Labuan Bajo - Ruteng

5.7 - we had another early start for our boat trip around Komodo national park. We were sorely disappointed when we reached the boat, which was worse than expected. Luckily we had a good group of people, us and another English guy, 2 Aussie guys and a not so great Taiwanese couple. The crew didn't speak a single word of English, and the boat chugged along at what felt like 3mph. However when we eventually arrived at Rinca island, we were lucky to see some pretty big Komodo dragons that were lazing around near the camp. We did a little walk up to a viewpoint before heading back to the boat. 

As we chugged on to Komodo island we had lunch of rice, vegetables and fried fish (including the heads, ew.). As it is mating season we were warned that the dragons tend to go off into the jungle, so were unlikely to see them. We did a little trek (complete again with guide with wooden stick) and were lucky to see a couple of small dragons strolling around. 

We also saw a very very old, thin one which looked like it was about to snuff it and needed a good smack on the head. 

Next was a snorkelling stop which had some lovely coral and fish. Every stop we went to, we were just told 'one o'clock' as it appeared to be the only word of English the crew knew- helpful! 

Dinner was a repeat of lunch and then 2 little sponge mattresses came out... And that was it. Between 8 of us. Not quite the mattress, pillow and blanket we were promised. Of course the Taiwanese couple went straight for the mattresses. This did not lead to the best nights sleep, especially with a bad snorer on the boat. The night was topped off when it started to rain and surprisingly the tarp wasn't exactLay the best shelter... Here is a photo of our lovely ship:

6.7- we got going again at about 6.30 in the morning, after being woken up by the nice Taiwanese man using his ridiculous flash camera. We arrived at Padar island about an hour later and climbed up to the stunning viewpoint down over 4 beaches. It was beautiful. 

After that was another snorkelling spot and a couple of hours chilling on a lovely beach. Finally we were headed back to Labaun Bajo and I was very glad to get off the boat! We ate at a little local place that had been recommended by our dive instructor and had a few drinks/chocolate brownie at a nice restaurant with live music. 

7.7- yet another early start ready for 7am diving. We hit the jackpot with this school and were on a beautiful big boat that was also used as a liveaboard. We had 3 dives that day, all in Komodo national Park, and each one was amazing. Such beautiful coral teeming with life, and we saw lots of turtles, countless species of fish, black and white tip reef sharks and even a seahorse. We got to sun ourselves on the sun deck in between dives and fed some delicious food- overall one of the best days of the trip, I wish I had put my money into 2 days of diving rather than the disappointing boat trip! We ate in a local buffet style restaurant again before heading up the hill to a rather quiet bar, there isn't too much nightlife here as everyone gets up so early to dive!

8.7- We started our roadtrip across Flores today, so we met our driver Steven and his boss Agus at 8.30 to leave for Retung. The roads were in quite good condition although very windy, so it was slow progress through the hills. We stopped at a few viewpoints and at the 'Spider rice fields' which is basically huge paddy fields shaped like a spiders web. We arrived in Ruteng for lunchtime and stopped at a cafe where we saw some fellow white people. We then wandered around the local market with our driver; quite the experience as possibly the most unhygienic market we have been to in Asia so far.