Long ferry journey

14 – 16 May 2010

The earliest I could get a plane from Sumba was 21 May so I decided to take the ferry, so after 6 hours on a bus I arrived at the ferry terminal at 20:00. The first one to leave went to Aimere on Flores. I used my contacts from VSO to check if there was a flight from Ende within a couple of days of the ferry’s arrival. There was not so I decided to stay on the ferry as far as Kupang; a 36 hour journey; as there are several flights a day from Kupang to Bali.

As there had been no ferries for over a week this one was rather full and I was lucky to find enough floor space to put down the sleep mat I hired for the two nights. People were lying anywhere and everywhere – how they managed to get to some of the places I have no idea but I know it would not be allowed in the UK! Despite the discomfort and the high level of smoke pollution I had a great time on the trip.

Ikat

Ikat is a form of weaving where a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dying is used on either the warp or weft fibres prior to the weaving. It is the dyed threads that create the final pattern. Each of the regions of NTT have their own style of ikat. The colours and patterns make it possible to identify where a piece comes from. The women sit an weave whilst it is the men who trade the ikat. There are still a few weavers using natural dyes but now chemical dyes and synthetic threads are being used to make the cloth attractive to tourists.

Sumba

6 – 14 May 2010

I had a great time in East Sumba and had just started to explore West Sumba when I received an email from VSO offering me a second placement in Uganda starting 16 July. I therefore cut short my visit to Sumba to get home to see Steve. The countryside was far more rounded than the angular hills of Flores. Sumba has many traditional villages and I was invited to one Kampung Tarung as a friend. Like so many other events it meant that it was not really appropriate to be taking photographs. The traditional villages have large grave stones but even modern houses have huge ornate constructions over the family graves that have to be saved for and often mean the families develop large debts. I have shared transport with chickens, goats and pigs but this was the first time I had shared a bemo with a horse! I had been waiting on Sumba as I wanted to go to Sabu by ferry but the wind meant the waves were too high for the ferry to run - it will just have to wait until another visit.

Return to Rote

27 April – 4 May 2010

I decided to go back to Rote whilst I waited the decision on my visa extension. Chilpa had kindly offered to let me stay in her room in the nurses’ mess. I received such a warm welcome from everyone at the hospital and had such an amazing time in the mess. The nurses were so generous with their hospitality. I learnt a lot about Indonesian cooking not only in the mess but also at the house of Naema’s family. He father had died the day before I arrived back on Rote and I went with Chilpa and many other of the nurses on 28 April to help to prepare all the food before the funeral. A couple of cows and a goat had been killed and then boiled before then being cut up to be cooked in various dishes. Mass catering is relatively easy here. Several fires are lit around the grounds of the house and then large vats are put on the top. The meat was boiled in old oil cans.

Visa Extension

Since February this year it has been possible to extend the visa on arrival by a farther 30 days – but this means hanging around by an immigration office for up to a week. I had enquired about using an agent whilst in Bali but they wanted at least 800,000 Rp to do it – when the visa itself only costs 250,000 Rp. As I was keen to go back to Rote I decided that I would try to process the extension in Kupang. I again contacted an agent – I never got to find out how much he would have charged me as his KTP (identity card) had expired so he could not sponsor me. I therefore decided to do it myself and contacted a friend in Kupang to see if he would act as sponsor and he agreed – many thanks .Dominggus. I ended up paying 350,000 Rp and as I was not prepared to pay anymore for the administration of the sponsor letter had to wait a week instead of 3 days. Day 1 I had to fill in the application form and submit it with photographs and copies of my passport, visa and my sponsors KTP and a sponsor letter had to be produced. Then day 2 I had to return to pay the fee and then day 6 the passport complete with visa extension was ready for collection. As day 1 for me was a Friday this meant I had to hang around in Timor until Tuesday before I could go to Rote – I will know better next time. I was able to get another friend to collect the passport for me on the following Friday so did not have to rush back.

Alor

20 – 22 April 2010

I exited Flores from Ende after a three hour delay due to torrential rain and strong winds which made the landing too dangerous. I transited Kupang – had intended to stay with Sam but John was still there as they had been burgled the night before and had police interviews and all sorts of other traumas so I left them alone. Like Riung I am told Alor is very beautiful but the downside of travelling in the rainy season is it does rain a lot so I did not get outside the main town. It certainly has the most amazing natural harbour and some quite passable eating places particularly at night. The owner of the losmen where I stayed was lovely and I spent most of my days and evenings talking.

Riung

16 – 18 April 2010

It took me two days of travelling to get from Labuan Bajo to Riung which is on the north coast of Flores. Most tourists go along the south coast using comfortable people carriers but I decided to take the more challenging route and use public bus. From Bajawa to Riung there is only one bus a day so people and baggage are just loaded whether there appears to be room or not, including a fridge on the back and two goats on the roof. Part way there it started to rain so we stopped and much of the luggage from the roof was brought inside to stop it spoiling – hardly room left to breath. Riung is just a small traditional fishing village but has many small islands just off shore that are apparently idyllic to visit – unfortunately due to rain and wind I decided this was not a wise move and just explored the village and surrounding area and spent many pleasant hours chatting with people.