Indonesia: Flores + Komodo + Bali - July 2011
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text:
Français "And how long do you have to walk to see Kelimutu?" "No, 10-15 minutes maximum." I am wary of Indonesian minutes, often elastics. But Matheus Misir, my driver-guide in Flores, is right. The spectacular volcano Kelimutu, with its three craters, which form giant basins for three lakes with strange colors, is an easy walk.
Perfect! I am a diver, not a trekker...
The "snake road" of Flores
In fact, most of the journey is by car. The Kelimutu is roughly half an hour's drive from the small village of Moni, where we spent the night. A small winding road that climbs, climbs ...
Anyway, wherever you go to Flores, the road is permanently a "snake-roadas my driver says. A "snake-road" that unrolls fabulous landscapes of rice fields and volcanic reliefs at every bend. Sometimes vertiginous, always splendid...
I wouldn't have made this trip in bemo, those local mini-buses overloaded with goods and passengers... All along this crossing from east to west, from Maumere to Labuan Bajo, I enjoyed the comfort of my private car: shocks in good condition and air conditioning. It's no luxury on this asphalt snake in perpetual work. Besides, I can ask Misir to stop whenever I want, to take pictures.
I also very much appreciate his driving safely. From the start, he asks me nicely if it's okay, if his behavior suits me.
Yes Yes, "bagus"It's good. Considering the unexpected obstacles on the road - poultry, cows, children, rocks, motorcycles, broken down bemos, potholes - I think it's great that he's driving quietly, "pelan-pelan".
With Misir, I'm going to practice my Bahasa Indonesia for four days!
While we climb towards Kelimutu, turn after turn, I watch the clouds still hanging on the summit. The sun has just risen.
Kelimutu is beautiful, provided that you don't find yourself in the fog. The summit culminates at 1 639 meters. When the volcano is in the clouds, everything is gray, there is nothing to see! But we are lucky. Today, at the time when we arrive, it is the big blue above our heads. The scarves of fog tear themselves little by little.
A few turns later, we see a small lady who waves to us on the side of the road, wrapped in a big jacket - it is that it is fresh, in the heights. She asks if we can take her up to the Kelimutu park. I nod and say yes: "Tidak apa apa", no problem. Misir is happy, he can chat in Indonesian with our hitchhiker.
She put a big ball beside her in the back seat. of the ikat, carefully folded and stacked, that she will try to sell to tourists in the parking lot of the park.
Kelimutu National Park
Some Indonesian minutes later, we are there. Ticket bought at the counter, car parked on the parking lot. What? 50 000 rupiah more for the camera? Damn, I would have done better to hide my 7D...
Misir accompanies me to the first lake. He was right, it's easy: a path with steps, going up a gentle slope. Then flat ground, by a shady path, which leads, on the right, to the first point of view on the Kelimutu craters.
Wow!
I have the sun in front, not great for photos, but no matter ... I open my eyes, it's worth all the pictures of the world. A thin rampart of jagged stone separates the two lakes.
The lake on the right, on the pictures above, is called Ata Polo. It can take a red-brown color. For now, it is rather dark blue-green.
The one on the left (which I will discover better after, while gaining height) is Lake Nuamuri Ko'ofai. When I arrive, the sun does not illuminate it yet. In full light, it turns to acid green, almost fluo.
The place is popular. Locals also come here on excursions. They greet me nicely: "Hello!" I answer "Pagi!" And even, I add: "Saya orang perancis"because everyone wants to know where I come from ... guaranteed success.
But yes, yes, sir, I speak the Bahasa Indonesia ! Well, just a little, "setikit", and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stay here and talk to you, tell you about my life, tell you if I travel alone or in a group, if I'm married or not, or how many children I have, because there's the green lake and the black lake waiting for me, you see, so goodbye and see you soon maybe...
No way to admire the view in silence, in this country...
????
The lakes of the spirits
Afterwards, to really enjoy the show, you have to climb to the aptly named Inspiration Point. An eminence, at the top of a staircase, which allows to glance at the three craters.
There, Misir lets me go up alone. He prefers to go back to the parking lot, chat with his colleagues. I attack the climb, enthusiastic. Walking after walking, the panorama becomes even more grandiose.
And when I get to the top... Wow! Whoo!
I did well not to come too soon. Many tourists come here shortly before 6 am, for the sunrise. Except at this hour, there is mist everywhere and the lakes are still in the shadows.
It surely has its charm too, the shreds of mist above the craters, but I tell myself that it is not a bad choice to arrive a little later in the morning... The surface of the green lake full of sulfur lights up as the sun rises in the sky. Its color, of an intense turquoise green, seems almost supernatural.
On the other side of Inspiration Point, there is the third lake, the black lake, Ata Mbupu. Again, I'm lucky. It is often hidden under a cloud of opaque clouds. But these fray gradually under my eyes. We end up seeing the whitish cliff of the crater fringed with greenery reflected in the ink of the water. Amazing.
The place is sacred, for the people of the region. The three lakes are populated by spirits. There is a lake where the spirits of young people go, another for the elderly, and the third lake, evil or magical, would welcome evil spirits (for what I understand explanations that were given to me ).
I turn around to watch the evolution of the acidic green lake. The sun is higher in the sky. The color of the water is even more violent than before. I redo some images, watching from the corner of my eye the clouds that I see appearing on the horizon.
This is really the most beautiful. The lake that welcomes the minds of young people, if I'm not mistaken.
And, as a good tourist, I sacrifice to the photo-souvenir ritual in front of the crater, before leaving ...
Magical, this little excursion to Kelimutu ... Really. I display a smug smile on my way back to the car. "Saya senang! » I say to Misir, who smiles indulgently at my efforts to speak his language.
To learn more about this strange volcano, some explanations at the end of these two links:
→ Wikipedia: Kelimutu Volcano
→ Activolcans: Kelimutu
😎
