8/27 -- Fly to Flores, Gateway to the Komodo Islands

We got up at 4:15am today to catch a 6:50am plane to Flores, an island about an hour by air from Bali.  We flew past a couple volcanic islands and took pictures.

Flores is much drier than Bali and also a lot  hotter. Our first adventure here was to go to a local market that has lots of fish,

a particularly interesting looking specimen

Our local guide, Gusty, extolling the market

Different rice grades: good to bad, back to
front. The brownish stuff is for pigs.

How to clean the rice.

Next was Batu Cermin (Mirror Stone Cave) which was a bit of a hike from the parking lot. We were told that we had to go through a long tunnel to enter, two sections of which were only about 3 feet high. I was willing to walk to the entrance but no further. Plus which, I was wearing a skirt and slip-on sandals, not exactly hiking gear. Of course Jim continued and brought back lots of photos.  He told me that a favorite cave trick was included -- turning off all the  lights-- which made me doubly glad I had skipped it.

On  the way to lunch, we stopped at an overlook to see where Komodo Island is -- a shadow in the distance.

Looking toward the town and harbor

Our next stop was lunch -- nice view, but the food was my least favorite so far. Then it was on to the main town of Labuan Bajo (means Harbor of the Bajo people, a Sulewesi tribe who moved here). This town is the most depressing of any we have seen in Indonesia so far. We walked along the waterfront for a bit, then stopped for snacks before heading to the hotel.

At lunch, we had been contemplating snorkeling, but nearly fell asleep in the soup so opted to rest instead. We headed out to dinner but first made a stop at an overlook to see the sunset. Most of the road is newly  paved as the government has recognized that this is a popular tourist stop. Unfortunately, I was dressed for dinner (long dress, silk scarf, slip-on sandals) and not prepared for the hike up the steep hill. The views were really good though and worth the effort.

Jim at the top, waiting for the sun to go down.

Approaching what we were going to see of sunset, since the
clouds were pretty heavy on the horizon.

Our last glimpse of the sun.

Then it was on to dinner -- at an Italian place of all things. Apparently there are a bunch of Italian restaurants here. We had an advance choice of meals, but because  I didn't know it was specialized in Italian food, I didn't pick the one Italian option. Too bad, because it was probably better than the steak burger with no accompaniments. Luckily, the wine was good AND inexpensive, so it all worked out.

Looking out over the harbor from the restaurant.