and then there were balloon flowers...

now, what do you make of these? they're called 'balloon flowers', yes they are actually considered flowers and such strange creations they are...i won't be so rude as to what i first thought of when i saw them...i shall leave that up to your imaginations...extremely interesting ;)

God's paint palette...

standing in front of this is somehow what i imagine it would be like to stand on God's paint palette. the stillness and vividness of the water made it look like it had just been squeezed out of a paint tube. that contrasted with the rustic red of the rocks made it a perfect colour combination. the Danau Tiga Warna are truly one of the wonders of the world, a sight to be seen by all to really appreciate its beauty. they have made such a deep impression on my memory and i know i will be back again to see them and stand before their immense wonder...

words of wisdom...

a little bit of information about the Three Lakes...

floating away...

i won't keep reminding you about how many photos i took of the clouds...and i promise this is the only other one i'll share...but crikey...i mean how can you not feel like you wanna just float away on these...

coffee at the top of the world...

yes, there really was a little man sitting on top of the world, selling little glasses of coffee...ain't life perfect when you want it to be? i mean...what a perfect view for sipping your morning cup of coffee...bliss!

black as ink...

no matter how much sun shined on this lake, it always looked so mysteriously dark and ominous...the whole place generally had such a magical feel to it that i'd felt like i'd walked onto the set of a movie...something out of Lord of the Rings, perhaps...

and then there was light...

yes, then there was light...the mist lifted and out came the sun and with it a first glimpse of the blue and green lakes and the magnificent splendour of their colours...breathtaking...

top of the world...

i'm not going to tell you exactly how many photos i took of the clouds...i couldn't help myself because they were spectacular...i felt like i was at the top of the world...such an exhilarating rush being up there...

onwards and upwards...

anyway, so as not to let the disappointment break our stride, we headed up to the puncak or summit. thank you to the very thoughtful and considerate person who made the stairs...now if i could just find a guy selling some coffee (all this, so far, and not a drop of caffeine to show for it) otherwise i wasn't sure how much longer i would last...

and then there was mist...

when we finally got up to the first lake...you can't imagine the disappointment...waking up at 4am, hair-raising trip on the back of an ojek, a walk in the woods...and then...mist, mist, MIST! it was so thick that we could hardly see in front of us. i really couldn't believe it as it cast shadows over the colours of the lakes and they didn't seem half as spectacular as i'd imagined they would...so much for the sunrise...

almost there...

and what a path it was...the moment i started walking i felt like i'd slipped down the rabbit hole and landed in the woods near my parents house in Dublin...lush, beautiful and cool...and even better because it was just starting to get bright...

4am...Moni to Kelimutu by ojek...

so with the Three Coloured Lakes as our destination we booked our ojek drivers for 4am. let me tell you a little bit about ojeks. they are a form of transportation in Indonesia, they consist of a motorbike and a driver and the way it works is that you sit on the back, they can be pretty scary, the drivers don't really like to go slow, they are a much cheaper form of transportation...

so with this in mine, the guys designated to pick us up knocked on the door to give us our wake up call. we got ready and in the pitch dark rocked up to the bikes.
'where's my helmet?' i ask
'uhhhhhhhh' came the response
'dude, i ain't going nowhere without a helmet!'
'uhhhhhhhh' we have reached a standstill
so rather than hang around, one of the drivers gives me his helmet (pictured above!) but this is obviously one to add to the list above...drivers do not really give a crap whether passenger lives or dies...
so off we went...the roads were twisty and windy and oh, did i mention it was pitch black? you could see about 1 metre in front...street lights are not yet a part of this landscape...and after a 45 minute drive, we arrived in the car park...
'i'll wait here' ojek driver says
'hmmm, that's considerate seeing as there doesn't look like too much passing traffic!' i think
and off we set along the path to the lakes...

under a pink hazy sky...in Moni

there is something so deliciously divine about sleeping under a pink mosquito net. this was what greeted us in our room on the first night in Moni - our stop-off point before heading to Kelimutu...i felt like i was all wrapped up in candy floss...you gotta love those local tastes!

falling in love with Flores...

Sunday 6th February 2011

so it's been awhile, but that doesn't mean that i haven't been busy. i spent the first two weeks of january on a two week trip in Flores, an island to the east of Bali in Nusa Tenggara Timur and what a trip it was...incredible, incredible! i haven't seen such beautiful scenery in a very long time. i can honestly say that i have truly fallen in love with the island, it's landscapes and gentle people. we arrived in Maumere in the east of Bali and our first destination was a place called Moni, which is the starting point for all those travellers looking to visit the Danau Tiga Warna or Three Coloured Lakes. they are one of Indonesia's hidden treasures and i had heard so much about them that it was only fitting for them to be the first stop on our trip...along the way from Maumere to Moni, i couldn't help but chuckle at the means of transport between towns in Flores. these are called bemos and are little mini-buses that traverse the island stopping along the way whenever anyone wants to get off. i had a burning desire to sit on the top, but was informed that you still had to pay to sit up there! hope no-one's luggage fell off along those twisting roads through the mountains...or passengers for that matter!