6 weeks

Another long gap between posts, no excuses except that there hasn't really been anything of note to write about and, as my father always advised "if you don't have anything to say, then say nothing" (and, of course, I always take his advice).

I'm really in the home straight now, it looks as if Saturday 5th June will be my last day at work and I'll probably leave Maumere on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. I will have my exit interview with VSO in Denpasar on Thursday and leave Indonesia on Friday night, arriving in London at about lunchtime on Saturday 12th June. Lots of things to finish off at work before then...

But before that.... my first visitors ! My sister and brother-in-law arrive in Denpasar next Saturday (some very nervous moments last week as we watched the news about flight chaos due to the ash cloud) and will then fly from Denpasar to Labuanbajo (western end of Flores) on Monday morning. I'll leave Maumere on Friday for the two day bus journey to Labuanbajo and we will then spend about a week on the trip back via all the tourist destinations in Flores. I'll write more about this later but we'll go via Ruteng (visiting two Dutch volunteers), Bajawa (lots of interesting village culture), maybe Riung (boat trip to the 17 islands), Moni & Kelimutu (coloured lakes), and finish up with a couple of days in Maumere before they fly back to Denpasar and then onwards to home.

It's hard to believe that in seven weeks' time, I won't be here anymore - it's been an extraordinary year and a half and I'll write more later after the dust has settled about the whole experience. At the moment, I'm recovering from an Indonesian special, the worst case of "having to stay close to the toilet" that I've had in a long time,all part of the experience I guess !

The good news for all you readers out here (yes, both of you) is that these ramblings will cease after I get home and post a final wrapup. I promise not to bore you anymore after I get home !         

Ende, Moni and swimming

It's now Thursday and today (unlike yesterday) at least some people appear to have come back to work after the Idul Fitri holiday. This coincided with First Communion day in Maumere (which is largely Roman Catholic) and there were many parties all over the town on Tuesday - many people were invited to at least ten and I did quite well for a newcomer with five invitations. 

On Sunday, I headed off to Ende which is on the south coast about 160kms away, journey time about 4.5 hours plus a couple of stops for lunch and saddle relief. Ende is overwhelmingly Muslim so my timing was not very good as everything was shut for the holiday on Sunday (the end of Ramadan is marked by family visits to friends and neighbours houses). The small hotel I found fortunately served evening meals as all the restaurants were shut and, even better, had fish and chips on the menu ! Ende is surrounded by hills and is approached by a steep descent down a river valley with spectacular scenery - the town itself is pretty unremarkable.

On Monday, I left Ende and headed back towards Maumere at a a leisurely pace,intending to stay in Moni (the village near the coloured lakes at Kelimutu). As you enter Moni, there is a waterfall with bathing pool near the road so I stopped to cool off just as a truck and bus full of visitors from Ende arrived.       

I followed them down to the waterfall and joined them in the pool, so it was not the most peaceful or relaxing dip. The novelty of having a bule (paleface) in their midst who was able to speak a little of their language meant that I had to have my photograph taken with every single one of them, usually individually. They were especially intrigued by my chest hair ...

   

On my back to Maumere on Tuesday, I was able to understand how travel becomes very difficult in the rainy season, which I have yet to experience. Although it has not rained in Maumere for weeks and weeks, higher in the mountains there had been a little rain over the weekend. In at least four places this small amount of rain had caused some minor landslips - I can't imagine what it will be like after three months of rain !

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about typical houses but didn't have any photos to hand at the time. Here's one I passed on my way back to Maumere which is a cut above many others.

 

Last photo group of this post : the swimmers were in action in the harbour yetserday with some spectacular jumping and diving displays !

Dirgahayu Republik Indonesia !

The weekend just past was a long one for me – I decided on Thursday afternoon to take Friday and Saturday off work and go back to visit the three coloured lakes at Kelimutu again. This time I went in the company of a friend from Maumere for what turned out to be his first holiday ever. On Friday we left Maumere and took our time getting to Moni, the village closest to Kelimutu, about 95kms from here and about 1600m higher (and therefore pleasantly cooler). The place we stayed was inundated with mosquitoes and didn't provide nets so fingers crossed...... On Saturday morning we joined the tourist trail (the lakes at Kelimutu are one of the "must see" sights for any visitors to Flores) on the climb to the lakes about 15kms above Moni.

We were lucky to have about two hours of great visibility there before the clouds started to roll in.

After our brief holiday we returned to Maumere on Sunday afternoon, just in time for a day off on Monday to celebrate Indonesia's 64^th birthday.

The day started with Apel (formal parade) at 7 am in the main public field in the town, with the Chief Inspector being the Bupati (regent). The Bupati is elected every five years at district level so the one in Maumere is responsible for the Sikka District, population about 300,000, of which Maumere is the principal town. This morning's 7am Apel finally got under way at 7.55 (not unusual) and consisted of a few formalities and most surprisingly, no speeches ! The main event was the reading of the declaration of independence and the raising of the flag.

The long delay and the relentless sun (even at that hour) took their toll on many of the schoolchildren on parade and I counted more than twenty fainting just in the section in front of me. As well as most of the schools in Maumere, all government departments, army and police were represented, together with the drum majorettes.

I have just tried to upload a video clip for the first time but the connection won't stay up for long enough to complete the upload - sorry !

Kelimutu

The weekend before last, we (Peter, my fellow hospital volunteer and I) had the opportunity to visit one of the "must see" sights of Flores in the company of some friends who were visiting from Kupang on the island of Timor. These are the three coloured lakes of Kelimutu, about 1650m high in the hills of Flores and about 100km east of Maumere. 100kms, I hear you say, that's an easy enough trip...

Well, I can tell you that a 100km trip with two people on a 160cc motorbike on the tortuous roads of Flores is an undertaking and a half ! We left Maumere at about 11am and reached Moni (the village near the lakes) after a trip of over 3 hours actual travelling time, with frequent stops for lunch and helmet rests. Moni is a small village high in the mountains (and beautifully cool, I needed a long sleeved top there for the very first time since arriving in Indonesia) and has a small bar with a great view over rice paddies and green hills. We stayed in a family run homestay (Rp75,000 or €5 for two people including breakfast), and spent some of Saturday night watching a local traditional dance performance before partaking of some of the local hooch.

Early the next morning, we headed further up the hills to the lakes of Kelimutu. These are three lakes in volcanic craters – not particularly unusual in an area known for its volcanic activity until you hear that they are all different colours and that the colours change from time to time depending on changes in mineral composition, making this quite a spectacular sight. When we visited, the lakes were vivid turquoise, black and a sort of murky brown. Local legend has it that this is where the souls of the departed end up, young people to one lake, old people to another, and those whose lives have been less than exemplary to another (you are probably guessing that that's the black one but it isn't).

While at the lakes, most of the other visitors were Indonesian and, as usual, I was engaged in conversation by many of them (many Indonesians are delighted to get an opportunity to practice their English language skills). One of the people I met there was Andrew from Timor. He is a student at the seminary in Ledalero, about 10km away from Maumere. As he visits Maumere frequently, I expect to see him again for some mutually beneficial conversation practice.

The worst part of visiting the lakes was the journey back home again on Sunday – another long and twisty trip, this time mostly downhill back to sea level. However, the weekend was well worth it as this was our first opportunity to see some of the spectacular countryside of Flores and experience just how long it takes to get anywhere. There are frequent bus services linking most towns on the island but I have yet to enjoy the delights of one of these journeys. Apparently, conditions can be a little cramped (the passengers' luggage is often alive) and the twisty roads mean that many passengers suffer from travel sickness so it sounds like a motorbike is a "fresher" option.

Photo update

I've used the opportunity of having access to some reliable bandwidth in Denpasar to upload some more of my photos to Photobucket.

Click for the appropriate album :

BALI


MAUMERE


MONI & KELIMUTU

These should open up in a slide show view - you can play around with the settings to speed up, slow down, etc.

To view all my albums on Photobucket and pass a completely unproductive hour or two, either click HERE or go to :

http://s492.photobucket.com/albums/rr289/markhenderson_photos/