By boat to Flores and Sulawesi

Along with 38 other travelers, I continued to Flores on a tourist adventure boat from Lombok. The crossing took four days and three nights. Various stops for snorkeling and trekking on the Komodo Islands were part of the tour. So we saw numerous beauties above and below the water. In addition to the beautiful landscape, the Komodo dragons and manta rays were definitely the highlights. What we later found out was that this was the maiden voyage of the ship and therefore we had to endure some hardships. This included running aground on a coral reef in the middle of the night, running out of toilet paper from the second day onwards, and having enough food for only 80% of the passengers, etc. However, the things we saw and the great fellow travelers made the trip a very enjoyable experience.

In Flores, I first stayed for a few days in the port city of Labuanbajo with my boat friends from Spain, Argentina, and Austria. There, I also treated myself to a trip with three dives. Since my last dive was eight years ago, I was quite excited. Actually, I had a bit of difficulty on the first dive, but I was able to fully enjoy the second and third dives. The underwater world is truly fantastic, with an incredible variety of colors. Everywhere you look there are fish and corals, and we even saw some turtles and small sharks.

Next, I embarked on a road trip by bus to the easternmost part of the island, a total of about 600 km. The incredibly winding roads and the fast-driving chauffeurs made getting from 'A to B' a tiring affair. After the first breakdown, I quickly realized that most people in Flores do not speak English and I must learn the most important phrases in Indonesian! However, the effort of the journey paid off, as the traditional villages around Bajawa are really charming. Here, I even had the opportunity to go on a 'off the Beaten Track' hike with a Swiss woman who works here for Swisscontact and some 'Florestin' people. Unfortunately, we got terribly lost and the trekking turned into more of a hiking in the foothills of the volcano. But a little adventure is part of the experience :-) My itinerary also included Mount Kelimutu with its three differently colored crater lakes, where I could admire another breathtaking sunrise.

It is impressive to experience how each island is a little different. Flores is mostly inhabited by Christians, the population is poorer, and far fewer tourists visit this area. But all the children and adults behaved as if I were the first tourist they had ever seen. Even when I was riding a scooter, the children would shout 'Hello Mister' to me (only a few know the female greeting form). It often happened that I became a superstar: entire groups of Indonesians wanted to take a selfie with me.

I was really lucky that a public ferry to Makassar in Sulawesi was sailing exactly on my desired date of onward travel. The 20-hour crossing on a giant ship with seven decks, in 'Ekonomi' class, was truly an adventure. Firstly, I was the only female tourist, and rarely did anyone speak English. Secondly, the ship was simply overcrowded. But I was still among the lucky ones who managed to score a mattress in the hot and smelly dormitory below deck, while many had to sleep on the floor in the corridors and stairways. Briefly, the thought of the Titanic came to mind, which passengers died first there?! ... Those below deck..? I quickly dismissed this thought and focused on the essentials on board: sleeping, reading, smiling politely, and eating. My nice Indonesian neighbor also made sure that I got all my complimentary meals (lots of rice with very little vegetables at all times of the day). And here again, every time I went somewhere, I was almost a superstar: the usual 'Hello Mister', 'How are you?' and 'Where are you going?' had to be asked. But then the vocabulary was already exhausted. After these 20 hours, I was really glad to be able to check into a clean hostel, chat with the English-speaking staff, and take a refreshing shower.