Westward bound...

And then we were on the road again, heading back west towards Labuan bajo and eventually our flight back to Jakarta. Still happy to be able to feel like I have my head in the clouds as we begin the journey back to reality...

Todo traditional village

About an hour and a half drive from Ruteng, you will come across the village of Todo. It is located up in the mountains and the road there is twisty. The scenery along the way is beautiful with valleys on one side and villages perched on the sides of mountains. 

Todo used to have all its' homes built in the traditional manggaraian style with a circular structure where the roof reached right to the ground. There is a low entrance way where you have to bend down to enter the building. The roof is made from thatch. Eventually over time though, the villagers began to use other types of materials and resorted to building houses more similar to modern houses.

There was a villager at the entrance office  who gave us some beautiful traditional cloth to wear and he took us on a tour through the village. The traditional house was very impressive, very big with a diameter of 25 metres. The roof stretches up much higher than I was expecting and the carvings inside the doorway and house were charming. You might be lucky to get some blue skies when you visit Todo but generally with it's position up in the mountains chances are it will be misty and that just seems to add to the mystical feel of the village. Don't forget to buy one of the traditional weavings hand made in the village. Todo cloth is known for it's linear patterns and they an array of scarves for sale.

Todo traditional village

Weaver at work

A rainbow of scarves

Carvings in the doorway

Inside the traditional house

Todo traditional house

Low entrance ways

On the way...

After our stay at the beach, it's time to head up into the mountains to Ruteng. Transportation in Flores can usually be done on small buses and the most popular company offering this service is Gunung Mas. For 70,000 you can get from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng. Travel time is around 4.5 hours. The scenery is amazing as you wind your way along twisting roads with hairpin bends. There is no quick way to get anywhere in Flores. Every road hugs a mountain. As you begin to get higher up, you will also notice a change in temperature and suddenly you'll be glad you brought that jacket with you. Mist hangs low over the mountains and brings a refreshing coolness and moisture to the air after the dry heat of Labuan Bajo. As we weave our way through the mountains I find it hard to stop taking photo after photo of the beautiful vast landscape as it enfolds before me...