Kuta Lombok to Flores, Lembata, Solor and return.

[merantau]

I recently completed a 2500km ride through Nusa Tenggara Barat and Nusa Tenggara Timor and back to Kuta Lombok. Here are some photos and notes about the trip.
My bike is a KLX150 that I bought new 13 years ago. I made a rack and fitted a 150mm diametre PVC pipe to carry a foam sleeping mat. It's dry season so I don't carry a rent. In an emergency I have a ground sheet and can rig up a shelter. I don't carry any cooking equipment but can always make a fire and boil water for coffee and instant noodles - so VERY basic.
I ride alone and enjoy company at the end of the day so sleep in towns along the way. I never book ahead as I never want to put myself under pressure to reach a destination before nightfall

I will post photos in chronological order. I did not have a lot of time for this trip. So I decided to travel east quickly and travel a little more slowly on the return leg.

The first day saw me leave Kuta, Lombok at 7.30AM. I reached Kayangan at 9.30. Ferry left at 10.30. Disembarked in Poto Tano, in Sumbawa, at 1.00PM after queing for 30 minutes. Decided to have a leisurely tw0 hour ride to Hotel Pantai Kencana and spend the night by the beach preparatory to a big Day 2 as I intended to ride across Sumbawa to Sape, the embarkation port for Flores.
So here are some photos from DAY 1

Motorbikes lashed to the ladders at the back of the bus. There were another 3 bikes on top. Lifted by human effort from below and a couple of lads on the roof hauling on ropes.



My KLX squeezed in along with cars, trucks and buses, big and small. Most ferries in eastern Indonesia are about 70mt long and 12 or so metres wide.

Outside the Alfamart, Poto Tano.

The "Sejahtera (welfare) 25"

Sunset at Kencana Beach

Kids fishing at sunrise. Pelabuhan Nada's, 10km west of Sumbawa Besar city. A huge volume of corn is manhandled from trucks onto tarps and then hauled aloft by ship's crane. Hot, dusty, work. No tippers or conveyor belts in this part of the world - just the grit and resilience born from lack of other options.

The kids didn't have any luck while I was there but told me they usually got a feed if they kept at it for an hour or two.

Sixty metre long wooden peninsi ship - probably made in Makassar or Bira by renowned sailors and boat builders - the Bugis of South Sulawesi.

 

[merantau]

DAY 2. After an excellent breakfast of nasi goreng and strong black coffee, I paid up, and climbed aboard to begin the long traverse of Sumbawa - destination Sapè, the jumping off point for Flores.

I filled up at the Pertamina servo at the beginning of the by-pass that skirts the city proper. I whizzed along, slicing through the cool morning air.


A couple of hours later, I took a coffee break by the seaside at Lesehan Sontong, a barbecued fish joint I'd known for 18 years. Got a very strange reception. It was like they'd never seen me before. They were very busy - but hey, that's no excuse for rudeness..The owner didn't even look up when I greeted her by name, never made eye contact. Makes you wonder.

Breezed into Sapè at 5pm to learn that the ferry to Labuhanbajo would leave at 9.00PM and arrive 5.00AM - PERFECT, so include me in.

Grabbed a bite to eat at the Taliwang Resaurant, then headed back to the port to buy a ticket and queue up.

Here are some photos from DAY 2

My bike at Lesehan Santong. It looks like I'm carrying a lot of gear, but looks can be deceiving.

This is Nangga Tumpuh, a famous view point east of Empang, that overlooks Salleh Bay.

Bima Bay in the background. Back in the early days of UK to Australia air travel, Bima airport was an vital refuelling point

Bikes queued at Sapè harbour waiting for the 9.00PM off.

Looking back to the Port entrance gates.

We left at 10.00PM and sailed over a placid millpond watched over by a vigilant all-seeing moon.
I kipped on the top deck, out in the breeze. The metronomic rhythm of the twin Yanmar Marine diesels lulled me to sleep - of a fashion. I lapsed in and out of consciousness, unsure whether I was dreaming or just experiencing stream of consciousness on steroids.

I gave up the fight to enter the "Land of Nod" when I realised I needed to take a leak. It was 3.00AM. Further attempts a sleep were pointless. I spent the next two hours thinking about the beauty of Labuhanbajo, and the friendliness of its inhabitants, while munching on packet of "Rio Kelapa Biskuits."

We docked at 5.00AM. I rode the deserted one--way system that circles the commercial section of LBJ and pulled up outside Persona Bali Hotel to wait to it to open.

 

[merantau]

DAY 3.
I cooled my heels for an hour or so, before an almond-eyed beauty appeared. Dusting of the residue from the night's dreams she opened the glass doors, looked up and saw me and smiled
"Selamat pagi. Ada kamar kosong?"
Her reply was in the affirmative..Great! I had bagged a room in an el cheap, with a billion $$$ patio view of LBJ's glorious harbour.View attachment 97376

Waking up to that view is elixir for the spirit. For it to be otherwise, you'd have to be brain dead.
After refuelling on a delicious cheese and vegetable omelette, washed down with strong, black Manggarai coffee, I went for a stroll down town.
Labuhanbajo is a diving centre and Komodo National Park entry point. There would be 100 boats involved in this trade.
The main street is festooned with dive shops and tour operators. These businesses utilise students from vocational senior high schools (SMAK) to pitch for punters. They receive the IDR50K a day (AUD4.25) for their labour. It's a very common business practice throughout Indonesia.
The young people are very polite, friendly and not pushy at all. Their conversational English skills are fairly basic so a lot of our interactions were conducted in Indonesian.

I will post some photos taken on my stroll around town later as there is an internet issue now

 

[merantau]

 

[merantau]

Day 5. Labuhanbajo
Spent the day wandering around town soaking up the atmosphere of this horizontally, laid back port - the Port of the Sea Gypsies.

This little jetty is for the water taxis. It's busy from dawn to dusk and then some.

Typical ASDP ferry..Where would the world's biggest maritime nation be without the men and women of the Angkutan Sungai Danau Penyeberangan?

The "KMP Komodo"

LBJ is a mixture of old, new and in between. All conditions and styles of architecture apply here - no dress codes enforced!

Japanese fusion food on tap.

Check out the art work.

Indonesian bengkel - motorcycle workshop. All operations are performed at ground level. Blow it up all you will see what I mean. Work Bench? They're for pussies

A plumber's nightmare. You can see the pump top left.

Pipes provide water for general purposes for the stream side homes. Not for drinking.

Smoking is big business

Adelina and Angel . They were on on work experience in the big smok. Hailed from up counrty about four hours by road from LBJ

Komodo dragon fashioned from exhaust pipes and silencers.

There's that harbour again

6.30PM

That's a white faced sea eagle's nest at the top of the tower.

 

[merantau]

Day 6. Slept two nights in LBJ. Rose with the roosters and set off for Bajawa up in the mountains- a solid 6 - 7 hour ride.
After 20 minutes I was free of the city traffic and began the climb into the hills. Outrageous greenery clothed the hillsides. Forests of fern and giant bamboo transformed the road into an inky black tunnel through the riot of vegetation

Traffic was light and well behaved. Road surface in great shape. No potholes secreting themselves in the ever present carpet of shade.

I made my way in and out of Ruteng without getting lost. This busy upland town boasts an absence of signage, and a one way system, that makes one think the City Elders were led to believe, by some bright spark, that all outsiders passing through have some magical powers of path finding and thus don't require any assistance with anything as mundane as a sign!

Looking back in the direction of LBJ.

From Ruteng there's a long down, up, down again run to Borung and a coffee stop at Bouganville Bakery. Really excellent fare. It's closed on Sundays - Church comes before business. Lovely owner and staff.

Fueled up and refreshed, I fired up and took off for Aimere, a tiny port on the south coast with ferry connections to Waingapu on Sumba, Ende in Flores and Kupang in West Timor. I stopped by the pier had a coffee and whiled away some time with the locals: no ferry due in so it was a quiet trading day.

Roadside petrol sellers are an ever present feature of motorcycle travel in Flores and the shortage of supply has never been greater - and I you don't have to be Einstein to work out the reason for that. Locals queing for hours, even for an entire day or night to get fuel.

From Aimere there is a 30plus kilometre climb to Bajawa. There are fantastic views of Gunung Inerie, the world's most perfect volcanic cone. I lobbed at "Lucas Authentic Homestay" and they had a room. Great.

Gunung Inerie

I met Eko, a former journalist turned tour guide at Lucas Authentic Homestay
A very well informed insider on Indonesian affairs. He'd been growing his dreds for 12 years.

 

[merantau]

DAY 7..
I made goodbye thr charming front of house staff at Persona Bali Hotel. It's great place for motorcycle riders as you can park in the lobby overnight - not that I've ever heard any accounts of theft in LBJ.
Next stop would be Ende via Boawe. Near the latter you get you get panoramic views of Ebulobo, another of Flores' volcanic stars

Just beyond Boawe I came face to face with an ugly sight - a posse of 30 of Indonesia's wealthy, top of the heapers, astride Harley's, hazard lights flashing, "Get out of our effing way. We run this country." Maybe I'm getting that wrong but when one of them pulled out to pass another, on a narrow bridge and ran me off the road, that was how I interpreted their riding style. No respect at all for the locals. Treating the road as their private domain - and to hell with anyone else.

From Boawe the road descends to Ende, on the coast, in a series of sweeping bend. It's a magnificent stretch of tarmac..The air gets progressively hotter as you descend to greet the bluest of seas to begin the long coastal run to Ende, the second largest city in Flores.

Lunch in Ende was at Alfa Mart coffee and a packet of chocolate digestives - purely as an energy supplement of course!
I still had a long way to go so, back on the bike. Ende is easy to get in and out of and I was soon free of congestion and riding up the deep forested valley that is the gateway to the highlands. Through Detusoko and then Moni, without detouring to see the coloured lakes of Kelimutu, and past Koka Beach..My destination was Sunset Beach Cottages 30km east of Maumere, at Waiterang Beach
I rode in the gate just on 5pm. Hendrix and his wife Erni greeted me with broard smiles. They had a room - a new room - for me. Time for a couple of days R&R.

Dinner prepared by Aldi's daughter, Titin. Aldi is away in Kalimantan working as a cook. He has taught Titin well. Presentation just like Dad's. A chip of the old block.

Looking at Pulau Babi from my dining table.

Sunset Beach
And so another day is put to sleep. What will tomorrow bring?