Volcanoes Make Nice Sunsets

Having located ourselves in Sanur, on the southeast corner of Bali, it has been a little challenging to find local food, as the area is definitely geared toward family vacationers looking for 'safe' and familiar cuisine. The most adventurous Indonesian dishes to be found on most menus is limited to nasi and mee goreng (fried rice or fried noodles).

So it was a relief to finally find a night market to satisfy the cravings for tasty street vendor food. While it is certainly not large by Asian standards, this food cart centre a quick bicylce ride from our place had everything we need, and given the high number of local Balinese customers, it appears to be the real deal.

Owen has never encountered a meatball he can't handle, but this one was quite a mouthful.

It hasn't been easy to get our fill of vegetables during our stay here, as most of the dishes seem include greens as a mere afterthought. But there is one veggie dish which, if done properly, is both nutritious and delicious. Introducing gado gado.

A selection of tasty spices are ground together in a dish with a smooth stone, and then boiled vegetables are added to the mix, and lastly a peanut sauce is combined to create the finished product.

Admittedly, it's not particularly photogenic, so you'll have to use your imagination on this one. But I can assure you it's very tasty. We think we'll be regulars at this stall.

There's something about food stall markets which are quintessentially Asian, and in addition to the great culinary offerings, there are plenty of opportunities to watch locals out with their families and get a taste, no pun intended, of Balinese life.

And it's a good thing we filled our tummies, for the next day was a travel day, and I'm quite certain that our cheap ticket does not include an in-flight meal.

You just know you are tempting fate when your airline is not only local no-frills Wings Air, but that it is also a subsidiary of discount carrier Lion Air. That's double trouble. Our flight is going to the town Labuan Bajo, on the island of Flores. Thankfully it's only a 90 minute flight.

I'm not the most experienced flier, but I've been on quite a few flights, and I don't recall this little addition to the seat pocket in front of me. Is this like an embarkation card to be filled out or something?

Nope. It's something which is supposed to help us through this 90 minute adventure. Maybe it's a feature you only find on no-frill subsidiaries of budget airlines. Thankfully I have my choice of Christian...

....Islamic...

....Hindu and Buddhist. That pretty well covers it, I think.

As this is a fairly small propeller plane, one of the nice features is that the cruising altitude is only about 7,500 feet. This is a perfect height for taking in the landscape. Also perfect when you fly over the 7,000 foot volcanoes.

A very noticeable change in landscape occurred during the flight, as we moved from the lush and fertile volcanic hills of Bali and Lombok to the more arid and sparsely vegetated islands near Flores. We are here to try and find one (or more) of the legendary Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizard.

This ended up being my favourite flight of the trip so far. It was short, for one thing, and I was able to spend the entire flight staring out the window at the amazing landscape below.

The local airport is currently one big construction zone, and there are no barriers or gates to speak of, or directions/instructions for that matter. You can simply wander wherever you want.

Welcome to the Golo Hilltop Hotel. This may be the most scenic hotel during our six months. We had two side-by-side rooms overlooking a gorgeous bay.

This is one of those places which might be hard to leave. It's a shame we only have two nights here - one on each end of an overnight boat trip to the Komodo National Park.

The kids wasted no time in searching out the swimming pool, which seems to be their main criteria for judging hotel quality. Even the crappiest hotel will be elevated to first class honours if it has a pool.

They are in heaven. 

They are not. 

I don't regret booking all of our accommodation so far in advance, as it avoids the disappointment of getting turned away in the late evening after you've arrived in a strange town, lugging your heavy baggage around in 30 degree heat. It would be worse if you're dragging two kids along with you. So off they go into the sunset.

Speaking of which, I think Labuan Bajo ranks up there with Santorini for the best sunsets. The sky changed colour about three or four times during the span of an hour.

And give credit where credit is due, as part of nature's beauty is being enhanced by this bad boy. If it looks like a volcano, well you're right. Mt. Sangeang is one of the more active ones in Indonesia, erupting about 20 times since the first recorded eruption in 1512. It's still smoking now after the most recent eruption 10 weeks ago, which closed airports as far away as Darwin, Australia.

The particulates in the air is not noticeable to breathe, but the light ash and haze certainly make for spectacular sunsets.

And just to prove that I'm not simply trolling the internet and downloading other peoples' photos for our travel blog. 

Stay tuned for our adventures with the big lizards.