I was just chilling around and browsing for travel blogs when i started reminiscing my previous trip to Flores last Feb and i thought 'What if i actually forgot about this trip while it WAS a really unbelievable experience?' SO now here i am, looking at my last post on this blog which was way too long ago, 2012.. dang.. Sometimes i cant believe i used to write blog now i cant even form coherent sentence. But i'll try my best to recall my trip as well as.. maybe.. just maybe.. helping ppl who needs recommendation/reference.. or smt.. lmao
How have i been? I graduated from my major last September and applied to an IT consultant firm (is this even right) which i got hired straight away, leaving no time to rest, straight to the cold, white collared-adult world. I still listen to music, went to few concerts here n there and I still use my lovely mini Diana and got her two new siblings.
(..ga penting sih veb)
Ok. So one day i got a text message from one of my friend, asking me if i was up for a trip to Nusa Tenggara Timur. I was a bit skeptical at first bcos 'Isnt it like far away', 'I dont like hiking tho' (n i still dont because of our trip to Wae Rebo which ill tell u guys about it later. ok i lied i have a love hate relationship with hiking). Plus they had purchased their plane tix in advance and going with two unfamiliar persons so that kinda turned me down a lil. So i tried to find excuses aka ngeles.
But my persistence of a friend just wouldnt stop bugging me, spamming the chat room with pics of Flores which r really beautiful btw? So i'm having a hard time considering it since i only have 12 paid leaves for a year and the trip would take 7 days. wheezes.
But in the end all of the pictures and travel stories i found on the internet made me cry internally as i replied to them with a 'yes'.
So here are the planned itineraries for the said trip.
Wed, 25 Feb
07:00 Flight to Denpasar Bali, Transit for Labuan Bajo approx 3 hrs
14:20 Flight to Labuan Bajo
17:00 Arrived at Labuan Bajo, travel by car to Denge via Ruteng. Stay for the night at the locals.
Thur, 26 Feb
00:00 Travel by foot to Wae Rebo aka hiking
04:00 Arrived at Wae Rebo (I had no idea why we had to start at wee hr in the morning.. and 4 hours hiking? im dying)
14:00 Hike down from Wae Rebo back to Denge
16:00 Travel by car to Ruteng. Stay for the night.
Fri, 27 Feb
08:00 Travel by car to Bajawa
11:00 Hike to Desa Bena
15:00 Travel by car to Moni. Stay for the night
Sat, 28 Feb
04:00 Kelimutu Summit attack
08:00 Hike down to Moni
11:00 Travel by local bus (which is a truck btw) to Labuan Bajo. Stay for the night.
Sun, 1 Mar - Mon, 2 Mar
Life On Board (LOB) to Komodo Islands
Tue, 3 Mar
Travel by Plane to Jakarta via Denpasar
That's it. I've laid out the planned itineraries because i want you guys to compare the plan vs actual thing.. which was waaayy off like 40% off.
For plane tickets, I purchased in advance:
- Citilink flight Jakarta - Denpasar : Rp. 626.000 (+/-$50)
- Citilink flight Denpasar - Jakarta : Rp. 670.000 (+/-$52)
- Garuda Indonesia Denpasar - Labuan Bajo : Rp. 742.000 (+/-$58)
- Garuda Indonesia Labuan Bajo - Denpasar : Rp. 753.000 (+/-$59)
Plane tix total : Rp. 2.791.000 (+/-$218)
Dang that's some money right there.. But well here it is, the prologue to my Eastern Indonesia journey. Stay tuned for the actual journey post(s)! I'll try to recall and write about it as soon as possible. I cant even remember budget i prepared and total expenses during the trip i might have to google a bit here and there.. My friend wrote about all coverage for the trip but her planner got stolen.. along with her whole bag im so!!! and i hope i dont lose the will to write because my job is an actual hell..
Later!