Wae Gogol

After some really hot days in Labauanbadjo I was looking forward to going up into Flores' mountains. 😅 As central Flores is at around 1.200-1.400m high, temperatures are more chilled and, additionally it's the perfect area to spend Christmas days, as the huge majority at Flores (except of the coastal areas) is Christian, due to Portuguese colonialism.
Once again I had an awesome ride -I love going around with my scooter every single day- even if I was stopped due to heavy rain, but it lasted only 20mins, so no problem. But, as usual, I started very late and took several breaks, so I arrived at Ruteng quite late. Which was very nice, as I was able to enjoy the road decorations people set up for Christmas, here. Indonesians love blinking lights very much! 😅🥰
I spent 2 nights in a real nice and cozy homestay, the family immediately integrated me into their family life, as if I would already stay there for a long time. 🥰
Having dinner and breakfast together, drinking some palm wine at night, and when I left I even got a lunch box with Maria's amazing Spekulatius and chocolate muffins and her great spring rolls. 🤤
Used my day in Ruteng to explore the south, visiting a traditional village of local tribes. It felt more than a museum and tourist attraction, but still was interesting, as we were shown the traditional local architecture, rituals and traditional dancing, which originates from their combat techniques.
Heading on to the south coast was nice, changing from 23-25° temperature in the mountains to 30-32° at sea level is funny, as you can feel how it changes, while riding up/down the steep mountains.
At Iteng beach some locals immediately approached me and invited me to a coffee, first, and then some Arrak (spirit made from sugar palm), later. With not much English skills on their side and even less Indonesian skills on my side, we had some fun and a nice afternoon!
Had some rain on my way back, again, but going further uphills, I realized I was lucky, as rain here was even worse, du to visible damage and flooding. Finally I ended up at a falling tree over the road, just happened, as I was the 5th person arriving there. A truck driver just started trying to cut it with a huge machete (well equipped guy 😅), while soon more people arrived. Quickly there were a bunch of people, lifting the scooters and motorbikes over the fallen tree. 😎💪 So I joined, and after lifting a few bikes, it was Cepi's turn, some guys helped me, lifting my scooter over, and after helping for some more other bikes, I went on. An amazing experience and a great example of how kind and helpful and how pragmatic Indonesian often acting: While bike drivers helped each other to lift their bikes, car and truck drivers just started working together and cut the tree in smaller pieces. I'm quite sure, the problem was solved within less than 30 mins. And, as usual, too, no authorities showed up, as we Europeans are used to. 😅
Aside from the Indonesian smiling faces, I will remember their awesome abilities to solve problems, to find work-arounds, mostly! 😎🥰Read more