Labuan Bajo

The day after the boat tour, I slept in and then considered during breakfast that I could visit two caves. Putri, a Grab driver, took me to Goa Batu Cermin, where we agreed on a fixed price for him to take me to the other cave and back.

The Goa Batu Cermin was discovered by a Dane only in 1950 and was previously submerged. There, you can observe numerous stalactites, discover spiders that, at least in my eyes, have a somewhat frog-like appearance, and see a fossilized turtle on the ceiling. With a bit of imagination, you can recognize the turtle when the guide points it out. The real highlight is hidden a bit further in the cave: there is a crevice through which light falls into the cave and makes the stones behind it sparkle. To be honest, it sounded more spectacular in the travel guide than it actually was. I found the Umbrella Stone outside the cave much cooler!

To reach Goa Rangko, you first have to drive to the place Rangko, then brave a rather damaged pier, and finally, you can get into a boat at the end of the pier that takes you to the cave. Here, you need a bit of negotiation skills or patience, because the captains, of course, want solo travelers to pay double for a private boat - usually, the boats only operate with at least two passengers. So I just waited until a family wanted to take the boat to the cave and joined them.

On the boat ride, Putri and I finally ate the lunch we had bought on the way from a street stall, just like the locals: with our hands. Although I had hand sanitizer with me, I would have never bought food from that street stall if I had made the decision myself. So I could only hope that there would be no repercussions.

Since it was low tide, we couldn't dock the boat directly at the pier in front of the cave and had to walk about 100 meters through the water to the pier. The local children turned this into a little business, moving large, floating mattresses back and forth between the boat and the pier for tourists to sit on. Putri and I walked and even saw a few starfish along the way.

The walk itself was already a cool experience, but the cave was great too: stalactites, crystal-clear water, and few visitors (at least when I was swimming). The slightly longer drive was definitely worth it!

After swimming, we went back to Labuan Bajo by boat and scooter, where I took care of transport to the next destination and enjoyed the sun on a deck chair with a watermelon smoothie.