Bali, Flores and Komodo: Ubud, the dragons and Kelimutu

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Bali, on to Ubud

   Denpasar Airport (DPS) to Ubud

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Ubud
   Détail du jour 1

   Your trip starts at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) near Denpasar, where a driver meets you whatever time your flight lands. The drive north to Ubud is about 35 km and takes an hour to an hour and a half, past stone carvers' yards, family temples and small offerings of flowers and rice set out on the doorsteps. Ubud sits in the green foothills of central Bali and has long been the island's home of painting, dance and gamelan music. Your hotel is within walking distance of the royal palace and the market, and it is your base for three nights, so you unpack once. In the evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a welcome dinner of Balinese dishes and walks you through the trip, including the early start on the first Komodo boat day.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Denpasar Airport (DPS) at any time
   • Welcome dinner with your guide

   Temps libre : Free until the welcome dinner

2. Jour 2 : Ubud: a water temple, royal shrines and Kecak

   Ubud to Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi, back to Ubud

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Ubud
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave at about 7:30 am to reach Tirta Empul near Tampaksiring as it opens, before the tour buses. The temple was founded in the 10th century around a sacred spring, and Balinese families still come to bathe under the stone spouts of its pools to purify themselves; you can join them in a sarong if you wish. A few minutes away is Gunung Kawi, where shrines to an 11th-century royal family were carved straight into the cliffs of a river gorge. About 300 steps lead down through rice terraces to the river and the monuments, and the same steps lead back up. We are back in Ubud by late morning, and the rest of the day is yours: the market, the palace, the Monkey Forest or a massage. After dark we go together to a Kecak performance, where a chorus of dozens of men chants in place of an orchestra.

   Compris

   • Tirta Empul temple at opening, sarong included
   • Gunung Kawi rock-cut shrines
   • Evening Kecak dance performance in Ubud

   Option plus facile : Skip the steps at Gunung Kawi and wait at a cafe at the top with a view over the terraces.

   Option plus active : Before breakfast, walk the Campuhan Ridge path just outside Ubud with your guide, about 1.5 hours there and back.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Ubud

   Activité : About 300 steps down and back up at Gunung Kawi. Temples need covered knees; sarongs are provided.

3. Jour 3 : The rice terraces of Jatiluwih and Taman Ayun

   Ubud to Jatiluwih, then Taman Ayun in Mengwi, back to Ubud

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ubud
   Détail du jour 3

   About two hours west of Ubud, on the slopes of Mount Batukaru, the terraces of Jatiluwih fill a whole valley. They are watered by subak, the shared irrigation system that Balinese farmers run through water temples and village councils, listed by UNESCO in 2012 as part of the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province. We arrive at about 9 am and walk the paths between the paddies for about two hours with a local guide, who explains how water is shared from field to field. Lunch is at a warung overlooking the terraces, often with red rice grown just below. On the way back we stop at Taman Ayun in Mengwi, the royal temple of the Mengwi kingdom, built in the 17th century, with tiered meru shrines inside a moat; it is part of the same UNESCO listing. With Bali's traffic the loop is about four hours of driving in all, so we are back in Ubud by late afternoon. Tonight is free, and a good time to pack: tomorrow we fly.

   Compris

   • Guided walk at the Jatiluwih rice terraces with a local guide
   • Lunch overlooking the terraces
   • Taman Ayun royal temple in Mengwi

   Option plus facile : Take the short loop at Jatiluwih, about 45 minutes on flat paths, and wait at the warung.

   Option plus active : Take the long loop at Jatiluwih, about 3 hours with some climbs, and join the group for lunch.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Ubud

   Activité : Terrace paths are narrow and can be muddy after rain. Wear shoes you do not mind getting dirty.

4. Jour 4 : Fly to Labuan Bajo on Flores

   Ubud to Denpasar Airport, flight to Labuan Bajo (LBJ)

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Labuan Bajo
   Détail du jour 4

   After breakfast we drive back to Denpasar Airport, about an hour and a half, for the flight east to Komodo Airport at Labuan Bajo, on the western tip of Flores. The flight takes about an hour and a half, over Lombok and Sumbawa, and on a clear day you see the islands of Komodo National Park scattered below as you land. Labuan Bajo was a small fishing port; today it is the gateway to the park, with the harbour full of wooden boats. After checking in to your hotel near the harbour, your base for three nights, we visit Batu Cermin, the Mirror Cave, a few kilometres from town, where light from a gap in the limestone catches the walls. Late in the day we climb a hill above town for sunset over the harbour and the islands, and your guide briefs you on the two boat days. Dinner tonight is on your own in town.

   Compris

   • Flight from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo (LBJ), with transfers
   • Batu Cermin, the Mirror Cave
   • Sunset from a hill above Labuan Bajo
   • Briefing on the Komodo boat days

   Temps libre : Evening free in Labuan Bajo

   

5. Jour 5 : Komodo by boat: Padar, Pink Beach and Komodo Island

   Labuan Bajo by boat to Padar, Pink Beach and Komodo Island, back to Labuan Bajo

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Labuan Bajo
   Détail du jour 5

   This is a day trip on a private boat for our group, and tonight we sleep in the same Labuan Bajo hotel: there is no liveaboard on this trip. We leave the harbour at about 5 am on a fast boat with a shaded cabin, crew, life jackets and snorkel gear, and eat breakfast on board. By about 7 am we are on Padar, climbing for 30 to 45 minutes up steps and dirt paths to the viewpoint over its curved bays, before the heat and most of the day boats. Next is Pink Beach, coloured by fragments of red coral, for a swim and an hour of snorkelling over the reef just offshore. Lunch is on the boat. In the early afternoon we land on Komodo Island, part of a national park listed by UNESCO in 1991, and walk for about an hour with a park ranger to look for Komodo dragons, the largest living lizards, which grow to about 3 m. We are back in Labuan Bajo in the late afternoon.

   Compris

   • Private boat for the group with crew, snorkel gear and lunch
   • Komodo National Park entry and ranger fees
   • Padar Island viewpoint
   • Snorkelling at Pink Beach
   • Ranger-led walk on Komodo Island to look for dragons

   Option plus facile : Skip the Padar climb and wait on the beach below, or stay on the boat while others snorkel.

   Option plus active : Take the longer ranger trail on Komodo Island, about 2 hours, if the rangers have it open.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Labuan Bajo

   Activité : The earliest start of the trip. Bring sun cream, a hat, a swimsuit and a dry bag; the order of the stops can change with the tide and the sea.

   

6. Jour 6 : Rinca, Kelor and the flying foxes of Kalong

   Labuan Bajo by boat to Rinca, Menjerite and Kelor, then Kalong Island, back to Labuan Bajo

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Labuan Bajo
   Détail du jour 6

   A second day trip on our own boat, with a gentler 8 am start. Rinca is closer to Labuan Bajo than Komodo Island, and we land at Loh Buaya in the morning, when the dragons are most active, for a walk of about an hour with a park ranger through dry savanna and forest. If yesterday's dragons stayed hidden, this is your second chance. Then we snorkel at Menjerite, where the coral is close to the surface, and eat lunch on board. In the afternoon we stop at Kelor, a small island with a short, steep climb to a view back over the channel, and time to swim from its beach. As the light goes we anchor off Kalong Island, a mangrove island where, at dusk, thousands of flying foxes lift off and stream across the sky towards Flores to feed. We are back at the harbour at about 7 pm, and dinner is your choice.

   Compris

   • Private boat for the group with crew, snorkel gear and lunch
   • Ranger-led walk on Rinca to look for dragons
   • Snorkelling at Menjerite
   • Kelor Island climb and swim
   • Flying foxes at dusk off Kalong Island

   Option plus facile : Skip the Kelor climb and swim from the beach instead.

   Option plus active : Climb Kelor to the top and snorkel a second site if the crew judges the current safe.

   Temps libre : Morning free until 8 am

   Activité : About an hour on foot on Rinca in the heat; the Kelor path is short but steep and loose.

7. Jour 7 : Into the hills: Cancar and Ruteng

   Labuan Bajo to Cancar, then Ruteng on the Trans-Flores Highway

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ruteng
   Détail du jour 7

   After a slow breakfast we leave the coast and drive east on the Trans-Flores Highway, the one road along the island, about 125 km and four hours of driving on bends that climb into the Manggarai highlands. The road passes rice valleys and villages of wooden houses, and we stop on the way for a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon we reach Cancar, where the rice fields are laid out in wedges that run from a central point like a spider's web. These lingko fields follow the Manggarai way of sharing land, divided from the centre among the families of a clan, and they are best seen from a hill above the village, a climb of about 15 minutes. It is half an hour on to Ruteng, a market town at about 1,200 m below Flores' highest mountains, where the air is cool and the large cathedral marks a mostly Catholic island. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • The spider-web rice fields of Cancar from the hill above the village

   Activités en option

   • Liang Bua, the cave where the remains of the small human species Homo floresiensis were found, about 40 minutes each way from Ruteng with a small museum by the cave (entry not included)

   Temps libre : Evening free in Ruteng

   Activité : A winding mountain road. If you get car sick, sit at the front and take something before you leave.

   

8. Jour 8 : Palm sap at Aimere and the village of Bena

   Ruteng to Aimere and Bajawa, then Bena and back

   • Environ 5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bajawa
   Détail du jour 8

   Today runs past our four-hour driving cap, about five hours in all, because there is no shorter road and no useful flight between Ruteng and Bajawa, and Bena is the reason to come. We break it up. We leave at about 8 am and drive east, then down to the south coast at Aimere, where families tap palm trees and distil the sap over wood fires into a strong spirit; we watch the process and can taste it. After a sit-down lunch we climb to Bajawa, about 135 km from Ruteng, and check in. In the late afternoon light we drive about 40 minutes south to Bena, a Ngada village on the slopes of Mount Inerie, 2,245 m. Two rows of high-roofed thatched houses face a long central court of stone platforms and megaliths, with the small shrines called ngadhu and bhaga that honour the clans' male and female ancestors. A local guide introduces us. We are back in Bajawa by about 6:30 pm.

   Compris

   • Drive from Ruteng to Bajawa with your guide
   • Palm sap distilling at Aimere
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Bena village with a local guide, visitor fee included

   Option plus facile : Rest at the hotel in Bajawa instead of driving out to Bena.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Bajawa after about 6:30 pm, with dinner on your own

   Activité : Bena is a living village: ask before photographing people, and dress modestly. Bajawa is at about 1,100 m and cool at night.

   

9. Jour 9 : Blue stones, Ende and up to Moni

   Bajawa to Penggajawa and Ende, then Moni

   • Environ 5.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Moni
   Détail du jour 9

   The longest drive of the trip, about 180 km and five and a half hours, well over our cap. We do it because Moni is the only place to sleep within reach of Kelimutu at dawn, and Flores has no shorter road; we split the day with real stops. We leave at about 7:30 am and drive east through the hills, then down to the south coast at Penggajawa, where the beach is covered in smooth blue-green stones. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Ende, the port town where Sukarno, later Indonesia's first president, was exiled by the Dutch from 1934 to 1938; we visit the house where he lived, now a small museum. After lunch it is about an hour and a half up into the hills to Moni, a village at the foot of Kelimutu, among rice fields and forest. Dinner is at the hotel tonight, as Moni has few places to eat, and we go to bed early: tomorrow starts at 4 am.

   Compris

   • Drive from Bajawa to Moni with your guide
   • Stop at the blue-stone beach of Penggajawa
   • Sit-down lunch in Ende
   • Sukarno's exile house in Ende
   • Dinner in Moni

   Activité : A long day in the vehicle on a winding road, with stops about every hour and a half.

10. Jour 10 : Kelimutu at dawn, back to Bali

    Moni to Kelimutu, then Ende Airport, flight to Denpasar and Sanur

    • Environ 3 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Sanur
    Détail du jour 10

    We leave Moni at about 4 am and drive half an hour up to the car park below Kelimutu, then walk for about 30 minutes, on a path and steps, to the viewpoint at about 1,640 m. As the sky lightens, three crater lakes appear below you, side by side. Their colours change over the years with the minerals in the water, from turquoise and green to brown, red and almost black, and the Lio people who live around the mountain believe the souls of the dead go to them. It is cold before sunrise and often cloudy, so we wait for the light. Breakfast is back in Moni, then it is about an hour and a half to Ende airport (or about three hours to Maumere) for the flight to Denpasar, which may connect on the way. Whether it flies direct or via Labuan Bajo or Kupang is confirmed at booking, and the flight time sets when we leave Kelimutu and when the farewell dinner in Sanur starts.

    Compris

    • Kelimutu National Park at sunrise, entry included
    • Flight from Ende (or Maumere) to Denpasar, with transfers
    • Farewell dinner in Sanur

    Option plus facile : Stop at the lower viewpoint, a few minutes from the car park, instead of climbing to the top.

    Temps libre : Any time between landing and the farewell dinner is free in Sanur

    Activité : Bring a warm layer and a torch for the pre-dawn walk. This is a travel day: the routing and flight times are confirmed at booking and with your final itinerary.

11. Jour 11 : Sanur and home

    Sanur to Denpasar Airport (DPS)

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 11

    A slow last morning in Sanur, one of Bali's older beach towns, where a paved path runs for several kilometres along the shore past fishing boats, small temples and beach cafes. Walk it at sunrise, when it faces the light, swim in the calm water inside the reef, or simply have a long breakfast after the early starts of the past days. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast and checks everyone's flight times. A driver takes you to Denpasar Airport, about 15 km and half an hour away, at a time that suits your flight. For the easiest day, book a flight leaving after about 12 noon; for an earlier flight we take you whenever you need to go. If you want to stay on in Bali, or add a few days on Lombok and the Gili Islands, ask us when you book and we arrange the extra nights.

    Compris

    • Drop-off at Denpasar Airport (DPS)

    Temps libre : Morning free in Sanur

    Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 12 noon to enjoy the morning.

Faune et météo : We run in the dry season, April to November, when the sea in Komodo is usually calmer and the Trans-Flores road is open; from December to March rough seas and landslides make the trip unreliable. Komodo dragons are wild, so we cannot promise a sighting, which is why we visit two islands. Kelimutu is often in cloud at dawn and its lake colours change from year to year. Ruteng, Bajawa and the Kelimutu viewpoint are cool at night and at dawn: bring a fleece.

• Ubud3 nuits
• Labuan Bajo3 nuits
• Ruteng1 nuit
• Bajawa1 nuit
• Moni1 nuit
• Sanur1 nuit