When visiting for an extended period, such as a year, planning all the locations you intend to see in advance is almost impossible. When my girlfriend and I traveled, we had a pretty stable idea of all the nations we meant to see, but we failed to recognize exactly where we might go while we were there. Sometimes, deciding to go to a selected vicinity comes together slowly and incrementally.

Flores in Indonesia is a good example of this. Initially, we were supposed to journey to Indonesia for two weeks. I’d never heard of Flores before placing off on our travels; a lot less had I any purpose for going there. Then, sooner or later, I started to examine this place referred to as Flores. Then, I pay attention to approximately some unique sight or hobby that draws humans in. Then an idea begins to take shape: what if I changed into to go to Flores? What is there to do there? How might I get there? How long could I be there?

And as the solutions to those questions come together, you are left with a clear decision: we are going to Flores!

The Plan

We made a plan to fly from Bali to the city of Maumere on the ways jap aspect of the island of Flores. From Maumere, we’d go to the village of Moni and visit the Kelimutu volcano (this was the unique hook that involved us – a volcano with three crater lakes of varying colorations at its summit.) From Moni, we continued heading west until we were given to the port city of Labuan Bajo, some distance from the island. From right here, we would make our way back toward Bali by way of sea and, hook or by crook, go to the islands of the Komodo Dragons.

Gaps in the Plan

We did not recognize how we’d journey from region to location, even on the island, where we would sleep, what the lodging prices and fines were like, what the meals become like in Flores, and whether humans communicated English. Apart from Kelimutu, we had no idea what else to peer and do.

Just go together with the Flow.

Sometimes, you must go along with the float and spot what occurs. And so this is what we did in Flores. We knew from online research that there had been a bus from Maumere to Moni, but that our plane arrived after the time the bus left. So, when we arrived at the airport, we negotiated with a taxi driver to see what kind of a rate we ought to get to Moni. We controlled to get the price down to half of his original offer, and I felt this changed into something too excellent to showdown. We additionally figured it would stop us from having to pay for a night in Maumere simply so that we could take the bus tomorrow. The taxi driver later informed us he lives in Moni, so it was either drive back with an empty automobile or make something from us. He presented us with accommodation in Moni, but we told him we wanted something cheaper (even though what he supplied us wasn’t exactly steeply priced). So he dropped us off at his friends’ house, literally throughout the road – the simplest street in Moni – from his location.

Moni and Kelimutu Volcano

The subsequent morning, we awoke at four.30 am and prompted to Kelimutu, while it changed into still dark, at the return of motorbikes pushed via locals. We followed the street some distance because it went, and then we had to park up and walk the relaxation of the way, minus the locals. Dusk started to break as we made our manner up the Volcano toward the summit. At the pinnacle, we looked at the three lakes and rested while looking at the first glimpse of the solar growing up over the horizon.

After we’d had sufficient up there and were happy we’d taken enough cool photographs, we started to reverse. We decided to stroll lower back to Moni to experience and take pleasure in the ecosystem and local surroundings. It was a long walk; however, we honestly loved it. From speaking to the taxi driver the night before, we knew a bus was due early that morning to take us to the following village. However, no one in Moni ought to say whether the bus might bypass via, so rather we jumped into a shared taxi and paid a rate much like the bus would have the fee. We got out at the subsequent metropolis and asked around for the time of the following bus to Bajwa. Again, after standing around and being told many instances of the bus, we decided to take another shared taxi. We knew how much the ticket would cost to negotiate an identical rate for the taxi.