Labuan Bajo, Flores - Dirty 30 Part 2

For the second portion of our trip we returned by slow boat to Lebuan Bajo.  Although the secluded island was fantastic, we were ready for some lunch choices other than Nasi Goreng (fried rice) or Mie Goreng (fried noodles).  First up on the list was hitting up a spa for a 1.5 hour massage for Rp. 140K (around $15).  When I make a top 10 list for living in Indonesia, cheap massages will be one of the top contenders.  

Later on we had drinks and enjoyed the sunset at Paradise Bar, which came highly recommended by some friends.  Unfortunately there was no wine to be had, so I tried some sweetened Arak that the water claimed I would like.  It didn't quite satisfy the craving and even Jeff couldn't even drink it, but the view was amazing.  There were several photographers taking pictures with their fancy DSLR cameras that made me really miss our S100, but Jeff's ole faithful Canon did the trick pretty well.   

For dinner we headed to a great Mediterranean restaurant where we stuffed ourselves full of carpaccio, sesame crusted king fish, homemade pasta with pumpkin filling, and tiramisu.  After dinner we strapped on our helmets and hopped on our rented motorbike.  As we were making the turn to head uphill to our hotel, we were cut off by a car that then immediately slowed almost to a stop.  To get going again on the steep incline, Jeff downshifted but somehow put it in neutral instead of first.  Before I knew it we were rolling quickly backwards down the hill headed for a ditch on one side and a car on the other.  I bailed off the side, keeping all limbs intact, while Jeff managed to get the bike stopped before colliding with anything.  Lesson learned: While traveling in Asia look out for the bules (westerners) on motorbikes.

The next day we had a packed itinerary with a visit first to Mirror Cave where we saw stalactites and stalagmites, fossilized coral, flying fox bats, and some crab spiders (eeek).

Next we hiked to Ruteng Waterfall and swam in the cool water below.  We weren't expecting a rigorous hike so both of us wore flip flops, but it was absolutely worth the effort to get there.

On our last evening we went to a romantic dinner and tried out an ojek (motorbike taxi).  All in all it was the best birthday trip I could have hoped for and we were sad to leave beautiful Flores.

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