We woke up early, avoided the freezing cold shower, packed up and headed for breakfast excited but a little anxious about our 3 day tour.

Breakfast, which was included in the room price, was delicious - melon, toast, eggs and tea for me, melon, banana pancake and coffee for Neil. Unfortunately I managed to knock over a full cup of tea making a huge mess!! Never mind.

We emptied our room and sat on the veranda waiting for our driver (feels dead posh having a driver!). At about 9.15am (already 15 minutes late) Anton, the man we booked with, turned up to tell us the driver would be about an hour late as the tyre needed changing on the car. We weren't too happy but thought it was better to be safe than sorry so just continued relaxing. When Anton turned back up at 11am I really was not happy bunny! We were 2 hours later than planned. He explained that he had had to get another car and driver as the other one wasn't ready. Anton apologised profusely which we felt was genuine, so we set off with our driver and a passenger (no idea who he was!).

We drove for about 2 hours and then stopped just outside of Ruteng for some lunch. It was a traditional style Padang shop and Neil tucked into nasi ayam goreng (steamed rice and fried chicken) while I just had a drink as I wasn't too hungry. We noticed that the driver was changing the brake pads on the car - again better to be safe than sorry!

Back in the car after lunch (and a horrific dark scary toilet incident for me!) and we drove on again. Our passenger had been swapped for a different man now - bizarre! It is so beautiful here; the land is lush, green, mountainous and volcanic. We saw lots of bamboo houses at the sides of the roads along with cattle, dogs and chickens. There was also lots of children playing or holding up bowls of fruit and vegetables to passing traffic trying to sell their produce.

The roads were very hilly and windy - more so than Laos or the Cameron Highlands - which made for some crazy driving. There is a lot of road works going on here too to improve the road surface or make drainage systems for the rain water. This made the roads slower as we would have to wait for passing traffic before we could go. They can hardly close the only road through the island, which must make it annoying and more time consuming for the labourers too.

After asking the way a few times, we finally made it to the Spider Web rice fields which were not as impressive as they should have been due to the time of year I think. We also later stopped at Danau Ranamese Lake which was a lovely blue colour. Our drivers seem nice enough even though they can't speak much English they are trying their best.

As it got cooler we saw people bathing in the rivers we crossed or at the side of the road. It is weird to see people living so differently to the way we do. They live in tiny bamboo houses, sell the bare minimum to survive, and wash in public. I felt like I was a million miles away from home (and I probably was!).

We stopped again at tea time and had some more Padang food which was delicious and cheap! Although I think we both got eaten alive by mosquitos as we tucked in. It was a proper local place again but we felt welcome.

After dinner we carried on driving along the dark roads, which seemed even scarier now! Also due to the driver and passenger (who had swapped now!) liking a cigarette they had the windows open so I was freezing in the back. We thought about asking them to shut the windows but thought it might all be lost in translation so let it be.

We arrived at our home for the night, Bajawa, in the dark which made looking for a hotel a little trickier. The first one we found was full but the second one, found after a short drive around town, had a room so we snapped it up, not sure what else we would find.

We arranged to meet the drivers for a 7am start and retired to bed. It's nice to be so cold here; I have pjs on for bed and a fleece - bliss! After so long being hot and sweaty we cherish days like this! We had some trouble with having no running water, but after every single staff member had traipsed in and out of our room fiddling with stuff, it all seems to be sorted now.

All in all it was an interesting day where we got to see some real locals albeit from a car window.

After a freezing cold night, we were up to meet our drivers at 7am as organised. We were only a short drive away from the local village of Bena which was to be our first stop of the day. Our drivers had never been there before so after asking a few locals for directions we finally found it.

Bena is a small local village where people still live as their ancestors did in wooden houses with tall thatched roves. Outside their hut type houses they have buffalo horns stacked up which symbolise the prosperity of the family. Everyone here was so welcoming saying 'Salamat pagi' (good morning in Indonesian) as we walked around. I thought I might feel like I was intruding but it was obvious the people were happy to have you there. Even though the village is so open to tourists it still manages to keep its local village charm. They still all cook, eat and wash up together - such a sense of community.

We walked up to a newly built lookout point in the village and the views were breathtaking. This is another time where the pictures we took do not do the actual sight any justice at all. On one side we could see the towering Mount Gunung Inerie Volcano and to the other side we could see all the way down to the ocean. I felt like I was on top of the world!

All of the houses were selling the local ikat weaving which is intricate and time consuming but it wasn't forced upon you to buy anything, like it is in so many other tourist places. I felt like a guest in their village rather than a tourist. On the way out of the village we signed the visitor's book and made a donation - not much to you or me but the money ensures that they can continue to live as they wish.

Back in the car and we drove on to Ende, the views again were spectacular from the windy and bumpy road but they were mostly sea views this time with the road going along the sea front. I saw my first black sand beach due to the volcanic island! We also had great views of Palau Ende across the ocean.

In Ende we had lunch which was again traditional and delicious! One of the best things about being with a local is getting to eat local. Back on the road, and 2 hours later (after a driver swap!) we were in the tiny village of Moni - the base for Mount Kelimutu.

We stopped and looked at some bamboo huts, but deciding they were too far out of the village we moved further into the village and bagged a lovely room with huge romantic mosquito nets and a HOT SHOWER!!! My first hot shower in Indonesia!

After leaving our bags in the room and grabbing a fleece (it's colder here) we went out for a wonder through the village. Moni is such a lovely quaint village set amongst rice fields and mountains. Rumour has it you can also see the sea from here but it was too cloudy for us today.

We enjoyed a walk down the main road taking in the women carrying bags of rice on their heads, people harvesting the grain and numerous cars and scooters beeping. We also saw people washing pots and pans (and themselves) in what looks to be the local drainage system. Most of the people here are dressed traditionally in the local ikat weaving made into tubular dress type things.

Children and adults alike were shouting out 'Hello' and trying their broken English. We know a few words of Indonesian so were also trying that out as best we could. At one end of the village a lady from a café explained to us about ikat (the local weaving) and showed us how it was made by her and her sister. She let me try on a tubular dress type one which was cool. She was trying to sell something to us but was perfectly humble when we declined buying anything. She even pointed us in the right direction for the local waterfall.

A small stroll through a wooded area leads you to Air Terjun (the local waterfall). It was beautiful but we did question where the water was coming from as it hadn't really rained? If it had been any warmer I would have fancied a swim in it - it was such a stunning peaceful setting.

Back down the main road we chilled out (literally - so happy it's cooler here!) on the veranda just watching the locals going about their business. We then went for some dinner at a roof top café where Neil had the local Moni cakes - Mash potato cakes with cheese on top. I opted for macaroni cheese but it was more of tomato sauce with cheese on top - still yummy though!

We headed back fairly early as we have to be up at 4am for Mount Kelimutu tomorrow morning and we both wanted a nice long hot shower.

When I first tried to get the shower working I was livid thinking it didn't work! I had my towel on and was about to do out and give the owner short shrift when Neil worked his magic and had hot water flowing - My hero! It was such a lovely shower - I spent ages in there! It's these small things that are such a reward and comfort when you are travelling!

Days like today remind me why I am here, why we came travelling in the first place, and made all the bad bits worthwhile! I've had a lovely day and am hoping the cloud clears so we can view Mount Kelimutu at its best tomorrow.

After a lovely night's sleep under the huge mosquito net we were woken by the alarm at 4am! Once washed and dressed, we met our drivers and made our ascent to the Mount Kelimutu car park. We stopped at a barrier and assumed the driver was paying but were asked for nothing. At the car park we joined a group and made the cold dark walk up to the summit. It was a harder walk than I expected but we made it to Inspiration point (the best point to see the 3 lakes) just as the sun was creeping into the sky.

We sat and watched the sun come up over the distant hills. We were pleased that there were not too many people here - not by tourist standards anyways so we got a seat at the top with views of two of the three lakes and the sunrise.

The two lakes together were an absolutely beautiful turquoise blue colour and looked stunning in the morning light but it was a shame they were the same colour as they are often two different colours. The black lake was simply that - a black lake - very weird! The lakes are different colours that can change, due to the levels of sulphur in the water. Local legend believes that the lakes are for different souls. The black one is for the bad souls, one of the blue lakes is for the souls and the last blue lake is for everyone else.

It was a shame that all three lakes couldn't be viewed together easily but it was still amazing. We sat for a while enjoying the sunrise and taking it all in. Many thanks to Philip for his kind wedding gift contribution towards this unforgettable experience!

Breathing felt funny at the top and we think it was maybe down to all the sulphur in the air. We took in all the views and watched as other people tried to get the perfect picture - sometimes people spend too much time doing this and miss the real beauty of the event. We took a few photos before walking over to another view point.

Meeting the drivers back at the car we nipped back to Moni where the guides had asked someone to explain to us in English that we needed to pay for our tickets - he had paid for them at the barriers earlier. They kept saying sorry but it was fine and we tried to explain that it wasn't a problem at all! After this we bumped and winded our way to Maumere getting there in an impressive 3 hours instead of the 5 we expected.

This was a fantastic experience! We were pretty anxious about being driven for 3 days by people we had never met before but in hindsight we needn't have worried! Flores is a truly beautiful island and I was so pleased we made the scary decision to come here!

Hope everyone at home is still enjoying reading our blogs - please keep commenting!!

Lots of love and kisses xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx