After a few days back in Ruteng, I was itching to be on the road again and mostly itching to be back by the beach. I had seen pictures of beaches in Riung, in the north with white sand and turquoise water and figured this was where I wanted to be. Firstly we had to make our way there though. We organised transport in a private car which if shared should be between 70k to 100k per person. There are also small buses organised by Gunung Mas that make the first leg of our trip which meant heading to Bajawa. On the way to Bajawa you leave behind Manggarai province and enter the province of Ngada. The people of Ngada have their own dialect and traditions and are particularly well known for their traditional villages which differ in design from villages in Manggarai. Again roads are twisty and winding, so pop a few motion sickness pills if you are that way inclined. When you see locals in the car feeling ropey you know the journey is tough! The trip to Bajawa takes about 4 hours and the road is pretty good with just some spots being redone. Once we reached Bajawa and the main terminal there we were lucky enough to be instantly able to transfer to another private car heading to directly to Riung. We jumped in for another long trip of about 3.5 hours over very bad roads before we finally found our accommodation for the night. We were able to organise our boat trip for the next day. Don't get to Riung expecting to find lots of bungalows on the beach. There are no real beaches in Riung itself, instead the attraction here are the Seventeen Islands that lie just off Riung and can only be reached by boat. The area is a national marine park so there are charges to enter the area but at the moment they are still relatively low at around 20k per person. We set out the next morning bright and early under a blazing sun and beautiful blue sky. For the amount of 500k we had a boat and driver to ourselves with lunch included and the plan to visit three of the islands. We set off first for an island inhabited with thousands of fruit bats called Pulau Ontoloe. It was amazing to see them all hanging from the trees and from a distance they looked like dried leaves. Our guide let out some shrieks and the bats took flight. Some of them had massive wing spans and the sounds they emitted as they flew were a cacophony of shrieks and squeals. We stayed a little while and watched them before we moved off to the next island. Our next stop was Pulau Tiga, a beautiful island with a long stretch of white sandy beach that was mostly deserted except for a couple of other boats. We did some snorkelling here by jumping off the boat while it was still some way out and made our way to the beach. I was a little disappointed in that the snorkelling was not as amazing as at Kanawa Island. Well after you have swim with sharks, turtles and stingray, anywhere else has a lot to live up to... We also had our lunch here which was fish that our guide barbecued for us on the beach and vegetables, noodles and rice. Honestly, I think whatever he had given us would have tastes delicious sitting on that beautiful white sand and looking at the turquoise water and mountains looming out of the Flores coastline. Breathtaking! We spent a while here, relaxing, taking tons of photos and snorkelling. Reluctantly we boarded the boat for our last stop which was Pulau Rutong. There is a lovely crescent shaped beach here and crystal clear water. I just wanted to be in the water for ever. We did some more snorkelling and just gazing at the sheer beauty of it all. I really didn't want to leave and lingered as long as I could in the water. Eventually though I climbed back up the ladder and we headed back. What a day! The effect of being out on the boat all day amidst these amazing islands left me feeling great and ready to offer my services to any business that would accept it just so I could stay. Believe me, when you are on the way here driving over roads that shouldn't even be called roads you might wonder why you are bothering. Once you get on the boat and start your day trip...you won't even give it another thought. This one is worth every bump in the road!
Traditional fishing village homes
Passing islands
Pulau Ontoloe and the bats in the distance
Fruit bats
Pulau Tiga
Fresh fish for lunch
Pulau Rutong
Back to the pier
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