Flores

With a little bit of everything on one island, Flores is easily accessible and much of it can be explored in one trip. Remnants of Eastern Flores’ Portuguese heritage remain in its large Catholic presence, an elaborate Easter celebration and curly-haired Indonesians with non-Indonesian names such as Lopez. Women still weave intricate cloths on backstrap looms with designs and colors varying from village to village. Heading west is Mt. Kelimutu, a dormant volcano with three crater lakes in different hues, and traditional villages with megalithic stones and ancient shrines surrounded by cacao, vanilla and pepper plantations against a backdrop ...

With a little bit of everything on one island, Flores is easily accessible and much of it can be explored in one trip. Remnants of Eastern Flores’ Portuguese heritage remain in its large Catholic presence, an elaborate Easter celebration and curly-haired Indonesians with non-Indonesian names such as Lopez. Women still weave intricate cloths on backstrap looms with designs and colors varying from village to village. Heading west is Mt. Kelimutu, a dormant volcano with three crater lakes in different hues, and traditional villages with megalithic stones and ancient shrines surrounded by cacao, vanilla and pepper plantations against a backdrop of volcanoes. Western Flores is primarily Muslim and is less developed for tourism than its neighbors to the east, but all that is changing quickly. With the introduction of regularly scheduled flights to attract tourists heading for Komodo, about three hours away by boat, investors are eyeing the sleepy little fishing village, Labuhanbajo, formerly only visited by backpackers, with great interest. Go to Komodo, of course, but stay longer to see some of Flores too.

About the Expert

Linda Hoffman is a contributing editor for five Periplus guides, including Bali (two editions), Papua, Java, Nusa Tenggara, and eight editions of Insight Guides Indonesia and the Indonesia section of their Southeast Asia guidebook.