What a whirlwind of a few days it has been. We’re now on day 5, but spent two of those getting to this incredible place. The plan was to be in Lombok right now and get over the initial shock realisation that we’re actually doing this. Instead, because of the earthquakes, we changed things around and arrived in Labuan Bajo on Flores. The beach/read/relax bit is coming up tomorrow, but husband is feeling poorly (too much sun already), so we’ll see how that goes.
Labuan Bajo is a small town, mainly living off tourists coming here to see the Komodo dragons, dive or snorkel. There are a few bits inland to see, but the islands, underwater beauty and the Komodo National Park is kinda it, and don’t get me wrong, enough of a reason to come here.
Because this town mainly lives off tourists going on boat trips, the harbour is full of boats, sometimes even ferries. It also is a place where most of the plastic gets dumped unfortunately. On the bright side, they are trying to keep the National Park clean, doing some education for the locals and tourists on the impact plastic has and an organisation started an initiative to have less individual plastic bottles around for single uses. Like most people, we bought a gallon of water and reuse the same bottles we got on day one.
Before I go into what we’ve been up to, I just have to mention the Roti. I am still not entirely sure what’s in it, but the closest thing I can think of is a sweet milk bun with a crust of coffee paste on top. Sometimes they have a filling, but not sure what that is. Anyhow, it’s delicious. Also, shoutout to instant noodles. They saved us in Surabaya, cause everything was meat and we didn’t want to risk starting off our trip getting stuck on a toilet.
Another tangent, sorry, we craved vegetables already on the first day of being here. I think travelling for two-ish days didn’t help the feeling that we needed something other than rice and noodles. So we treated ourselves at Bajo Taco to some guacamole and a vegetable burrito. Since then, it seems, I am cured and also, we found local food that doesn’t just consist of chicken and rice, so all good now.
Cunca Wulang Waterfall
I highly recommend renting a scooter. It was IDR 75,000 for the day for one scooter. Helmets are included, though sizing was a big generic I think, cause mine was a bit too big and had to adjust it every time we hit a bump, which was basically every 30 seconds. But that was alright with me cause it was amazing to drive aimlessly towards inland on the one and only road. With no real plan, bathing stuff and a full tank, we just started driving. I knew there was a waterfall somewhere, but didn’t know how to get there. On the map the road just cuts off. Turns out there are two waterfalls, Cunca Wulang and Cunca Rami.
The closer we got, the more white people we saw and figured we had to go, if that many made an effort. At this point we were joined by two other couples and we teamed up to get a group price for the waterfall and guide. It ended up being slightly cheaper than had we gone just by ourselves. It does seem to be a bit of an arbitrary bargaining.
What we didn’t prepare for was that our sandals would be a bit of a challenge getting us through the “jungle”. I slid and fell, lost my sunglasses, realised I lost them only after we’d been swimming and found them again on the spot I fell.
To get to the waterfall you have to cross a wooden bridge that looks questionable. I mean, the planks where only held by two nails each in the middle and some of them stood out. But not thrill enough, you have to jump off a rock to see the waterfall. Technically, you don’t have to. You can also climb in and then swim, but where’s the fun in that. I say that now, but I’ve never jumped from that high before (husband said it was 5-6m), so yes, I had butterflies and nervous tingles and my adult self saying “just climb down”. I know many might be saying “that’s not high at all”, but 5-6m is a long way down. Enough to think about what you’d just done on the way down. To think that “shit, I’m going under really far” or realising that you close your eyes too soon cause there is still a bit to go, or “hope my contact lenses make it through”.
But let me tell you, once you’re down, it’s gorgeous. Rocks formation carved from the turquoise coloured water. you have to swim a bit to get to the actual waterfall that comes through a circular opening, but it’s worth the price we had to pay and the jump I did.
