#rflorestravelog Day 2

Day 2 floress♥♥♥

 

The gate was opened at 7 am, and that's the time when we started trekking. Each group was accompanied by a ranger.
Then we bought tickets for us at the ticketing office. Ticket for Sunday is more expensive, that's why we tried to go to this island on non-Sunday day.
Rinca Island

We were welcomed by the dragon itself. Ok, the photobomb is kinda distracting :p

A ranger was explaining that there were 3 types of trekking route that could be chosen: short, medium, and long. We took the medium one (around 1 hour of walk)

The trekking path was started with the green forest area. It's good for you who don't like walking under direct sunlight

Komodo's mating season usually happens during June-July. During this period, female komodos dig holes and then laid their eggs inside. They not only dig one hole, but two, although the eggs only laid in one of them.
The another hole was made as a "trap" for other komodos (or even herself), wishing that they fail to find the correct hole and hence not eat the eggs

Still from Rinca Island, after green forest, welcome to savanna. For me, the landscape was so mesmerizing. Alhamdulillah, the sky was very clear that morning. Guaranteed that the weather would be sizzling hot at noon

We were at the peak of the hill, and couldn't find any other komodos. More than 1000 komodos are living in this island.

Just after we thought that we wouldn't find that rare animal anymore in the island, on the way down from the hill, we spotted a #komododragon, actively moving on that very hill. From its swift move, it seemed that he was actively hunting for food.

I think it was looking for me 😅

It's quite common to find birds of prey hunting for fishes in this national park

Let's move to the next island: Padar. Wiki said that in the past, komodos also lived in Padar, but already extinct now. .
We almost failed to go to this island, since the weather was kinda unexpected in the past few days. But luckily it turned out to good. Look at the cloudless sky.

Trekking @ Padar Island

Believe me, it was a sizzlin hot day. Couldn't complaint though. When trekking, I prefer this than a rainy one.

From the top of Padar Island

How could I not adore the view? God is the greatest

It was such a hot and shiny day. There were few minutes when I became dizzy because of sunlight (not the heat, but the ray of light), and decided to wear my shades on. So long, Padar!

Moving forward to the next destination: Pink Beach. I was so excited to visit this place, basically just to compare with another pink beach that I had visited previously in Lombok.

Left side: sand @ Lombok Pink Beach
Right side: sand @ Komodo Pink Beach

(3/3) so-called Pink Beach

(2/3) so-called Pink Beach

(1/3) so-called Pink Beach

When we look closer, we could see the pink-ish sand quite clearly. Esp the part that got "washed" by the sea water.

Pink Beach, Komodo. #nofilter

Sunset - with sun right on the valley. Too lazy to edit the photo.

(3/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

(2/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

(1/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

Sunset @ Gili Lawa

My very first ever of time-lapse shot. Noob mistake: focusing on the grass instead of the sun. 

#rflorestravelog Day 1

Day 1 #rflorestravelog 

4 airports in a day:
- Hasan Aroeboesman Airport, Ende
- El Tari Airport, Kupang
- Juanda Airport, Surabaya
- Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng

And sitting could be so tiring.

I think Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo is the nicest airport in Flores Island, by far. Even by its exterior design only, which resembles the shape of Komodo, this airport is already unique. Its interior is also modern.

Rumor (actually it's my friend :p) says that there will be direct flight from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo later this year.

Tips: for flight heading to Labuan Bajo, choose the window seat on the right side. I had the left window seat, and the view wasn't as picturesque as the right one

Actually, I don't remember the name of this island. Probably Bidadari Island :p. Our first day in Labuan Bajo was a bit cloudy.

Bidadari Island is located nearby Labuan Bajo. Since it's easy to reach, usually quite many people visit this island. Plus, it offers snorkeling spot as well.

We hiked on the second island. Imho, from 3 hikes on 3 small islands in Komodo, I think this one was the steepest, altho not necessarily the highest

Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day. So we couldn't see clear sunset. But it's still a beautiful scenery.

Sunset @ Bat Island.
Then we sailed to Rinca Island to spend the night there. Ok, actually our boat was docked at the island, and we slept on the boat, not the island.
And the weather was indeed very cool and even rather cold. I didn't expect that the weather could be that cold. Since for me, there was no way tropical beach and cold could be in the same sentence. My friend even wore her winter coat that night. 

After a cloudy day, the sky at dawn looked promising. Wishing for a brighter day

Japan Day 13

Day 13 of #rjapantravelog.

I went here to see The Spring Takayama Festival. It has raving reviews.

Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so the outdoor festival was canceled 😔. So, I decided to stroll around the town, and I love it! It's very different, and traditional, than the other towns that I'd been to in Japan.

Even this simple alley, for me, is charming.

Since the festival was canceled, so let's get lost in the old town, alone!

Ok, not totally lost, since I got a working cellphone with internet connection with me.

But really, got lost in a rainy day wasn't that fun.

Torii at the entrance of Takayama Yatai Kaikan (Takayama Festival Float Exhibition Hall).

Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine. The origins of this shrine date from the time of the Emperor Nintoku (413 - 439), when he requested Prince Takefurukuma-no-mikoto to subjugate the monster Ryoumen Sukuna, an incredible beast with 2 heads, 4 arms and 4 legs.

*thanks @sitamanda for the translation.

This is the ceiling of a gazebo-like structure in Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine. Very interesting.

Sennin-tai (Mountain Hermit Float), with a sad monk sitting on its middle tier. He is said to have tumbled down from the clouds while gazing at a beautiful maiden washing her clothes. Over his head, high in the crisp fall air, coil two golden dragons.

Designated as national treasures, many of the 23 floats (yatai) in this celebration are three centuries old. Each would cost about $2 million to duplicate today.

The predominate color is gold, the design is opulent. For the night parades, 100 red-and-white lanterns festoon each float.

These great wheeled carriages are nearly 30 feet high and require at least 20 men to pull them. A dozen yatai appear in the spring event.

In this hall, only 4 are shown, while the others are located at tall storehouses around Takayama.

Sakurayama Nikkokan (I couldn't even find the location name in Instagram!), a hall displaying a dazzling one-tenth-scale replica of 28 buildings from Nikko’s Toshogu shrine.

The attention to detail of these miniatures are outstanding! I bet the actual buildings in real life would be so awesome. Well, UNESCO has included it in its World Heritage Site list.

Continuing my #rjapantravelog. While some of the yatai are placed in the exhibition hall, but most of them are stored in special storehouses throughout the city.

You could spot the yatai by following where the sound like this comes from.

Three young lads in front of the float. I bet they felt quite unhappy because of the gloomy weather.

The high altitude and separation from other areas of Japan kept this town fairly isolated, allowing Takayama to develop its own culture over about a 300-year period. That's why the traditional atmosphere of this town is very thick.

Fantastic Birds and Where You Can Find Them: Parrot, Bird of Paradise, Peacock, and Bat.

Ok, not all of them are birds.

Miyagawa River, Spring 2015.

That day was like a roller coaster ride for me. I almost couldn't catch the last train. And that town had no room available that night, so basically I'd have no place to stay if I missed the train.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to get the ticket to Toyama to spend a night there before continuing my trip back to Osaka.

However, with my soaking wet shoes and unhealthy body, seeing this kind of scenery thru the windows was just very worrying. Thick snow everywhere! And it's like only one or two buildings around. I was like, "okay, I'm really dead if Toyama is no different than this area"

Thankfully, Toyama was a real city, and the hotel that I stayed in was also nice.