The Islands of Indonesia

After leaving Sumatra, I did two nights in Bali in this area called Kuta, and it was disgusting. Haha, it was like the cheap, party area, no culture at all and the locals there are just trying to make money off you, so I left for the Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are these tiny islands off the coast of Lombock, very laid back and beautiful. I met two pilots and hung out with them mostly. We snorkled, walked around, rode bikes, slept on the beach... all the regular beach stuff people do. I also met an Austrian girl, Stefanie, who I conviced to come with me on a boat trip from Lombock to Flores, stopping at Komodo to see the komodo dragons.

The group at Gili

Every bar had signs like this

So the boat left from Gili, went to Lombock and started the 4 day trip out to Flores. The boat itself was pretty basic. Just a deck to sit and hang out, another upper deck with mats to sleep, a kitchen and a toilet (which was just a hole in the boat out to the ocean). We stopped at several islands and snorkled, hiked a little and snorkled more. The snorkling was actually very impressive, all kinds of beautiful fish. There were 15 people on the boat, so it was a little crowded but everyone got along. Its hard for me to sit on a boat for 4 days and not get bored, which is why there is such lack of excitement about this boat trip. haha.

Stef and Me

Our boat

One of the islands, beautiful!

We caught a squid! But I think the staff ate it cause we never saw it again

My favorite spot on the boat

Komodo dragon!

Group shot

So one of the main reasons for this boat trip was to get to Flores, which is supposed to be really beautiful and not touristy at all... very untouched. So when I arrived, I realized it was so untouristy that it was next to impossible to get around! I wanted to get out to this volcano that three bodies of water all different colors, but it was about a 20 hour bus ride out there, and the flights back to Bali from that side of the islands were often unreliable. My visa was about to run out so I couldn't take the chance getting stuck out there, so unfortunately, I didn't get to see as much of Flores as I wanted but I still managed to explore.

Stef had more time than me so she hopped on the bus, but luckily I was with this guy Mark and we rented a bike for a day. Since there is no bike rental shop, basically you walk up to a guy on the street, ask him if you could rent his bike and he says yes or no, and you are off. So gave this guy $10 and took his bike. We rode around looking for a waterfall, but nothis was marked! So we stopped a few times to try and ask directions, but no one spoke english so we didn't have much luck. Every time we stopped on the side of the road, within 2 minutes, the entire village would be there to stand with us and just stare and laugh, it was hilarious. Kids would see us and run after the bike and scream and laugh, I guess they don't see many white people.

Rice paddies

Indonesian gas station

On a hunch, we saw a little road and turned down it, parked the bike and started walking. As we were walking, this guy started to walk with us for a bit, not saying anything, just walking with us. Soon we got to a little village and 4 more of his friends started walking with us. They asked if we were going to the waterfall, we said yes, and they said they would take us (this is all sign language since we don't speak Indonesian and they didn't speak English). At first, I was really worried. It was 5 guys, two with machetes, taking us into the jungle. But in the end, they took us to the waterfall which we would have NEVER found on our own. It was amazing!!! It was this huge waterfall with these giant cliffs on either side that you can jump off and swim around. So beautiful and worth all the time we spent looking.

Our guides

the waterfall

The town I stayed in, view from my hotel

I left Flores and headed back to Bali. I had about three days so I went to Ubud, which is this little artsy fartsy area. It was nice, nothing special. We rented bicycles, cruised around and I just tried to enjoy my last few days in Indonesia. I was sad to leave, but I will be back.

Offerings, all over Bali

Monkey forest

Beautiful statues all over