He'd been having an easy time of it, no scratches, no dirt, no offensive comments hurled his way etc etc, then he arrived in Flores. Immediately things started to go wrong as at some point on the flight from Denpasar to Ende a careless baggage handler managed to rip the zip to the bottom compartment. After a quick (and some was say utterly shocking) stitch job he was back to nearing match fitness however that didn't last long. On the first truck from Moni to Ende the next day he was placed on top of a batch of Oranges which have provided a quite overpowering citrusy fragrance to the bottom half however that turned out to just be the start of a very difficult day. Later on he fell off a motorbike before being dropped again while being placed on top of a minibus. If he thought things couldn't get any worse a quick rethink was needed as a particularly large bump sent him flying from the top of the minibus onto the road where he showed an impressive ability to cartwheel in a straight line for a number of seconds. Disappointing. Finally things really came to a head today when a local man decided that the twisting and turning of the mountain roads was enough to make him want to throw up. As luck was have it my bag provided some good target practice for his very impressive effort, now I'm sort of thankful for the Orange based fragrance that he's still trying to cling on to. Still, at least one of us is having a good time...
Well sort of good, the 12 hour bus ride was a little on the tedious side. Although having said that I arrived in Labuan Bajo just in time for sunset which made it all very worthwhile.
Anyway, the photos...
Moni and Kelimutu:
The locals believe that when you die you go to one of Kelimutu's three lakes. Light blue for middle aged, dark blue for the young and dark black for the old:
Riung:
The 17 (21) Island park, obviously not all are in shot before someone starts feeling clever...
Flying foxes:
The fish we caught. I have no idea why he donned a balaclava to go fishing. Answers on a postcard please.
Where I spent most of my birthday:
Bajawa:The view from the traditional Nggada village of Bema:
So9me spider which lived there. Quite a big one in fact.
Someone posing on a rock with the help of a 10 second timer and some mad scrambling.
Bema itself:
The things in the middle are monuments which represent men (the umbrella type ones) and women (The mini hut style ones).The view a few moments ago in Labuan Bajo
Jean - Lovely stuff, reminded me of the Great Bustard story from Philbert Street. I'm not sure what will happen next time I drink, haven't touched anything since that dinner with you in London before I left. I trust you're having a laugh though? Also any luck with that link? When are you back in Norfolk? I feel the tuckage field calling... Also just seen your comment from the 14th a couple of posts down, I think the jokes would be appreciated by all so fire away. Will try and keep the beard but I fear it will have to go before Sammy's out of respect for the occassion.
Off diving on Sunday so won't be able to update for a week however I will try and do a post before I head back to the UK.
Happy birthday Xi'an,
Keg
Keg :toppa:
ReplyDeleteCan't believe it's all going to come to an end mate. It's been amazing seeing your reports, and the pictures, which have seen a marked improvement since the early days - you actually get some shots of monkeys now ;)
Sounds like you had an superb birthday as well.
A guy I work with is taking a years sabbatical to do something similar (as well as visit family in Malaysia) - I've told him he must blog his way round - it really does make for superb reading. I've sent him the link to this one to show him how it should be done.
Take care mate, and hope you enjoyed your diving trip.
Aron/rm4rml
Wow. Good timing on the whole leaving before mount sinabung goes up like a, well, volcano.
ReplyDeleteTell me all about it!!!
Jean x