What to say about Flores?

Flores was a gorgeous island, with drives throughout the mountainous and beach-side terrain that make you fall in love instantly. Problems that I had with this lovely island were the people of Flores. They weren't overly rude and I was never scared/worried on the island, but this is the place where I couldn't walk 2 steps without hearing a "hello Mrs." "hello Mr." etc. (yes, they called me mister quite a lot, which of course is funny at first, but after the 500th time, it's just old).

Our main reason for visiting Flores was to see Kelimutu. It is located on the other side of the island from where we got dropped off, so it was a little journey to get there.

The first stop was Luaban Bajo (where our Komodo cruise dropped us off). I only spent a night here, but the cafe's were the nicest on the island with outstanding views of the ocean.

Next was the best 4 hour car ride to Ruteng. If you have the opportunity to visit Ruteng, don't. Or only go for the car ride. It was alright to walk around for an hour or so, but it was somewhat dirty and the calls...again...annoying.

Then it was off to Ende, which was a "big" city also just for the night.

The highlight of the trip was going to Moni.  A 30 minute motorbike ride out of Moni is Kelimutu National Park with 3 colored crater lakes. This made the 2 other nights in a big city all worth while.







That day in Moni was spent riding on motorbikes through the rice fields and bathing in a natural hot spring.

We stayed at Bingtang Guesthouse in Moni. This was a small but quaint hotel in the cutest little village town. Our hotel was only $5pp and included breakfast. After enjoying the first night with the locals/singing with the band/playing cards/drinking Arak, the following morning were were off to the park at a good 4:30am to catch the sunrise.

Kelimutu was phenomenal, and the walk back down wasn't so horrible either. We found the waterfall and passed another local village alone the way.

After that, we spent 2 nights in Maumere. One night in the city, and one on the beach.

Overall, Flores is wonderful to drive through and seeing Kelimutu was worth all the cat calls.