INDONESIA - BALI TO LABUAN BAJO TO KELOR ISLAND

 July 11, 2023

We got up at 4:20 AM, feeling sleep depreived, and were in the lobby at 5:30 as instructed. Our guide and driver were 15 minutes late, but we had plenty of time at the airport. 

I liked the reminder to stand to the left on the escalator so those in a hurry can get past you.

Another practical feature are the child-sized toilets in the "mother's stall."  Why don't more public restrooms do this? 

The photo murals are unique . . .

. . . as are the swirling fabric fans suspended from the ceiling.

I am always impressed by the devotion of my Muslim friends in my hometown, and I saw that in Bali too. There was a special room for prayer at the top of these stairs and away from the commotion of the airport.

I actually had a little time to shop (and the shops were open that early). I purchased two unique purses/bags and some beaded coin purses for gifts.

I love the tail fin of our plane (Lion Group, Indonesian Air):

I believe this is Mount Agung, an active volcano and the highest point in Bali. It is 9,944 feet above sea level.

We had a yummy chocolate-filled roll as our snack on the plane, one of our better airplane food items in Indonesia.

By the way, the only empty seat on the entire plane was next to me, so we were able to spread out and have both the window and the aisle. Lucky us!

We flew over another active volcano with steam actually rising from its crater.

We landed at the Labuan Bajo Airport on Flores Island and were picked up by Vincent, our guide for the next two days. He was probably the best English-speaker of all our guides and definitely one of our favorites. 

Before going down to the dock, we stopped at an overlook to get a view of the city and the bay. What was once a small fishing town has become the bustling gateway for tourism to Komodo National Park.

We were met at the dock by Elfrid, who ferried us out to our home for the next few days.

This is where we would be living--the Ayla, a boat even larger than the one we'd had in Borneo. In addition to Elfrid, who handled the boat-to-shore transport, and Vincent, our guide, we had Hendra (captain), Alfred (for whatever is needed), and sisters Inka and Catherine (the cookies). SIX of them to take care of TWO of us. In addition, there were two tiny, air-conditioned bedrooms on the boat. One was for us to put our luggage in, and the other was for us to sleep in. Crazy. We felt like the colonizers taking advantage of the native people, or almost as bad, like stereotypical entitled Americans.

Our first stop was a little island with a beach populated by dozens of young bodies in string bikinis and speedos. Somehow I missed taking that picture and took this one of the creative "sandscaping" instead.

There was a craft market with a few interesting things for sale. Bob had seen a carved komodo dragon in the airport and had asked Vincent if there was a place he could buy one. Vincent said this market was the place, so Bob looked them all over and found one he liked. I think he paid about $55.00 USD for it. It is about 20" long an 9" tall, too big to pack in our regular luggage. Luckily, I had brought an extra lightweight nylon carry-on bag that was the perfect way to get it home.

The island has a viewpoint that is accessed by a very steep terraced hill. 

The climb was worth the effort. The view was literally and figuratively breathtaking. 

We could see additional islands sprinkled all around the one we were on.

Back down at sea level, I decided to test the crystal-clear waters of the Indian Ocean. The temperature was pleasantly warmish-cool.

I couldn't walk too far, however, without encountering rocks and coral that don't feel very good on my bare feet.

I walked through the market one more time and decided to buy a necklace made of coral-colored shell for a price of 50,000 RP. That seemed like a good price. Bob had the money, so I left to get some from him. When I handed the woman the bills, she looked shocked and said, "No! 150,000!" She had tripled the amount. I was going to walk away, but when I realized it was still less than $10, and knowing that the extra 100,000 RP ($6 USD) would make a lot more difference on the receiver end than the payer end, I just forked it over and admired her "bargaining skills."

Back on the boat, our two cooks had lunch waiting for us--TONS of food  that included green beans, calimari, fried tofu, and shrimp, along with a vat of white rice.

Even after filling our plates, it looked like we had hardly touched the serving dishes.

A basket of fruit like this was also served with every meal and available all day. It was SO. MUCH. FOOD.

While we ate, the captain steered our boat towards our first real Komodo National Park experience--Rinca Island.