Day 89

27/09/2009

Continued the 30km/h drive across Flores to the port of Ende which we reached at 3pm only to find the Indonesian ferry terminal abandoned. The Lonely Planet statement of the service to Timor having recently resumed clearly hadn't been a success.

The next possibility was Maumere on the north coast of the island, a further 5 hour drive which we decided to start, but then stop for the night at Moni (2 hours), a small village in the hills with a surprising range of accommodation for it's size. Unfortunately, non of the places had any off-road parking , and as on-road parking here involves obstructing the traffic we pressed on to Maumere.

The hotel we stopped at has been built since the latest Lonely Planet was printed but will justify a mention in the next reprint, as clean and of a good standard even if it is a little pricey.

Narrow twisty roads in Indonesia call for slightly different vehicles. The only places we have seen any lorries bigger than 2 axles is around the ports in Sumatra and on the dual carriageways around Jakarta. Elsewhere lorries of 6 to 7 tons with narrow bodywork are all you see. The cars too tend to be narrower making those we are used to seem bloated. The car of choice (for the few who can afford it) is the Toyota Kijang which is a 6 seater (3 rows of 2) small people carrier. The earlier models have something of Post Man Pat's van about them, but later ones have become more rounded, like all cars. Never seen them anywhere before.

And, of course, the 125cc motorbike is king as the affordable family car for Mum, Dad and up to 3 kids.

Lat 8 38.05 S
Long 122 12.60 E
Town Maumere