Indonesia | May 1-2 2023 |
Heading out of Ende, the road goes straight into a spectacular river valley, just another epic ride in Flores. And as with many things Flores, the social setting soon got equally interesting: the traffic was stopped for some kind of parade, which featured a marching band straight out of 1950s middle America. It was the most enjoyable roadblock I have ever experienced.
Then it was on to Kelimutu, one of Indonesia's marquee tourist destinations, though little visited. Riding up, the mountain was fogged-in, but once I got to the parking lot at the top things cleared up, and it was a good 45-minute hike to the lakes. There were only a few others at the peak, locals. And as always in Indo and especially in Flores, I was an instant photo prop, in this case, for two lovelies from Ende. There were also a couple of extremely aggressive monkeys there, one of which charged me a few times. The lakes at Kelimutu are a natural wonder and have abruptly changed colors in the past 100 years. Definitely a very unique place and highly recommended.
I stayed in Moni at the base of Kelimutu. It's a great place - excellent food, drink, stay. I did one night at Moni Guesthouse, one of the best places I have stayed in Indonesia - it's like a boutique hotel and the manager speaks flawless English and is a really cool dude.
Ride: 54 km / 2 hrs
Stay: Joseph Guesthouse $25 / 5/5
