My association with Bali has always been fairly partial. Kuta and Seminyak is where I have spent more of my time in Bali and these two areas tend to attract a particular subset of the Australian species that are known to wear Bintang Singlets and drink beer, not that there's anything wrong with that. Easter 2019 would be an opportunity to spend some time exploring the Eastern Side of Indonesia, particularly around Labuan Bajo, famous for Komodo Island, the home of the Komodo Dragon.
Our journey would start with an after work flight out from Hong Kong to Bali. Being the Easter long weekend, flights were not cheap, including domestic transfers the cost of the flights came to approximately 10K HKD - to put this into perspective, regular non-long weekend flights to Bali from Hong Kong usually come to around 4-5K HKD. It's safe to say the airlines charge a premium over the Easter break. Everybody had the same idea flying into Denpasar, the immigration hall was FILLED. Not surprisingly, there were some officers who were amenable to some cash in hand to facilitate queue expedition. We would spend one night in the local airport hotel before jumping on a domestic flight early the next morning.
The domestic flight between Denpasar and Labuan Bajo was chartered by Lion Air. Lion Air, the airline once infamously known for having one of the worst safety records for passenger flights and more recently in the press for the recent 737 Max airline incident was reason for mild anxiety. The flight was delayed by a 40 minutes, this would be the only blemish on an otherwise smooth ride.
We arrived at Labuan Bajo domestic airport, it was sunny and warm and we had expected to be greeted by somebody holding up a sign. Turns out Max our driver had come on time, only to find out flight had been delayed retired back to his home to catch some z's. After a handful of phone calls we were soon at the hotel to meet the rest of the party. Our room was not going to be ready until after 2, so we decided to start our tour of the Islands. We were taken to the pier and introduced to Andy, who would be a tour guide for the 3 days. Majority of the sight seeing would take place via speed boat.
First stop - Kelor Island. It's the middle of the day and the sun is blazing. We hike to the top snap some pics.
We snorkel and then make our way to Menjerite and Pulau Rinca for our first encounter with the famed Komodo Dragons. Each tourist must be accompanied by a ranger, who is local with Dragon Deterrent Device; ie: a big stick. Due to the deadly nature, people aren't allowed to get very close to the Komodo Dragons and we are asked to keep a good 5 metre distance from this huge reptiles. First impressions are that the dragons are super lazy. Second impression is that it all feels very staged.
The final stop for the first day is to moor just off Kalong Island with the hope to catch a glimpse of the fruit bats leaving the island for sunset. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worst and we were rained on, we did manage to sneak in some bat action however by this point we were soaked to the bone and ready to head back to the hotel. Day one finished with a delicious seafood dinner by the marina. We were actually cheated by the organisers into purchasing stall tickets. Read, this is a scam. End of the first day. I'm wiped.
The domestic flight between Denpasar and Labuan Bajo was chartered by Lion Air. Lion Air, the airline once infamously known for having one of the worst safety records for passenger flights and more recently in the press for the recent 737 Max airline incident was reason for mild anxiety. The flight was delayed by a 40 minutes, this would be the only blemish on an otherwise smooth ride.
We arrived at Labuan Bajo domestic airport, it was sunny and warm and we had expected to be greeted by somebody holding up a sign. Turns out Max our driver had come on time, only to find out flight had been delayed retired back to his home to catch some z's. After a handful of phone calls we were soon at the hotel to meet the rest of the party. Our room was not going to be ready until after 2, so we decided to start our tour of the Islands. We were taken to the pier and introduced to Andy, who would be a tour guide for the 3 days. Majority of the sight seeing would take place via speed boat.
First stop - Kelor Island. It's the middle of the day and the sun is blazing. We hike to the top snap some pics.
We snorkel and then make our way to Menjerite and Pulau Rinca for our first encounter with the famed Komodo Dragons. Each tourist must be accompanied by a ranger, who is local with Dragon Deterrent Device; ie: a big stick. Due to the deadly nature, people aren't allowed to get very close to the Komodo Dragons and we are asked to keep a good 5 metre distance from this huge reptiles. First impressions are that the dragons are super lazy. Second impression is that it all feels very staged.
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