Labuan Bajo....
Another place of rustic appearances with a motley bunch of taxi drivers and moped riders all eager to relieve me of some money, no thanks. From the quayside turn right and that's it - I am in the village of Labuan Bajo. First eat, second look for a place to bunk down for a few nights.
The first place with food stacked up in the window, commonly called a Makasan, is here on the left, that'll do. A good plate of wholesome food for about 60p - much better than those pot noodles and worth the Wait! The first potential accommodation is spotted, just a few doors from the Makasan. Of wooden construction, doesn't actually look too inviting from the outside, but with nothing to loose on hearing the price of 66,000 rp, about £2.70 let's take a look. No shower, no wifi and no spare plug socket so no deal, even at £2.60. A few meters further on, past open drains with the associated smells all to familiar of an inadequate system, and another potential accommodation spot - The Mutiara. Down a slope and into a corridor separated into rooms. Has electrical socket, shower and a comfy bed for 100000, about 5 quid at today's exchange rate. No wifi, but breakfast is included. It's an ok room, not exactly a palatial experience and there is a fan.
So, with a place to bunk down fixed, time for a quick stomp around the village before sundown. It's fair to say this place is fully entrenched in the tourist business centred mainly around diving and snorkelling activities for which there are numerous adverts both sides of the street. Anything from a 1 day trip to 3,4 or for the very keen 5 days of splashing around in the Flores Sea. Apart from the exceptional marine life around here, L. Bajo is also famed for being the launch point for trips to see Komodo Dragons on nearby Islands - Rinca is the closest and evidently the better place to catch one of these monster lizards. So, ticket booked for 7.30 tomorrow at 350,000 rp, about £18 and that's just for the boat ride. More charges occur once on the Island I am led to believe! Well, we'll see tomorrow, but for now just keep on walking.
10 minutes out of the village and there is a lot of jungle, a posh looking hotel and a bunch of fishing boats I can spot between palms and bananas. A small beach here unsurprisingly strewn with garbage - those folk in the posh hotel must be disappointed as I bet garbaged beach isn't mentioned in the brochure. A little garbage in the water but as yet I can't spot any poo, although the local boys seem happy enough to splash around. Actually there is a clean stretch of beach, right at the end of the bay, opposite another posh development, posh by Indonesian standards anyway. I'll see how overpriced the drinks are later!
A cooling breeze lowers the temperature just a little as the sun begins to sink. Time for a photo of the sunset on the Flores sea before hiking it back to the village and some nosh. Tomorrow, well just call me George as I'm off hunting for dragons!
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