Our adventures on the boat ended the following day in Labuanbajo, a ramshackle harbour town in western Flores, where we docked and celebrated our safe return to dry land with some of our fellow travellers, by means of dinner and drinks. Then it was back to another night on the boat (in the port) before all heading our separate ways the next day - Simon and I were heading to Ende, in eastern Flores, to make our way eventually to Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), where we planned to make the most of the last two weeks we had left on our Indonesian visas.

It was a quick 45-minute flight to Ende from Labuanbajo the next day, and then a typical bus journey to Moni, the base for another volcano stop. By 'typical', I mean witnessing a (live) goat loosely tethered to the top of the bus in front of us, a near head-on collision with a bus coming in the opposite direction…etc - all the norm in Indonesia.

Moni was a very scenic little village consisting of just a few buildings on the side of the road, one of which was our guesthouse, and with great views of the surrounding volcanic countryside and rice fields. By this point we were pretty desperate for a hot shower - having gone more days than I care to remember without - and what with hot water being somewhat of a luxury in some Indonesian guesthouses - including this current one - we made our way through various fields and villages in search of the local hot springs which sounded hugely appealing. After a much needed hot and powerful shower there (surrounded by curious villagers) we felt hugely renewed and as if we had just stepped out of an expensive spa.

It was another early start the next day to make the small ascent of the third volcano of the trip so far, Mount Kelimutu, about 12km away. It was thankfully a short climb to the top of the crater, where you can see three deep, volcanic lakes, so called the 'tri-coloured lakes' because each one appears to be a different colour - thought to be due to dissolving minerals - and while apparently one of the turquoise lakes never changes, the others change between shades of yellow, orange, red and brown. These were absolutely stunning and even more beautifully illuminated in the early morning sunshine, the lakes looking like giant pots of paint.

We spent a while at the highest view point, at which point it was just us and Gus & Lindy, who we met at Moni airport and travelled to the volcano with, as well as the two local sellers peddling tea and coffee to those admiring the view. With the absence of any other tourists and the beautiful sky and surroundings, it was easy to appreciate how sacred a place this was to the locals, who believed that when people die, their spirits migrate to Kelimutu. We could certainly feel a special and spiritual vibe around us, and sipping ginger tea in such surroundings felt incredibly peaceful and calm.

All that meditating on top of a volcano made us hungry so it was after a hearty breakfast back at our guesthouse that we jumped on another bus to Maumere a few hours away, from where we would take our flight to Kalimantan the next day. Another interesting journey ensued, in a multi-coloured minibus, with an equally vibrant mix of music: from local tunes to JLS and Adele (the man next to me singing aloud his own, very different version of 'Someone Like You'), to some hardcore dance (?) music with the heaviest bass I have ever heard, at top volume - the closest we had been to clubbing in ages. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, we decided….the video in the video section of the blog might explain this.

With vibrating ear drums we arrived in Maumere, for our one-night pit stop. Although not much more than a transit city as one of the main gateways to Flores, Maumere was still a nice enough place to wander around, which is always a pleasure in Indonesia as the locals are always so friendly and there are always interesting sights. On this occasion while on our way to the harbour, we spotted something that we had also seen in Moni: a family home with two family tombstones next to it, which were almost as big as the house itself. Simon, ever-practical, commented, "They're not ever going to be able to sell that house are they?". While at the harbour watching a huge Pelni cruise ship coming in while the sun set, we heard the familiar sounds of the muezzin's call to prayer from the mosque, but also the sound of church bells simultaneously, an amazing contrast, and something we had never heard before! As we subsequently found out from our trusty Lonely Planet, around 85% of Flores' inhabitants are Catholic, with the Muslim population congregating in coastal towns and fishing villages.

The one thing Maumere is renowned for is its amazing seafood, and we had the best red snapper and nasi goreng (a typical Indonesian rice dish) ever, in a very local place near the harbour….Simon was equally impressed with the huge knife he was entrusted with to fillet our fish.

We were on the move again the next day for our flight to Kalimantan, via Makassar in Sulawesi…unfortunately we were not obviously not meant to reach Kalimantan that day as our flight from Maumere was delayed for about 5 hours, meaning we would not make our connecting flight - but with a free lunch and 600k rupiah compensation (equivalent to £40, about the cost of the flight!) we were not too put out, and meant we had an unexpected night in Sulawesi, an island which sounded fascinating but that we had decided to skip out and concentrate on Kalimantan instead. And so in the end we had an evening there anyway, in Makassar - a sprawling, hectic and industrial city (or at least compared to anywhere we had been in Indonesia so far), which again was more notable for its excellent seafood than anything else we can remember!

Luckily there were no more travel incidents (crazy minibuses or delayed flights) and we finally arrived in Kalimantan, our carbon footprint not looking too hot as it seemed we had spent the last week jumping on planes as if they were buses, yet glad we were finally here and looking forward to the next adventure, thinking it had to be relatively low key compared to our most recent boat trip...