If I had to assign our Indonesian tour a theme it would definitely be volcanoes. Kelimutu, on Flores, is the third volcano we’ve climbed. Well, actually, to be honest, we were driven to a spot that was within a 15 minute walk of the top. But climb we did! For 15 minutes. Just in time [...]
It sounded like a slightly gory but interesting enough add-on to our Kelimutu program. We’d ride motorbikes up to an isolated village where they had a mummy on display. We got to the village after an hour drive, arriving in the middle of a roof-laying feast that the villagers were throwing. People were buzzing [...]
This is what’s known as the Bluestone Beach – a strip of seaside just west of Ende, Flores. It is blessed with a curiously blue stone that litter the otherwise black sandy beach. Unfortunately, people have taken a liking to decorating their patios and fish tanks with the stones. Along the whole shore, a [...]
The Gunung Inirie volcano is a beautiful, massively butt-kicking mountain that should not be underestimated by any prospective climber. I don’t have the exact height of the mountain, as there are conflicting reports. Some sources say that it’s 2245 meters, others leave it at 2150. It is very steep. The trailhead sits at about 1000 [...]
Cotton is the call for a second wedding anniversary gift. As we happen to be in a great region for ikat weaving, we bought a few beautiful pieces in celebration of our two years together. The first piece, the red one shown above, was bought in Bena, a tribal village outside of Bajawa. Based on [...]
As we move further and further east, the internet access is growing both worse and further in between. I guess it’s not that strange – we’re at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Doesn’t sound like a place where they’d invest in high speed internet infrastructure, does it? I guess what we’re [...]
One of my favorite things to do in a remote village is take pictures of the village children. If you walk into the village and the children stop and stare at you (rather than ignore you or run away), you know the temperature is right for a little digital camera trick. Snap a photo [...]
The tribal villages of Bena and Luba, outside Bajawa in Flores, look like the archetypical tribal villages. Thatch roof houses line a main communal square. This square has a few functions. The dead are buried there (if they’ve chosen to do so before dying) and it houses the village’s totem houses. Each tribe (basically [...]
If you’ve tried cooking a fancy desert recipe in the past, then it might have called for a fresh vanilla bean. I always cheat and use vanilla extract. The bean are just too expensive in the States. These vanilla beans, offered to us in a tribal village outside Bajawa, were going for the rock-bottom [...]
We’re used to thinking of bamboo as some sort of large shrub, but here on Flores they grow to astonishing heights. The locals use it as building material in their houses – they flatten the thick stems and work them into a flat plank. It’s an interesting feeling, walking around in the bamboo forest. [...]
This beautiful mountain is called Inirie, which means ‘Mother Rie’. I have to say that she looks like a mean mother. She stands at 2245 meters, and we’re going up tomorrow morning at 5 am. We’re pretty sure she’s inactive, but we will give a full report here once we come down. Stay tuned! [...]
Komodo National Park is made up of four islands. Komodo is the most well known of the group, but Rinca is where the beasts can most easily be found. What struck me first about the islands is it’s landscape. It’s hot, arid and you’d almost expect a dinosaur to saunter on by you when you’re [...]
The Trans-Flores Highway cuts a seriously meandering path through this mountainous island. Along the route, there is a total lack of modern amenities. During our 10 hour romp from Labuanbajo to Bajawa, we didn’t see one single Caltex, Mobil, Shell or Flying J. If we had, it would have been a total surprise – this [...]
The other week I handed in my last surviving pair of pants to a laundry service. They used to be khaki, but they came back looking like this: some sort of sick peachy orange. I’m less than happy with the new color. Guess it’s better than pink.
There are reptiles that give me the creeps. Geckos are my buddies, but get much bigger and I start to get a little squirmy. Iguanas make me feel yucky. Take that yucky and multiply it by a really big number. The result: Komodo dragons. They are deadly, scary creatures. Here are some facts we learned [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
