from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: The three coloured lakes....Moni, Flores, Indonesia

A four hour chicken bus from the biggest town on Flores, Maumere. It wasn’t my intention to take the mini-bus but when I was dropped off at the Maumere bus terminal (nothing more than a patch of dirt and gravel) a small circus of locals performed their customary show of sprinting down the adjacent road towards any oncoming ojeks (motorbike taxi) bearing a passenger with luggage, arms flailing everywhere, meeting them and swiftly running beside the motorbike as it makes its final yards to the “terminal”, relieving the passenger of their luggage whilst the bike is still in motion and promptly escorting them towards a bus whilst fighting off the other touts. The disappointment on their faces was priceless when I told them that I was going to Moni, and not a town on their route. Fingers pointed me across the road to an even smaller, older and less comfortable looking bus. Urhhhh. I really wanted to get a kijang (a large SUV) to Moni but I couldn’t see any and the bus drivers were of course of little assistance.

So it was the little death trap packed with massive bags of rice, narky fighting older women (something happens to them mid-life, when they are young they are happy and friendly but by the time they reach 40-50 y/o they for some reason become miserable witches that curse and grunt incessantly), two times as many people as seats, stopping at countless road-side homes to pick up and drop off passengers…..oh and I shouldn’t forget the five females that were hurling their guts up as we rounded corner after corner after corner after corner. It’s a hell of a mountain pass on less than adequate roads. No place for a shitty old bus packed beyond the rafters.

Moni, a small yet sprawling mountain village, is the gateway to Kelimutu, an active volcano that has three different coloured lakes at its top. The black, blue and yellow from memory but they are constantly changing based on the water temperature, mineral content, sulphur content and ambient light etc. My first attempt at seeing the lakes involved departing at 5am (including a ridiculously unwelcome early wake-up knock on the door at 4:05am from my ojek driver – 4:30am was agreed the night before) and riding 30+mins up the mountain side in the dark to see sunrise from the peak overlooking the lakes. The pre-dawn light revealed heavy misty cloud at the top (c.1,600m). This happened to be the first day the mountain was officially opened after two months of closure due to volcanic activity. The first month after the activity it was closed to everybody but the following month the government was allowing guides to take tourists up there, but they had to walk an extra 5km to the peak and any "incidents" to the tourist would result in substantial jail terms.

So, I walked along the path, heavy dampness in the air, not seeing more than 30-40 metres in front of me. I made it to the viewing area at the peak to find many hardy souls already there, shrivelled up avoiding the cold damp wind sweeping across the top. You couldn’t see anything. We waited past sunrise, still nothing. Just empty white cloud. Another 30mins. Nothing. The moisture from the cloud would accumulate on the hairs of your arm or hand instantly. Some silly people didn’t bring a water-proof jacket. Bring warm clothes! An hour. Two hours. It was like looking at the white walls of a large room. Many had bailed by this time. I pulled the pin without any immediate sign of improvement. Unlucky but from what I can tell it isn’t that uncommon. My advice, and this is what I did the second attempt, is to turn your head in the Kelimutu direction any time of the day and if you can see stars or clear skies, get on a bike asap and get up there. I still managed to see it with cloud lingering and this actually provided an atmospheric quality. Getting up at sparrow’s fart probably isn’t necessary.

The two green/blue lakes are quite mesmerizing to look at. Steam and cloud drift like sheets of rain over the surface. Breaks in the cloud let light through that illuminate the surface providing brilliant contrasts in colours. It was worth the second effort. I could have spent a long time up there if my stomach wasn’t crying out for more food.

Warning – the food in Moni is lacking in imagination and quality. It was difficult to find much beyond fried chicken and maggi noodles. One café/restaurant that I visited said they didn’t have any vegetables. They are growing everywhere in the mountains there! A big opportunity there for someone. There is a tiny bakery next to the Rainbow Café that makes a few small sweet treats. Try the caramel cake and the pandan pancake stuffed with roasted coconut and palm sugar. The big market day on Monday morning could have offered more than just the typical deep-fried doughy snacks. I checked it out and was left wanting. I left Moni disappointed I didn’t get to try Moni cake, a local mashed potato and vegetable pie.