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Dino Lopez: A Guide to Flores

Maumere, Indonesia



While in Ubud we had to make a familiar but often difficult decision for any traveller, where do we go next? Considering that we had 19 days left on our visa we chose to fly two hours eastwards to Maumere, which is the principal town on the magnificent and less touristic island of Flores. The flight was quite an experience, they gave me full responsibility for the emergency exit and we were the only plane at the two tiny airports where we landed but it actually went much better than we thought. Safe and sound at the other side we met two more of the very few westerners on the plane, a French couple who like us were between luggage reclaim and taxi. A taxi is never easy when landing as a backpacker at an Asian airport and we were soon surrounded with shouts of "Hello meeesta!". To our Surprise one man was ushered our way and in exceptionally good English we started to chat, his name was Dino Lopez.

The Dino Lopez who became our guide for the next 10/11 memorable days! On the first night and after some strange goings on we settled down and started to consider his proposition to take us across the island as a group of four. Thanks to a little internet research, an evening meal, a prior passenger from New Zealand who was hanging out at his place and finally his experience of living in Amsterdam for more than three years - we said yes! The next few entries will take you through our adventure, the people, places and events that made Flores very very memorable. We also promise to put lots of photos to make you jealous - especially near the end! ;)

Apres Ubud, nous ne savions pas vraiment ou aller et avons decide au dernier moment de nous laisser tenter par l'ile de Flores, beaucoup moins touristique! Des que nous avons atteri a Maumere, nous avons fait la connaissance d'un couple de francais qui comme nous, ne savaient pas trop ce qu'ils allaient faire sur cette ile. Et c'est la que Dino Lopez est apparu, telle la providence!

Apres mure reflexion, Dino est devenu notre guide touristique/ chauffeur durant ce memorable periple de 9 jours de Maumere a Labuan Bajo.



permalink written by  Lenameets50 on January 14, 2010 from Maumere, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Indonesia & Malaysia et al 2010
tagged Indonesia, Flores and DinoLopez

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The Nature of Tradition

Ende, Indonesia



The trip got started immediately as within a an hour we had arrived at a Gypsy fishing village outside Maumere. Here the Bugis [a community from Sulawesi island] build there boats and the Bajo build the houses, the result is that together they live in a wooden craftsman's paradise. They are a poor community but their richness is certainly in the strength of their community which only established itself in this particular place around 15 years ago. The children where everywhere, showing us how to walk the stilt-raised platforms which connected the village. The sight of the craftsmen at work, the smell of the seafish and the sound of "Hello meeeesstaa!" intensifying around each corner contributed to the experience greatly.

Le voyage a Flores a debute par la visite d'un village de gitans/pecheurs pas tres loin de Maumere. Ils se deplacent de region en region en fonction de la peche. Ils sont installes ici depuis 15 ans mais viennent de l'ile de Sulawesi. 2 communautes vivent ensemble: les Bugis qui construisent les bateaux et les Bajos, les maisons. Vu que chacune a besoin de l'autre, les gens vivent en harmonie. Le tsunami a aussi devastes ce village sur piloti. Pour leur venir en aide, les hollandais leur ont construit des habitations plus haut dans la montagne. Mais c'etait sans comprendre l'ame des gitans qui ont construit de nouveau le village sur l'eau (ces maisons sont encore vides aujourd'hui!).

Within a short time we found ourselves in the midst of another traditional village called Sikka. This time their traditions were very much land-based, more specifically they were Ikat weavers and true practitioners of an art passed down the generations. The ladies soon heard that we were in the village and just as the rain started they gathered us into a small hut and gave us some coffee while delicately displaying their work and goods. The funniest moment was when the head-lady snapped at the others to keep back and save the selling until after we had seen the process, as Dino told us anyway! It was really nice sitting there surrounded by these ladies, they were really friendly and transformed our environment completely.

Ensuite, direction Sikka un village bien connu pour la qualite de son artisanat "Ikat" qui se transmet de generation en generation par les femmes. Elles font principalement des habits (echarpes, jupes, etoles...). Nous avons ete bien recu: abris pour la pluie, chaises, cafe... sur les ordres de la chef du groupe (qui ne rigolait pas!). Brian s'est essaye a battre le coton pour le rendre plus doux, elle a dit qu'il etait nul car pas assez de force dans le geste! Ahahah

The rain cleared and we went outside where they proceeded to demonstrate some of the tedious and incredibly numerous stages of the process. It was very interesting to see the work they put into just one item over weeks and more often, months. The animals and children passed around us and eventually the sales part could begin - i have a magnificent souvenir of looking at each lady's work and enjoying the banter about colour, style and of course, price! One quiet lady had something attractive enough to part us with 50,000Rph and a great afternoon was had.

Nous avons pu voir le processus de fabrication, manuel bien sur et aussi que pour les pigments, ces femmes savent se servir des richesses de la nature qui les entoure. On ne se rend plus compte de tout ca de nos jours! Ni de la minutie et du temps que la fabrication peut prendre!

If this wasn't enough for one day we stopped for something to eat at Paga Beach [probably one of the most impressive beaches i have ever been to] and this man cooked us a delightful Mie Goreng. The force of the waves and the fact that nobody was there made it all the more forceful. I would love to go back there! By the end of the day, we made it to Moni, settled in for the night and began our introduction to the local Indonesian wildlife!

Nous nous sommes arretes manger dans un endroit magnifique, Paga beach qui est une plage deserte ou cet homme nous a cuisine un mie goreng. Brian en a profite pour se baigner, il avait la mer pour lui tout seul et a bien apprecie!



permalink written by  Lenameets50 on January 15, 2010 from Ende, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Indonesia & Malaysia et al 2010
tagged Indonesia, Flores, DinoLopez, GypsyVillage, IkatWeaving and PagaBeach

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Kelimutu to Riung

Riung, Indonesia


The second day started much the same way as the first but with an earlier wake-up call. At 7am we were on our way up to the three lakes of Kelimutu to see the most famous natural phenomena on Flores. Steeped in legend, it is a spiritual home for the people where sacrifices have long been madein honour of the dead. The lakes are not only three different colours but they have also each changed colour over the years.

Despite scientists attempting to relate this phenomenon with the surrounding volcanic activity local people believe that each is a resting place for the souls of those who have died; young, elderly and everybody inbetween! What we appreciated more than anything else before the rain appeared was the absence of large numbers of tourists [just a handful were present] and there were no hard-sell locals with batteries or chains etc either. For this reason we could really feel the spiritual element to this place and that made it more enjoyable. In case it interests you, the lakes are highly acidic and anything including people that fall in will certainly not be recovered as proved through the years!

2eme jour: le leve du soleil n'aura pas ete pour cette fois non plus a cause des nuages sur le mont Kelimutu! Mais cela reste un site exceptionnel avec ses 3 lacs acides et ses legendes! Ces lacs sont bien connus pour avoir ete blanc, rouge et noir. Aujourd'hui, ils sont vert clair, vert et bleu/noir. Leur couleur changent au fil du temps sans reelle explication scientifique alors les locaux ont cree leurs legendes.

L'ame des personnes decedees de la region irait dans un lac en fonction de l'age (un pour les jeunes, un pour les moins jeunes...). Afin d'assurer leur repos, il y a regulierement des offrandes et des sacrifices (encore aujourd'hui). On ressent quelque chose de particulier en etant la-haut, d'autant plus qu'il n'y avait aucun commerce lie au tourisme sur ce site (ce qui est extremement rare en Asie).


After a late late breakfast we hit the road and the road hit us! We travelled to Riung on the North coast and encountered not only the magnificent inner beauty of Flores island but also a long stretch of road that could not be passed at speeds above 25km/ hour. I managed to break Dino's passenger window along the route too. If this wasn't enough we also stopped at a beach where the blue stones turn green in the water and the locals work very hard to collect them and sellthem to Japanese who turn them into ceramic bathroom tiles.

Finally we reached our destination where we were welcomed by all animals that live in jungle bungalows [more to come on that one though!] Dinner was killed in front of our own eyes, made into both duck soup and grilled duck before finally we got some shut-eye in the safety of a mosquito net!

Ensuite il etait temps de partir pour Riung, une ville au nord de l'ile. Cela n'a pas ete une partie de plaisir car la route est completement defoncee! (30 km/h max). Il n'y a qu'une route qui traverse l'ile et elle n'est pas vraiment entretenue. On a eu le temps admirer la beaute des paysages! L'indonesie est une vraie force de la nature et lorsqu'on traverse le pays, on a l'impression que tout est intact depuis l'apparition de ces paysages. Et on a qu'une peur c'est que le tourisme de masse debarque un jour sur cette ile (comme avec l'ile de Bali par exemple).
En chemin, nous nous sommes arretes sur une plage de galets bleus, qui ont la particularite de devenir verts au contact de l'eau. Apparemment les japonais les achetent pour le carrelage de leurs salle de bain.


permalink written by  Lenameets50 on January 16, 2010 from Riung, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Indonesia & Malaysia et al 2010
tagged Indonesia, Flores, DinoLopez and Kelimutu

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Last Overland Day

Labuhanbajo, Indonesia



We were woken nice and early by the nuns and then soon made our way to a popular rice Field that has the same form as a spider's web. The reason for this is that the central part is for all of the community, then as the rice Fields spiral around the centre each so many Fields are for different family households from the community. Everybody helps each other and this means that that at any one time each set of Fields is in a different stage of the process and thus often different colours make them clearly visible. An interesting communal way of working! This particular location has the biggest Field of this type in Indonesia and is a good representation of how strong community values and working are in Flores.

Et enfin nous partons pour la derniere ville de notre parcours, Labuan Bajo. En chemin, nous nous arretons voir le champs de riz en forme de toile d'araignee dont la partie centrale est commune aux cultivateurs. Chaque famille a une parcelle, d'ou la difference de niveau de pousse qui donne ces couleurs et ce relief. Ce champs represente les valeurs et la culture sur l'ile de Flores.


By the late afternoon we climbed and cleared our last hill in Flores and arrived in the fishing port of Labuhanbajo. Due to the Komodo National Park and the famous Dragons it is quite a touristic place but unexpectedly an incredibly beautiful place too - not the town itself but the setting! We went to see our boat and captain before settling into our fantastic accommodation with a view that is unparalleled in the town. A bit of relaxation on the decking before Brian and Toufik got involved in some light graffiti [see pics]. If you are not aware of light graffiti it basically involves torches, lights and long exposure on your camera. Then it was bed before the big trip to Komodo and Rinca!


Arrive a destination, nous decouvrons Labuan Bajo qui est une ville portuaire touristique car c'est le point de depart pour visiter les iles abritant les dragons de Komodo. Du port nous voyons au loin les iles du parc naturel, ce qui nous donne un avant gout de ce qui nous attend le lendemain matin. Nous passons voir le capitaine de notre bateau pour s'assurer que tout est pret pour le lendemain matin. Nous passerons 2 jours a bord. Mais avant nous rejoignons notre chambre, qui a une belle vue sur la mer. Une fois le soleil couche (plus de panorama donc plus rien a faire), brian et toufik se sont amuses a faire des photo light graffiti (dans la penombre avec une lampe torche en mode longue exposition).



permalink written by  Lenameets50 on January 21, 2010 from Labuhanbajo, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Indonesia & Malaysia et al 2010
tagged Indonesia, Flores, DinoLopez, Spiderfield and LightGraffiti

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