Dragons of Komodo

  
  
  
  
  

If they were just called "Komodo Lizards", they'd probably not attract quite as much mainstream attention... Nonetheless, the Dragons are definitely pretty fearsome looking, and the whole notion of a venomous land animal 10 feet long that can outrun anyone and regularly feeds on human flesh does quicken the pulse a bit!

I soon got over my mild disappointment about having to get on an airplane to skip East over several hundred miles of islands from Bali to get to Labuan Bajo on Flores.  Indeed, seeing all that mountainous terrain and churning sea whizz along beneath us in 2 hours definitely appeals over the alternative option of two to three days of crunching over the winding roads and bobbing across the straits in rickety buses and rusting ferries.  Even if the plane is just a cheap reverse-engineered Chinese knock-off copy of a 1950s Soviet Antonov 24.

The area is actually beautiful - tons of little islands.  We stayed out on a tiny island in a bungalo for a bit - nice.  Good snorkelling, and it was great to actually slow down a tad.  We had plans to go straight from the island to the Komodo National Park by a little boat the next morning to see the Dragons, then fly back to Bali the following day from Bajo.

That'd have been a great plan - except the annual monsoon rains decided to start abruptly the night we stayed out on the island.  The next morning, the caretaker of the bungalows informed us that the boat we'd arranged to take us to the park was was not coming on account of the weather.  Now, I suppose when the captain of small boat out here decides that he'd rather forgo the handsome charter fare for safety - you don't argue with him...

Luckily, we at least got back to the main town that afternoon, but by then no one would take us the two hours out to see the Dragons.  The weather was really bad, and it was getting late.  And our flight was the next day. Disappointment.

Anyway, we went to the airline office to see if it might be possible to change the tickets to the next day - and the guy at the station smiled and hinted at bribes, etc.  Great.  But we did discover that they'd re-scheduled the flight back until late in the afternoon - so we could go to see the Dragons first thing after all!

We made arrangements to get on a boat at 0600 the next morning - and sure enough the captain was there - with his tiny boat.  And so was the torrential rain and blustery wind.  Cause for concern?

Well, an old salty sailor on the pier glared at us and pointed out to the churning sea making it clear that he did not think it was a good idea at all.  He made gestures of giant waves and cast scolding stares to the wiry little boat driver that was to take us on the passage.  Perhaps he was just upset that he didn't get the job himself - who knows.  But his disapproval didn't exactly lift our confidence...

Anyway, somewhat miraculously the weather actually cleared up just before we set off, and we made it safely to Rinca Island - where there be Dragons!

All good!

Labuan Bajo and the surrounding islands are beautiful. I really enjoyed staying in a little room with a view of the port followed by a basic beach hut on the island of Seraya where it was fun to go snorkelling and watch the evening thunderstorms. 
It was a good job I had my sea legs for the boat journeys to and from the island as it was quite choppy. The wet season suddenly started and I was very glad we hadn't chosen our initial plan to take a boat tour all the way back towards Bali for 2 nights and 2 days.

On the final morning there we got on a wooden put put put boat at 6am to take us to the island of Rinca- home of the Komodo Dragons. The weather was atrocious and I was having second thoughts. However, we were committed, along with two other guys. The boat was rocking a lot for the first 30-40 minutes of the journey and I did feel a bit queasy, but it was a lot smoother for the rest. Soon after arriving on the island the heavens opened and there was torrential rain. Seeing the dragons in their natural environment was really interesting; particularly as I had watched 'Life' the night before which had dedicated a whole section to the dragons killing and devouring a water buffalo! The storm wasn't so good and we spent an hour walking through jungle in the pouring rain, mud and buffalo muck, only to be told that there were many types of deadly snakes that lived there that like to come out in the rain! 

Sealife on the Liberty - Tulamben, Bali

  
  
  
  
  
  

Torpedoed at sea by the Japanese in WWII, the crippled USAT Liberty was being towed to port when it began to sink.  To salvage what could be saved, it was beached here in Tulamben, in the NE of Bali.  It did eventually sink though - as two decades later the island's big volcano erupted, pushing the ship into the sea.

It's now encrusted in half a century's worth or corals and sea life, but lies just a stone's throw from shore.  Pretty convenient to be able to explore the wreck - then just walk right out of the sea to a hot shower a few steps away!

 






It was awesome diving in Bali- led by our fabulous instructor Wolf! Ty and I really got into muck diving (no that is not a euphemism for anything dodgy!) It was incredible to look closely at the corals and underneath rocks to see tiny glass shrimp, ghost pipe fish, cleaning stations, nudibranchs and so much more. The night dive was fun as we saw an octopus and various other critters.

Balinese Offerings

  
  
 

After travelling via surface all the way down from Burma, we finally reached Bali. Time to chill... It was an interesting contrast to see elements of the Hindu religion after being in Muslim countries for a week or so . Each day we would see little banana leaf packets left everywhere, filled with flowers, rice and other offerings. There were also intricately woven decorations adorning street lamps. It feels like Bali has some kind of ceremony or festival happening every day. Often I would see men and women dressed in traditional Balinese outfits zipping around on motorbikes with ceremonial wrapped packages balancing on the back.

First class on the KM Sirimau

  
  
  
2.1 million is only part of the price of two first class tickets from Kijang near Singapore to Tajung Priok in Jakarta. There's also the guilt...

That lofty-sounding sum allowed us to have our own cabin for the 46 hour journey with a shower, air con, satellite TV and all meals included in a dedicated dining room.  Just for us - as there were no other first class passengers on the ship.  The fact is that with budget airlines flying the same distance in hours for the same price (about £55 each), there's no real demand for the service.

Everyone else on board was in Ekonomi class - which means sleeping in the bowels of the ship's many roach-infested decks, or outside, or even in the lifeboats.  I found a certification plaque stating that the capacity of the ship is 969 persons.  But there's no way that's adhered to.  For one, there's no way they could possibly know how many people are actually on board anyway - the ship goes on a 14 day circular voyage stopping in over a dozen ports.  How can they possibly ensure that people have bought tickets for their whole journey?  And it's packed.

We'd initially aimed to take Pelni's weekly service on the semi-famous KM Kelud going directly from Batam across from Singapore directly to Jakarta in just over 29 hours.  It's a big ship, and always sails full.  However, it's currently out of service...  So the other option was the smaller KM Sirimau, which runs from a more distant island from Singapore and stops somewhere en route to Jakarta - taking close to 2 days.  If it was on time!  But as it's picking up the slack from the Kelud - it was even more late and even more packed!  The Sirimau nearly sank a couple of months ago in Jakarta's harbour, and I did bear that in mind at times like when it listed heavily in ports when the crowds ran to the sides or when it suddenly broke down and began to drift in the sea without power for half an hour in the middle of nowhere.  At least I got to see straight down in to the clear blue sea to see giant jellyfish and sea creatures when we were drifting - looking at the positive side of it...

Some staff at Kijang port took us under their wing and made sure we got on board in a comfy way - which was nice.  But even watching the scrum of people ramming onto the ship as the throngs desperately forced their way ahead to find better sleeping spots was a spectacle.  As we waited in the pilot's office, we saw a person brought into the room in a stretcher - having passed out in the heaving crowd awaiting boarding.

But we got on, and went to the office to upgrade our Ekonomi tickets (all you can buy on shore - as they're unlimited...) and were soon the lone residents of the short and empty first class cabin corridor.  I'm glad I'd thought ahead and brought a can of "Hit!" bug spray - pretty potent stuff.  After fuming out the room - we had a pretty comfy space.  Which was good for _us_ at least.  Kept thinking of the Titanic movie with the first class passengers depicted as insensitive snobs ignorant of the poor protagonist heroes down below. Hmm.  Oh well - it was comfy, and we made it just fine...

Ty believed this journey would be romantic! The cockroaches, men staring, plumes of cigarette smoke and people laying everywhere and anywhere on the boat was an interesting take on romance. However, although it was not the kind of 1st class cabin you may conjure up whilst day dreaming about sailing around the world's largest archipelago, it was home for two days and two nights and fairly comfy once it had been bug bombed. Plus we made it, albeit in an unconventional way! Even some of the Indonesians we spoke to about the journey thought we were a bit bonkers.