, Charly and I ended up with back seats on the bus, 3 seats wedged in where there should be 2 and right next to the toilet. Isa was nice enough to donate me a sleeping tablet, Charly, well she can sleep anywhere, this, was going to be easy.
The locals on the bus all must have been saving up for the trip, as they ALL decided to go to the toilet just after departure. The problem was my big legs were in front of the door, so everytime someone wanted to get in, or out, I had to move. I was not happy! Anyway, I soon settled into a slumber, the pill working its magic before being awoken by boxes of crisps, drinks etc, being shoved in our face and shouts of “Buy Mister”. I politely (well maybe not) declined, ushered them out of the back door and closed it in their faces. A few minutes later, the door opened again and I was about to kick off when I saw a scooter being lifted in. They kindly wedged it in front of us and tied it around some seats and the door handle, nice fellas.
We started underway and I started to dose off as the scooter started to roll back and forth, trapping Charly’s legs and banging about. I considered this for a moment, knowing that sleep was impossible until this problem was solved. Option 1 – I quietly untie it, open the back door and on a sharp bend re-inact a scene from the Italian Job; or, Option 2 – secure it better, thus ensuring it didn’t crush us and avoiding arrest. I took the latter and using my noggin, something the previous fellas had not done, decided to tie the brakes on. It worked a treat and sleep was back on the agenda. Shortly after we stopped for dinner, or was it breakfast – 3am?!
After floating into the reststop, eating and making it back to our cosy back seats we finally slept until reaching the ferry at Poto Tano.

Inside the ferry

A short trip of 1.5 hours entertained by some locals singing 1 verse badly then coming around with their hats, they really need to think about their audience more. I woke Rod up as we approached Lombok, to show him sunrise and the Rinjani mountain, that he and Isa were planning to climb. Good luck guys.

Our fine ferry to Bali

After hugs etc, we boarded the bus again and after 30 mins the guys jumped off to make their way up to Base Camp. They were great travelling friends who pushed us hard and we had some amazing times. Hopefully see you in Oz!

Sitting on the last ferry

We continued across Lombok to Lembar for our final ferry journey to Padang Bai, Bali. No seats on the ferry meant we sat on hard metal deck for the last 4 hours of our epic 36 hour jouney. All in all not that bad really!!

written by  chrischarly on June 21, 2011 from Lombok, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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