Last words from Flores

‘I have had the leaving party & the leaving presents... all that is left to do now is leave’. I wrote that sentence once before, back in November (a lifetime ago) – I guess that’s the thing with travelling, as well as always arriving some place new, you are also always leaving somewhere.

My leaving party here was quite different to the one I had before I left the UK though. We went to the beach, had a BBQ, played games. Far less alcohol, but still a lot of fun.


the office girls

traditional dancing on the beach

skipping with the boss

So here I am again, ready to leave one place & start another adventure. I leave Ruteng on Tuesday to travel down to Labuanbajo for a wedding. Then the following Monday I fly out to Bali.

At the moment I am not sorry to leave, but I’m sure in time I will look back on this past eight months as some of the best of my life. I will forget the bad stuff (the boredom, the fear, the loneliness) and be able to focus on what I learnt (independence, patience, cultural understanding) and what I enjoyed (the coffee, the scenery, the research).

I will continue blogging, but I guess I wont be your Flores Correspondent any longer. I haven’t thought of a new name for the blog yet, so let me know if you have any ideas.