New Day and a New Island
Day 7
Our flight to Flores isn't until this afternoon so we have a morning to relax. I couldn't resist a bit of time at the beach so we meandered around the beach for the morning. The sand is really, really soft on the beach but nice and firm once you get in a little bit. And feels so nice and cool with the hot temperatures here.
It's a really nice quiet beach. It also looks like it's really shallow as you can see the fisherman standing out at a far distance and the water is barely past their waists. And if we are talking about Indonesian men it's more up to my waist.
And we managed to find a quieter section as we had no sellers trying to convince us to visit their stalls on our way out. This section is fairly calm as well as you can see the waves breaking on what I assume is the reef way out. We also spotted a few parasailers as the winds that hit the island make it really windy in spots. But does help to cool the island down so it didn't feel as hot and humid as Sumatra.
Today we head south to Labuan Bajo in Flores for a night before we catch our boat for the following 3 days. We will be on the boat in the Flores sea around the Komodo Islands.
It was a trip back to Denpasar airport, an airport we visit 4 times this trip with all the flights. It was a bit of a wait as the plane was delayed. But it did give us a chance to keep track of the hockey game. I feel like such a stereotypical Canadian keeping up with my ice hockey. But we got the games around 10 am so it was easy for us to keep track of the score.
We arrived at the Komodo Airport this afternoon. It's a fairly small airport and looks very new. Google tells me it opened in 2015 to help with the influx of tourism to the Komodo Islands. I was amused when we landed it was raining a very small amount. But enough that they had people to hand us umbrellas to keep us dry as we walked to the terminal. It was a bit of a walk so it was a really nice gesture. One that I didn't get at home in Edmonton when it was raining as I had to walk across to the terminal as well. As you drive through the town it's all diving and tours to the various islands. And with 80 islands you have a lot to pick from. It's a fairly small town and we did go through the touristy bits. It really feels like people stay here before and after the islands, just like our group.
Our hotel is just outside of town on it's own private beach. As we were in a bit late we didn't get too much time to enjoy the beach before the sun set. The grounds are really lovely with all the paths amongst all the tropical trees. They have really gone all out with the landscaping here.
We did have dinner at the hotel. It was a lovely dinner. We did have one lady who was sick for the next few days and aren't sure if it is from here or not. We did have a few people get ill while they were here. The delightfully named Bali Belly can hit easily with the undrinkable water. What I did find amusing at dinner was that the background music was country. And it seemed to be the pop country stuff from the 90s that I remember my sister listening to. An odd choice to say the least.
Today was a pretty relaxed day so I'll take a moment to talk about the safety features of Indonesia. Short answer, there are none. They use a lot of nice looking, but very slippery tiles for flooring. You don't always see railings on staircases. And they drive like maniacs. Center lines are merely a suggestion and typically the drivers just honk and swing around the slower vehicle. After a few days you do get used to it. But it's always a bit strange being places without all sorts of warnings and safety features everywhere. And yet we all managed to make it through just fine.
Our flight to Flores isn't until this afternoon so we have a morning to relax. I couldn't resist a bit of time at the beach so we meandered around the beach for the morning. The sand is really, really soft on the beach but nice and firm once you get in a little bit. And feels so nice and cool with the hot temperatures here.
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| Sanur Beach |
And we managed to find a quieter section as we had no sellers trying to convince us to visit their stalls on our way out. This section is fairly calm as well as you can see the waves breaking on what I assume is the reef way out. We also spotted a few parasailers as the winds that hit the island make it really windy in spots. But does help to cool the island down so it didn't feel as hot and humid as Sumatra.
Today we head south to Labuan Bajo in Flores for a night before we catch our boat for the following 3 days. We will be on the boat in the Flores sea around the Komodo Islands.
It was a trip back to Denpasar airport, an airport we visit 4 times this trip with all the flights. It was a bit of a wait as the plane was delayed. But it did give us a chance to keep track of the hockey game. I feel like such a stereotypical Canadian keeping up with my ice hockey. But we got the games around 10 am so it was easy for us to keep track of the score.
We arrived at the Komodo Airport this afternoon. It's a fairly small airport and looks very new. Google tells me it opened in 2015 to help with the influx of tourism to the Komodo Islands. I was amused when we landed it was raining a very small amount. But enough that they had people to hand us umbrellas to keep us dry as we walked to the terminal. It was a bit of a walk so it was a really nice gesture. One that I didn't get at home in Edmonton when it was raining as I had to walk across to the terminal as well. As you drive through the town it's all diving and tours to the various islands. And with 80 islands you have a lot to pick from. It's a fairly small town and we did go through the touristy bits. It really feels like people stay here before and after the islands, just like our group. Our hotel is just outside of town on it's own private beach. As we were in a bit late we didn't get too much time to enjoy the beach before the sun set. The grounds are really lovely with all the paths amongst all the tropical trees. They have really gone all out with the landscaping here.
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| The swimming pool in Sanur |
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| Sunset in Labuan Bajo |
Today was a pretty relaxed day so I'll take a moment to talk about the safety features of Indonesia. Short answer, there are none. They use a lot of nice looking, but very slippery tiles for flooring. You don't always see railings on staircases. And they drive like maniacs. Center lines are merely a suggestion and typically the drivers just honk and swing around the slower vehicle. After a few days you do get used to it. But it's always a bit strange being places without all sorts of warnings and safety features everywhere. And yet we all managed to make it through just fine.
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