06/08/2016
AT GLANCE FLORES
Flores, the island named ‘flowers’ by 16th-century Portuguese colonists, has become Indonesia’s ‘Next Big Thing’. In the far west, Labuanbajo is a booming tourist town that combines tropical beauty with nearby attractions such as Komodo National Park, myriad superb dive spots and beach-dappled little islands.
The often lush interior is attracting an ever-greater river of travellers who, in just a few days’ journey overland, encounter smoking volcanoes, spectacular rice fields and lakes, exotic cultures and hidden beaches. You’ll even see plenty of steeples, as away from the port towns most people are nominally Catholic. And many more people are part of cultures and groups that date back centuries, and live in traditional villages seemingly unchanged in millennia.
The 670km serpentine, yet rapidly improving, Trans-Flores Hwy skirts knife-edge ridges that sheer into spectacular river canyons, brushes by dozens of traditional villages, and always seems to have a perfectly conical volcano in view.
KELIMUTU LAKE
Mount Kelimutu, with its tri-colored crater lakes, is probably the most amazing natural phenomenon in Flores. Beyond that, the ‘steaming mountain’ is also the island’s most famous tempat angker, or mystical, haunted place.
Scientific explanations aside, there are many myths about the origin of Kelimutu. This is one of the reasons why Mount Kelimutu was, and still is a sacred place for the local people. Over the years, the three crater lakes have often changed color. At present, one of the lakes is black-brown, one is green, and one is currently changing from green to a reddish color. A reason may be the varying mineral contents of the water. Another explanation suggests that the changing colors are caused by the neglected ancestral souls.
The first lake is named Tiwu Ata Mbupu (lake of the ancestors' souls ); the second is named Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (lake of young people’s souls); and the third is called Tiwu Ata Polo (lake of evil spirits). The first and second lakes are situated close together; while the third lake is about 1.5km to the west. Kelimutu is a beautiful place at any time of the day. However, the best time to enjoy this magical place is in the early morning when the clouds haven’t yet covered the view. Many visitors prefer to see the sunrise.
PEMANA ISLANDS
There are plenty of beautiful islands reachable within 1 1/2 hours from Port L. Say. in Maumere.
This chain of islands includes Pulau Besar (‘big’ in Indonesian), Pulau Babi (‘pig’ in Indonesian), Pulau Pangabatang, Sukun, Palu’e, Pemana Besar, and Pemana Kecil – also known as Kambing (‘goat’) Island.
The Pemana islanders mostly originated from Sulawesi (formerly Celebes). Thus the majority of the islands’ inhabitants are Muslims. As descendants of the proud seafaring Bugis ancestral line, the islanders still live an ocean-focused life. You will most likely witness their wooden boat-building skills, or you may even get a chance to join them exploring the surroundings and far-flung islands in a Bugis style of traveling.
As all the islands are very close to each other, it is a perfect place for island hopping. The best way to do this is to charter your own boat. By negotiating with the local fishermen, you can rent the boat and simultaneously hire a captain as well. This allows you to explore the islands of your liking before arriving on Pemana Besar for an overnight stay.
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