Interlude

Notice how these posts only come up when I’m running off somewhere.  This time round I got 14th to 27th planned out for Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia, specifically the Flores and Sumba islands. (I had Cambodia too last month, Jan’09 but will talk more about that another time).

So that bright green bit at the bottom is Nusa Tenggara. From the western end it starts off at Bali, then Lombok and then Sumbawa, that’s the rabbit-shaped one. These islands make up West Nusa Tenggara. Me I’ll be gallivanting off to East Nusa Tenggara, which comprises Flores, then Alor/Solor archipelagos,  Sumba (the blob that dropped off below the main chain of islands) and West Timor (half the big chunk on the bottom right, the other half’’s Timor Leste).

Specifically, I’ll be visiting Sumba and Flores. After much reading, time constraints, flight path evaluation, current events, time zones differences and allocating extra time for screw-ups (my screw-ups), these two seem the best and most sensible to visit with the measly 2 weeks I have. The Sumba Strait, btw for those Lost tv series afficionados, is the waters off Sumba where the Oceanic 815 reported sunk.

Highlights of this backpacking getaway will be the Pasola rituals in Sumba. This happens once a year in Feb and Mar and coincides with the full moon, and arrival of nyale worms on the shore. Timing is just nice for me. Next is LakeKelimutu on Flores, triple crater lakes each with varying colours. Crossing overland will end up in Labuanbajo where its the base to launch into giant lizard land in Rinca and Komodo islands . Probably slot in some diving if the water’s good here or back in Maumere too.

Here’s the rough itenerary.  I’m sleepy and I can’t figure out this frigging formatting…so here’s how it goes. The number’s the date, the first word is the location i start off from on that day, and the second word’s the location i should end the day. (should being the all important keyword here). Barring cancelled flights, missed once-a-day buses, and the occasional natural disaster, the itenerary should be a fairly relaxed one. No point booking lodging till I get to each town, and 3 out of 5 flights have been booked.  Stay tuned. =)

 Date  Start  End 14   Singapore  Denpasar 15  Denpasar  Waikabubak 16 Waikabubak  Wakanoka 17  Wakanoka  Waikabubak 18  Waikabubak Wangaipu 19  Wangaipu   Maumere 20  Maumere   Moni 21  Moni (KM)  Ende 22  Ende  Ruteng 23  Ruteng  Labuanbajo 24  Labuanbajo  Komodo 25  Komodo Labuanbajo 26  Labuanbajo  Denpasar 27  Denpasar  Singapore