Labuan Bajo is a town completely geared to one thing - Komodo. Sitting in between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa, Komodo National Park is famed for its scenic islands, beautiful marine life and, of course, the iconic komodo dragons that make their home here. The only realistic way to explore this national park is … Continue reading Flores: Here Be Dragons
Not keen to leave the hills just yet (or suffer an 8+ hour bus ride to Labuan Bajo) I decided to stop off in Ruteng after leaving Bajawa. My guesthouse was able to arrange a bus though it involved being picked up at 6.30am to then sit on a stationery bus for an hour and … Continue reading Flores: Country Life
It was another scenic 2 hour drive from Moni to the city of Ende and this time I lucked out with a mostly empty bus, making the twisty-turny journey much more bearable. The ride costed 50,000 IDR. I was also lucky in that before we reached the city proper, I spotted my hostel and so … Continue reading Flores: Beginning of the Ende
It was easy enough to jump on an overly-crowded bus towards Moni and beyond from the road just outside Ricky’s place, costing 30,000 IDR for the 90 minute or so journey up into the hills. It was at this point I realised everything everyone had told me about Flores’ roads was true. Just this relatively … Continue reading Flores: A Craterscape
It was already time to bid farewell to Bali as I excitedly boarded my plane to Flores, a few islands east. My excitement was heightened by the fact I was taking my first ever propeller plane flight, with a teeny tiny plane making the 2 hour hop to Maumere to the east of Flores. Described … Continue reading Flores: Livin’ La Vida Koka
I probably shouldn't have been surprised to learn that a flight from Brisbane to Bali took 6 hours, due to how vast Australia is, but I genuinely did think it would just be a quick hop up to Indonesia. Luckily the flight was fine. It was early so I kipped in Brisbane airport beforehand - … Continue reading Indonesia: In With the Nusa…
Following Borobodur, I went off to get my bus to Bandung in the east of the island. I had intended to get the train due to the fact I had missed out on several train journeys already on this trip. However, many of the seats had already sold out and only the expensive ones remained. … Continue reading Java: Hitching a ride to Bandung
Most people would probably take a day or two to recover after climbing a volcano but I decided it would be a good idea to press on, grabbing a 17 hour sleeper bus from Banyuwangi to the Central Javanese city of Yogyakarta. At just 110,000 IDR, I was definitely getting value for money and the … Continue reading Java: Temple Run
For some reason it hadn't really occurred to me to do a volcano climb when in Indonesia. I'd planned mainly for just beaches and relaxation but when I heard about how spectacular some of the volcanoes in Java were, I sacrificed the Bali beaches and headed over to take on one of these bad boys. … Continue reading Java: Hot Stuff
Chilled out Kuta was the perfect way to start things off but I decided to go one step further by heading up to the definition of paradise - the Gilis. These three tiny islands just off Lombok have been captivating backpackers for around 20 years and many have found it impossible to leave. I was … Continue reading Indonesia: The Chili Islands
