First impressions of Flores

After a slightly ill advised all-nighter in Kuta on Friday I boarded a small plane to Labuanbajo (tourist resort in the west of Flores and ‘gateway’ to Komodo Island). The plane only had about two dozen passengers and only stopped at Labuanbajo to let me off!

Me & other VSO vols on Friday night...

by early Saturday morning it was only Zoe & I still going strong!

In Labuanbajo I chatted to some locals (more or less in Bahasa!) and had a great dinner at the hotel – fresh snapper (definitely Michelin quality DT). As opposed to Bali (or maybe because of events in Bali) the tourism industry here is growing and I saw more Western tourists than I had in my whole two weeks in Bali.

Dinner in Labuanbajo

Travelling in developing countries I’ve always found that the material that local houses are made of are a great identifier of local resources and culture. My room in Labuanbajo was made of wicker – literally like a wicker chair stretched into a box shape and a bed inserted inside. On the bus to Ruteng the following day I saw some amazing ‘wicker’ architecture, unfortunately though, in most cases the traditional thatch roof has been replaced by corrugated metal roofs (easier to maintain I guess).

my hotel 'room' in Labuanbajo

My first impression of Flores is that it is very beautiful. It has an amazingly rugged landscape of mountains & hills that remind me of a child’s drawing. As Rutang is a mountain town it is much cooler (still shorts & t-shirt weather, although unfortunately shorts are not really acceptable) I am looking forward to exploring the beautiful countryside on foot over the coming weeks/months/year!