Spider Web Rice Fields

Local island ferry.

Lubuan Bajo fish market.

Kids playing with an old dugout.

Road scenes.

Man working the spider web rice fields.

Views from the hill.

My guide, Edwardo's kitchen in his homestay.

A local family having a celebration dinner.

They invited me to share eating dog.

Their house.

Edwardo, in green, and his old school teacher and other family members.

Three little pigs, in the second pig's house.

Back across the paddies to another homestay.

Goodbye to Flores and the Ciao Hostel with the amazing view.

Sunday, June 10^th.

Today I resolved to find either the cave on the island or the waterfall. When I went for breakfast I met a Kiwi named James who had also rented a scooter yesterday. He told me that he could not find the road to Rangko Cave, but did find the Cunca Wulang Waterfall and the canyon it was in. He told me that it was a rough road there and when he got there he had to hire a local guide, for about $10 who took him and his son to it. Then he gave me a map that he had got from somewhere. So, I rented a scooter again and set off.

The road goes into town, so I stopped at the local fish market to see what the catch looked like. It was the usual dirty smelly place with people selling a variety of fresh fish and others selling dried fish. I watched as the fish were butchered and people bought and sold. Then I headed out of town. I stopped several times to ask people directions to the cave, no one could tell me directions, even the two guys in the tourist information office. So, I rode out on another road that I didn’t see yesterday. It took me a fairly long way but surprisingly I turned a corner and found myself back at the hostel road. I’d gone in a circle. I tried another road and it led me along the shore where I found the ‘Komodo Water Park’ which was about two dozen large inflated rafts for kids to climb and play on. There were a lot of local people there with their families. It was on the only beach I had found, so I walked past the rafts and went swimming for an hour to cool off. I was frustrated so I resolved to just go for a ride on the road out of town again.

I rode for over an hour and past the spot where I turned around yesterday. I enjoyed the ride up into the hills and the feeling of being on a bike again. After another half hour I found a large area of rice paddies. I stopped to take photos and a man on a scooter stopped to talk to me and ask where I was going. When I said I was just exploring he told me about the rice paddies which he called the Spider Web Rice Fields. I had heard of them from the hostel, but they told me they were too far to ride to. So, I went with him to see them. He explained that the village here has made the paddies into 22 pieces of pie to form a large circle. They meet in the middle for planting ceremonies and then each family works their piece of the pie. He explained that to see the overhead view of the shape you needed to climb the steep hill beside the fields. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for that as it took a couple of hours. He told me that the village has 15 homestay families in it among the 75 houses. The local people have hit on this as a way of bringing tourist money into the village. His name was Edwardo and he works for the village cooperative. He offered me a tour at a discounted rate as I had very little Indonesian money left. We walked across the raised borders of the rice paddies to the concentric centre. Very interesting perspective. Then he took me through the woods for a tour of the village where he lives with his extended family and is a teacher in the local school. We walked around looking at the school (it was Sunday) and the homestay houses. He took me into his house which is one of them. It was very basic. The tourist room was really hot and stuffy and the room contained nothing other than a thin mattress. The kitchen was really basic by our standards. Then as we were walking by a house made of wood and sheet metal we saw a large family standing outside. They waved, and he told them I was from Canada. They invited us into their yard where they were having a celebration feast. They offered me some meat and rice, but I declined for my tummy’s sake. Then I noticed that they were eating dog. The charred head was on the ground beside them. Then he took me to one more house where I met his old school teacher and his family. The villagers are used to tourists coming to town and since I was with Edwardo, they were much more open and friendly than if I had wandered in by myself. Unfortunately, I had discovered this village mid afternoon and had limited time as I had to ride back before dark.

The ride back was very enjoyable, and I was happy that I had found one of the sites that I had seen on the hostel map. When I got back I told the people at reception that I rode to the Spider Web Rice Fields and got back in just over an hour. They said that was because I had gone to a different one than the one on the map that is three or four hours away. I was dumbfounded, why wouldn’t they tell people that there was one closer that was easy to visit in a day? It just proved to me that other than the Komodo Island dragon trips they really have no idea how to promote their island. They are still in the early stages of tourism here and have no maps or directions markers on the roads for people who rent scooters and want to go somewhere. Anyway, I was very happy that I had found the rice fields and had an enjoyable tour of a local village.

I went up to the bar to watch the sunset one last time, had dinner and then went up to my room to organize my bags for an early start the next day. I met three new young men in my room from Malta, of all places. I took my large bag down to reception and left it in the locker there so as not to disturb people in the early morning.