Asia

[Visited: May 1996]

Indonesia is such a huge country, it is not easy to decide where to go when your time is limited. My most memorable visit was surely the one to the island of Flores. Even from Bali it was still a two hour flight by small turbo prop plane. What attracted me in general in Flores was the genuine friendliness of the people, the authentic atmosphere, and the beautiful setting in the sea. The highlight was the trip to Keli Mutu, the famous mountain with three crater lakes on top in three different colours.
It takes a very early rise in the morning to catch the trucks which leave around 4am from the town of Moni, and then it is straight up the mountain over a road which is at times very bad. We were quite unlucky though, because when we arrived at the top and tried to remain as warm as possible by not stopping to move, the lakes appeared to be covered in a cloud which prevented the sun from displaying the lakes in their famous sunrise setting.
When we were absolutely sure that the sun was already high up in the sky we left the place - only a glimpse of the lakes could be seen through the thick clouds. It was only when we flew back to Bali that the captain of the plane was so kind as to fly around Keli Mutu - in full sunlight, it was a truly spectacular sight!

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Flores (Indonesia). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Flores.
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