Masih edisi buka-buka facebook, gue curi foto-fotonya suami waktu dia travel sendirian ke Flores tahun kemarin. Abisnya kesian amat ini blog kagak ada isinya.
Foto-fotonya sih jelek (haha!), tapi objek fotonya tetap lumayan menarik untuk dilihat, terutama buat anak Jakarta seperti gue yang gak pernah amat jalan ke pelosok terpencil di Indonesia.
Pembukaan sedikit. Tahun kemarin sehabis liburan ke Bali Mikko lanjut berpetualang seorang diri ke beberapa kota di Flores. Gue gak inget nama-nama kotanya karena semua terdengar asing di kuping gue, alias belum pernah gue dengar sebelumnya. Yang gue ingat sampai sekarang cuma dua: Adonara dan Lembata (oke, yang terakhir ini sebenernya pulau, bukan nama kotanya)
Di Adonara Mikko naik gunung sama beberapa turis lainnya dari penginapan yang sama (dan beberapa guide penduduk lokal tentunya). Belum berhasil sampai puncak tapi matahari sudah hampir terbenam, karena itu Mikko inisiatif ngajak rombongan untuk turun gunung. Sayangnya dua orang turis Spanyol tetap ngotot mau terus mendaki, jadinya Mikko pun memutuskan untuk turun sendirian. Ditungguin sampai tengah malam dua Spaniard itu gak juga balik kembali ke hotel. Mulai panik deh. Jangan-jangan ilang? Nyasar di dalam hutan? Atau kecelakaan? Masuk jurang?
Besoknya hebohlah Mikko manggil polisi dan kembali rame-rame naik gunung buat ekspedisi pencarian orang hilang. Untung aja sore-sore dapet kabar kalo dua orang hilang yang dicari tersebut ditemukan di desa lain. Ternyata mereka memang sempet nyasar tapi selamat turun gunung biarpun dari sisi yang berbeda.
Gue yang denger ceritanya lewat telepon udah pasti berasa mules-mules. Langsung deh keluar larangan buat suami, gak ada lagi ya jalan-jalan ke antah berantah seperti ini. Inget di rumah ada anak istri yang masih perlu diurus.
Dari Adonara Mikko lanjut menyebrang ke Pulau Lembata, his ultimate destination, yang tersohor akan tradisi penduduknya yang suka berburu ikan paus. Gue yang sok jadi aktivis animal rights langsung ngambek denger Mikko semangat banget mau liat kegiatan seperti ini. Tapi, toh, berhari-hari di Lembata gak ada satu pun ikan paus yang muncul di perairan sana.
Jangankan ikan paus, sekedar mau ngikut nelayan nangkep ikan aja kagak kesampean. Selama di sana cuacanya mendung dan hujan melulu, gak ideal buat melaut. Begitu cuaca cerah ternyata ada perhelatan besar yang lagi digelar di desa, jelas bukan hari untuk melaut. Besoknya, para nelayan masih hangover kebanyakan minum tuak, lagi-lagi gak jadi melaut. Eyalah…Mikko jadi pundung sementara istri berkicau terus di Jakarta nyuruh pulang. Akhirnya….begitulah, sebagai suami yang berbakti petualangan di Lembata harus diakhiri dan mulai berjalan balik menuju Jakarta. Byebye ikan paus.
And now, without further adieu, here it is…
One Man, Two Weeks, Three Pairs of Underwear
(dan istri bertanya: kenapa judulnya begini amat sik? Penting ya disebut kolornya cuma tiga biji?)
Pantai Pasir Putih on Adonara jumped up to no. 2 on my ranking of best deserted beaches on Indonesia after Pasir Panjang on Kei. Not a soul during the few Sunday hours I sprent here.
The French East Indies company was a bit of bust. Should have kept better care of their cannons as well. Found this one lying on the village yard on North Adonara, thousands of kilometers east from the company’s operating area.
Ok, boys and girls, time to get offended. That’s dried dolphin meat on sale at the Waiwerang market, straight from Lamalera village.
The inter-village football cup on Adonara had hefty penalties for taking off your shirt during goal celebrations. Not only did you get booked, you also faced a stiff 10.000 rp (85 cents) fine.
Now what are hundreds of years old elephant tusks doing in Adonara, thousands of kilometers from the nearest elephant population? They are used as dowry, of course. This lot would set you back about 15.000 euros!
Ok, I did lose two Spanish tourists on volcano on Adonara, my bad. But I did organize a search party the following morning. It turned into a big picnic for the police who were not quite fit enough to climb a mountain. Luckily the Spaniards were safe after spending a night on the mountain.
After their heroic picnic efforts the police were rewarded by rounds of palm wine, paid by me. Here’s the no. 2 police officer on the island getting his sip.
The main church in Waiwerang has a painted statue of Jesus Christ saluting on the balcony. Seriously.
The sperm whales hadn’t migrated to Lamalera’s waters yet but the fishers still managed to catch dolphins, sharks and manta rays.
Deep in the mountains of Lembata and who are showing me around the village? A ladyboy and a nun of course! They are cousins, by the way.
Traders will pay the villagers of Tapobali around 13 euros for this small piece of swift’s nest. The villagers collect them from a cave underneath the village.
There’s an amazing village on the slopes of Ile Api above Jontona village. Everything has been left exactly as it was on 1950′s when the government ordered the villagers to move down to healthier surroundings.
They have left the tusks too. This is too big for an elephant tusk. Mammoth seems to be the only explanation. It’s probably worth more than 10.000 euros on the local dowry market but nobody has dared to steal it for the fear of the magic repercussions.
Climbing the Ile Api Volcano was a fitting end for the trip. Pictured here are the smoking caldera, my travel beard and a bag of delicious jagung titi (“flat popcorn” peculiar to these islands).
Sedikit catetan tambahan. Sesampai Jakarta Mikko bawa dua plastik jagung titi sebagai oleh-oleh. “Ini enak banget, sayang” katanya. Dan ternyata,….gue gak sukaaaa…buat gue rasanya hambar-hambar dan agak melempem. Disebar ke seluruh rumah oleh-oleh ini cuma bisa diapresiasi sama bokap gue. Akhirnya si jagung titi abis juga dimakan bokap dan Mikko buat cemilan sambil nonton TV.
Selain itu, sejak kembali ke Jakarta, orang-orang yang Mikko kenal dari perjalanan Floresnya sempat beberapa kali sms nawarin barang. Misalnya nawarin kain tenun khas Flores. Handmade, natural dye. Harganya? 4000 euro saja. PINK SUN!!!!!!!!!!!
