the hobbits in Flores

In the early 1990’s I spent a week on Flores. Travelled there from Bali on the MV Kelimutu.

Former President Soekarno was held in house arrest in the capital, Ende, before he became President. You can visit the house; and climb Mt. Kelimutu, an active volcano, if that is your thing. It also has great beaches and is a stepping off point to visit Komodo for a look at some seriously big lizards.

Flores is a largely Catholic island. Much better being awoken at six by the church bells, than at four by the call to prayer, at least if you take a drink, as I do. It is poor and compared to Java, Bali or even Lombok dry and infertile. If memory serves me right, just the one rice crop per year and hard to grow veg and raise stock.

As a result the people are quite short. As a mere six-footer I found that as I walked around the crowded markets I was looking across a sea of heads.

Interesting too that eastern Indonesia would have been cut off from Java and Bali, even in times of lower sea levels. The Lombok trench is quite deep and divides eastern Indonesia from the rest.