Power, Immensity, and Intrigue

I anticipated with baited breath what lay around the next turn!  Steely blue waters and lush green hills interspersed with stretches of brown earth brought home the immensity of what surrounded me! Eerie and beautiful calm all around threatened to break through any moment!

I was getting a taste of ‘Flores’, an Indonesian island unique in many senses.

Stunningly beautiful Indian ocean, rare ‘carnivorous’ Komodo dragons, corals of different colours, and snippets of local and unique history will make your travel here worthwhile and will make you want to come back again.

Labuanbajo, a small coastal fishing village is a good hosting point to go around Flores.  The first thing that strikes as you land at Komodo airport (even the airport is named after Komodo dragon J) in Labuanbajo, is its proximity to the sea. You feel as if you are landing on sea – the way you feel when you are landing Ngurah Rai airport in Bali.  The smallness of the airport is the second thing that strikes you. It literally is a few rooms big and stays locked up (literally with locks) when flights are not taking off or landing.

As you start spending sometime in Labuanbajo you start getting more of a sense of what all makes this island unique.

I came across tree shapes, tree types, and flower types I had never seen before. Maybe it is because of Flores being below ‘Wallace line’ J (do some reading on Alfred Russel Wallace and his work in Malaysian Archipelago). I noticed that the features of the people around were less Indonesian like and more Australasian like – broad foreheads, high cheek bones, darker, etc. Indian Ocean drew me in – dark, ‘mirror’ like, and opaque blue. I was initially apprehensive of but finally enjoyed eating ‘king sized’ Bintang/Flores bananas.

A bit of trivia about ‘Flores’. Flores was discovered by Portuguese sailors.  They named island ‘Flores’ (flower in Portugues) as the surrounding Indian Ocean is full of corals that impart to the ocean colours of different hues. I noticed different shades of blue, green, pink, yellow, and violet in various parts of Ocean. So Flores was for a long time a Portuguese island. But then it changed hands to Dutch. As per local history, Flores was supposedly sold by Portuguese to Dutch (and that too by local Portuguese administration without permission of Portuguese government).

The Indian Ocean around Flores is intriguing. At most places it looks like an unbroken glass of deep blue water.  Water shines due to sunlight but it is mostly stunningly opaque. It changes in colour where the corals are present.  But wait till time you get further into Ocean and you will be up for surprises. You will see form and shape of waterscape changing. I saw series of whirlpools. I saw many different streams of water, possibly signaling to presence of strong and different currents here. I saw places where water was bubbling up J. All this while my boat traversed in between low lying hills on either side chugging slowly towards Rinca and Komodo islands.

I could see Rinca island from distance. Soon our boat was flanking island. I peered at it waiting with bated breath to sight the Komodo dragon whenever I could see a glimpse of patch of brown earth in between the dense vegetation.

A bit of trivia about Komodo dragons. The movie ‘King Kong and Godzilla’ is inspired by Komodo dragons. These dragons are giant carnivorous lizards (and hence have lizard like tongues) – and have a history of attacking and eating men too.  Rinca and Komdo islands are only places in world where these dragons (numbering around 5000) still exist. They supposedly are only remaining linkages with old world dinosaurs.  The forest rangers in these islands are hired by Indonesian government and they live with their families in the villages there. They are not allowed to kill dragon and can only beat it back with sticks if attacked. Amazing dedication to saving an almost extinct species.

Soon we had docked at Rinca islands!  While walking the forest trail with the rangers we came across full body skeletons of different animals – attacked and eaten by the dragons. Supposedly only body part dragons don’t eat is the hair. So if you are unlucky enough to be attacked, you might disappear unnoticed. I was not sure whether to feel comforted by the presence of the ranger – what exactly could he do if we were attacked. I was scared and excited at the same time. Suddenly I saw a number of dragons right infront of me. I froze still and breathed in easy to calm down.

I had heard they look lazy but pounce on you without warning. They did look lazy, almost asleep. But a look at their front limbs, claws, and powerful jaws warned me of danger of getting too close. I managed to zoom in enough to get a close shot with my camera. But my heart was thumping and I was sweating. I remembered the instructions given to me by ranged – run zig-zag if chased by dragon and climb a tree. Dragons find it difficult to run zig-zag and can’t climb trees. I had told ranger that I don’t know how to climb trees. He had answered calmly I will learn it immediately if chased by dragon – he had seen such cases before. J

Well I spent about a quarter of an hour with the dragons; all the time alert and observant. That quarter hour is photographed in my mind.

Later in the day at sunset, further away from Rinca island, I saw thousands of bats migrate to Rinca island from Kalong island. The Indian ocean at sunset looks stunning. Strange shaped clouds, surrounding hills, and play of light in the sky and the water makes for an overpowering image – not to be missed. I sat at the bow of the boat looking at the sun set, while we slowly trudged back home.

I have heard somewhere that you should never underestimate Indian Ocean. With about an hour left to hit the coast, I found out why. The winds picked up and water became rougher. I felt we were taking an eternity to reach the harbor while our boat crashed from one wave to the other and swayed around. The sailor’s gentle and confident smile and reassurance that we will make it back to the port calmed me down.

I did made it back, with a bagful of unforgettable memories and experiences.

-

Sourav

Indonesia

Recently, I spent about a fortnight in Indonesia. It was an auvsome experience!

Here are some of my notes /observations from the travel:

Number of Islands- The places you usually recall when you think of Indonesia are Jakarta and Bali. So you will understand my surprise when I realized that Indonesia consists of 1700+ islands. Java is largest and most heavily populated island amongst these. In fact, Java is island with highest population density in the world. I experienced some of results while traveling by road in Java- even inter city roads are choc-a-bloc with traffic. I was also fairly surprised when I realized there are 3 different tome zones within Indonesia.

Population- Indonesia has 240 million people, making it 4th most populous country in the world. Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Confucianism, and Buddhism are amongst its officially recognized religions. Bali (most touristry island of Indonesia) has around 20 million people (97% of then Hindus). Hindus in Bali believe in a supreme diety- Shiva.

Transport within the country - Java seems to be only island with a train network in place. Interestingly even Jakarta didn't have a metro train network. Number of regional aircraft carriers is mind bogglingly high- I counted till some 10-15. Flight prices are fairly cheap. That makes sense - if not for flights citizens will find it fairly difficult to travel across the country quickly.

Tourists – Indonesia is the first country I have come across where maximum number of tourists are from Australia. Bali is 3.5 hours by flight from Australia- that's lesser travel time than to some tourist locations within Australia. At airports in Bali and Java I found full service Virgin Australia flights. Bali supposedly has a number of auvsome surfing spots. Lombok and Nusa Tengarra (islands in South Indonesia) have good diving spots, Australian tourists -with their love for sports supposedly flock to these places.

India and Indonesia - I had read there are historical linkages between India and Indonesia. I didn’t find mentions of something’s I had expected while I found other linkages that surprised me.

I found no mention within Indonesia of Biju Patnaik's dare devilry (on instructions of Nehru) in flying into Indonesia and evacuating a key leader of their pro-independence struggle. I did find a few mentions of the fact that India and Indonesia along with a handful of other countries were creators of Non-aligned movement (NAM).

Everyone seemed to know Shahrukh Khan. Whenever people realized we were Indians, they started singing ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’. He seems to enjoy celebrity status there.

At an airport terminal, I found an Indonesian channel running a documentary on Bollywood. It showed a number of images from Mumbai-including a wall painting of Amitabh Bacchan in film Deewar. You can see this wall painting on a wall your left when you are driving down from Mehboob Studio to Bandstand in Bandra.

I met someone else who could not stop talking about Priety Zinta. He also shared how on Indonesian TV they show some bollywood movie everyday.

At Jakarta airport -we heard criminal (Shahrukh Khan number) being played somewhere.

Bollywood certainly seems to be a hit in Indonesia. I hear their local pop music is also influenced by Bollywood numbers.

Language - I have heard that Bahasa is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. I realized a few interesting things.

Bahasa Indonesian is supposedly derived from Bahasa Malaysian. Hence native Malay and native Indonesian speakers can usually understand each other. Bahasa Indonesian is not the only widely spoken language in Indonesia. Actually it is most widely spoken in Java.

Bali has a local Balinese language.  Java has a local Javanese language. There supposedly are more than 700 languages/dialects spoken in the country.

Indonesian Script is Greek (English script) - so it is fairly simple for Indians to read.

Indonesia was first occupied by Portuguese, then by Dutch, and then by Japanese (during WW II). I found a few words in Indonesian language which seem to have been influenced by Portuguese at least e.g - gratis means free both in Indonesian and Portuguese (and even in Spanish J).

Most of the times when I tried to say a few words in Indonesian, I was greeted with friendly smiles. Terima Kasih (thank you) and Sama Sama (welcome) are 2 handy terms for any tourist.

Sotos, Goreng, Teh, and Kopi- Nasi Goreng (Fried rice) seems to be a popular dish in Indonesia. Nasi Goreng actually is quite fried- a little bit too much for my appetite. You can have different kinds of goreng (fry) in Indonesia. Some of other more popular ones are ayam goreng (fried chicken) and ikan goreng (fried fish).

I must make a mention of Soto Ayam -Chicken Soup with noodles and egg. It's perfect for lunch/dinner especially if you are feeling drained out by the heat. You can find different kind of Sotos (Soups) in Indonesia.

At many places, you will come across Masakan Padang – these are eating joints which run on a Indian Thali kind of system. The term Masakan Padang itself comes from Sulawesi.

 

I liked coffee plantations in Bali. They grow 5-6 different flavors of coffee- I especially liked coconut flavored coffee.  You can also try Luwak coffee (supposedly costliest coffee in the world) though it was a bit too strong for my liking. You must read up on how it is produced – pretty different is all I can say ( J).

I had heard a lot about Java coffee-it lived up to its tag. Really tasty though I am not sure whether you could have more than 2 cups a day of ‘strong’ Java coffee. By the way, Indonesians call coffee as kopi and tea as teh.

Volcanoes and craft villages - All 3 islands I visited (Bali, Flores, and Java), seemed to have dormant/active volcano and villages organized around trades/crafts. In Bali i found entire villages of wood workers (Mas Village), silver workers, painters, etc. Interestingly, wood work is done on 3/ 4 different kinds of woods- sandal wood, crocodile wood (whatever that means), mahogany, etc.

Flores and Australasians - i must mention about island of Flores and surrounding Indian Ocean. Some of views are stunning and will stay etched in my mind.

Indian Ocean looks wild and beautiful. Komodo dragons in Rinca island are awe inspiring. Different colored corals around Rinca island are eye catching.

Interestingly people in Flores seem to have more Australasian than Oriental features. It seems there is some natural line that runs somewhere between Bali and Lombok beneath the ocean - and that causes stark differences in vegetation across two sides of the line.

I saw some strange and unique trees and flowers in Labuanbajo (a fishing village in Flores island). It seems a scientist of Darwin's stature had during Darwin's era investigated in Indonesia and independently found out about principal of survival of the fittest.

You must also try out the Flores Bananas (they have a special name that means Maharaj of Bananas) – they are really big and are very tasty.

This island was supposedly named Flores by Portuguese who had discovered this island, and had named it ‘Flower’ (in Portuguese) due to the varied colored corals surrounding this island.

Literature- Indonesia seems to have a rich tradition of short stories and local fables. If you see a Periplus bookshop somewhere, do go and check out Indonesian books section. I especially found some of the books based on Bali's past very interesting.

Tradition – Yogyakarta (city of Ayodha) is a cultural hub in Indonesia. Try out the Wayang Kulit (shadow performance) shows in Yogyakarta.  When in Bali, visit Ubud (a cultural hub again) and try out the traditional dance performances every night (don’t miss Kecak performance for sure).

Misses – I could not visit some of the places. I just didn’t have enough time. These included Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan (for jungle safari to see oranggutans) and Papua (to visit various tribes there). There also are islands of Sulawesi and Maluku.

 

Well! That’s some of the experiences and memories that I have brought back from Indonesia.

 

 

-

Sourav