We were up bright and early again in order to get the bus to Moni, a small village at the foot of Flores' most famous volcano, Mt. Kelimutu. We thought the journey was going to take seven hours but due to another driver with a death wish we were there in five. We checked in and made plans to make our way up the mountain at 4am for sunrise. Thankfully you can drive up most of the 1600m peak but a brisk walk in the cold got us up to the viewpoint as the sun was peeking out. Slowly by slowly, the landscape came into view. Three crater lakes (formed by an eruption over 50 years ago) which all differ in colour! They change every few years thanks to the mineral content, for us they were bright turquiose, black and chocolate brown. An amazing sight. We then walked back down which was a little hard on the knees, before catching another lift to Maumere.
Here we did little more than rest and work our way through the assortment of deep-fried treats from a street stall. Hannah's favorite was deep-fried whole bananas, a bag full for about 50pence. The next day we headed off down the coast for a couple days on the beach, it would have been a good idea to phone ahead as our accomodation of choice was fully booked (and miles from anywhere else). We spent the night in the staff quarters which was fine (and cheaper) before moving into a little bamboo bungalow the following day. The food was great, no traffic, very few people and an awesome sunset. To get back to the town of Maumere (where our flight back to Bali left from) we hung loose on the main road waiting for a bus. The first mode of transport to arrive was a bemo (mini-bus with bench seating) which was absoloutely packed with locals on their way to the market. We didn't really fit but made it eventually, despite a couple U-Turns to pick more people up along the way.