Vagabonding : 2009 May |

Kelimutu Volcano

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Kelimutu in Flores, Indonesia

Another wisp of gagging, poisonous sulfuric gas hit me in the face and made me shut my eyes.

Once again, I was slipping and sliding on loose volcanic rocks - yellowish rocks that you can crumble in your hands which make it tough to stand up, let alone do any climbing. Several hundred feet below me?

Kelimutu.

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Posted in Indonesia |

Ende, Guns, and the future

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Hotel Ikhlas has a large screen television in its open air lounge and last night I crashed in front of it to watch the evening news.

Even though it is in Indonesian and I barely understand a word, I was half-hoping to catch up on what happened in the world of soccer. Being on the move, I hadn’t even heard if Barcelona won. An American interested in soccer - strange, I know.

I was barely paying attention until something flashed on the screen that nearly made me choke on my Nasi Campur. I couldn’t understand what the reporter was saying, but the headline at the bottom read “Jayapura, Papua” and on the screen….

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Posted in Indonesia |

Bajawa volcano climb

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The smell was gagging but the sights were so interesting that I didn’t care.

I was standing on the rim of the newest formed volcano in Flores, Wawo Muda, which erupted in 2001. The now-dormant volcano has 3 disgustingly colored sulfur lakes in the vents - sort of a mini Kelimutu. As usual, it was just myself and my older guide “Alfons”. We hiked about an hour and a half up a steep jungle trail tangled with bamboo and coffee trees to the rim.

This hardly counts as my “volcano climb” in Indonesia, but is well worth the time and sweat to get here if you’re near.

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