Day 8 Alor Island - Kalabaki Harbour

This morning was another glorious sunrise and after breakfast on the boat we went for an excursion to the Tapkala Village of the Abui Tribe. We were taken most of the way by bus but about half a kilometer or so we had to stop, get out and walk the rest of the way because it was difficult for the bus to negotiate.

The people of Tapkala gave us a ceremonial greeting with warriors brandishing spears, and feathered headdresses, and the women wearing heavy ankle bracelets. These people are physically similar to Papuans and in fact recent recearch has identified 14 separate indigenous languages, most of which are Papuan or Austronesian.

They invited us into their village and performed a once-sacred dance called the lego-lego , performed by joining hands in a circle, accompanied by very slow yet emotive singing. We were then invited to join in because it was a dance about friendship. 

This tribe place a lot of value on the moko drums which are used as bridewealth. Their houses further down the mountain were also decorated with painted or woven geometric motifs.

After that we were taken to a local market to browse amongst the vendors, mostly fruit and vegetables and western-style clothing, but there were a few stalls selling some handmade textiles. 

This was one of the delicious treats on offer - it is called kueh jipang and is made from rice flour, coconut and brown sugar, kind of like a coloured rice vermicelli, but sweet.

We then visited the local Museum which held a small assortment of commissioned textiles from different regions. These had been recently made and many of the exhibits were behind filthy tinted glass so photography was not that easy to do.

After lunch on the boat we went ashore again to visit the Monbang Hamlet in the Kopidil District, home to the Abui tribe. These people have revived the art of barkcloth making, because the use of bast fibres was banned in 1971 by the Indonesian government for being too primitive.

We caught the bus most of the way up the mountain but needed to walk the last 300m or so because

of a dispute between two tribes hence the bus was not allowed to go any further.

Our representative this time was Alfred from Taiwan and he was dressed ceremonially in the warrior's tapa cloth skirt and headdress. The Abui took him into the forest to "find" the tree that the tapa is made from, and he was carried seated on bamboo poles like a king to the central meeting space.

Another version of lego-lego was performed and then the demonstration of tapa making began. The tree they collected was thin, probably because they had a certain amount of time for demonstration as it is hard work. Firstly the outer bark was shaved off with a large knife. The peeled log is placed over another log for balance and then beaten carefully with another piece of wood. This bruised the outer layer of the tree so that it separated from the layers below. Once the whole circmference had been beaten the bark was peeled off then slit up the centre to form a squarish piece of tapa which could then be joined to other pieces to form larger cloth. Unfortunately I took videos of this process on the ipad, not photos, so I cant add any photos in until I return home.

In the evening we set sail for the island of Lamalera.

Day 7 - Alor Island

Another early rise this morning but this time I joined one of our other travellers, John, who conducts a yoga class each morning. It is slowly growing in size and there were about 6 of us all on the top deck while the sun rose in front of us as the boat set sail for Lembata.

This photo shows the Ile Api with its plume of smoke as the sun rose behind it. While we were doing yoga, a large pod of dolphins swam very close to the boat, unfortunately I couldn't take a photo because I was in warrior pose 1....!

Our first stop after breakfast was the village of Mawa on the island of Lembata. This was a lovely village  that grows and spins it's own cotton and the predominant patterns are stripes in dark indigo/black with Morinda citrifolia.

The quality of the weaving was good, and there were many pattern variations so shopping was a hard task!

This photo shows Ibu Martine showing how they collect the cotton from the plant and then process it. These are some of the beautiful cloths they weave, all handspun and naturally dyed.

I bought a few scarves from Ibu Fatima. During one of our nightly lectures by David and Sue, we learnt about the marriage system on this island, about dowrys and counter prestations from the grooms family to the bride. Many of these alliances are asymetrical. An interesting fact was about the  status of these gifts and the value placed on them. In this village there are two sisters who have a cloth that is so valuable that no-one can afford the counter prestation..... This means in effect that they cannot marry and are destined to live with this cloth for the rest of their lives, as the cloth does not just belong to them but the whole village. These are the two Ibu with their cloth below.

After lunch on the boat and a rest from the midday heat, we headed over to another village called Jontana. This seemed completely different in feel, and I didn't think the weaving was of the high standard we had seen previously. However they had produced the most intense black yarn I have seen during the trip and from their answers to our questions they said it was just indigo but it had taken two years to produce. It certainly smelt like a rich indigo, however I am not sure things may have got lost in translation.

David and Sue organised a trip up to the ceremonial village, halfway up Ile Api, which is only used once a year during the Bean Festival. There are some very sacred objects up there in one of the four chief houses, including some large elephant tusks. Only six of us took up this adventurous opportunity because the road is extremely rough and unpredictable. Our open bus in fact could not make it all the way to the village so we had a short uphill walk to get there.

It was certainly berluantan kita besar - our big adventure - and I thank them for ensuring my core muscles were put to good use. It was dark by the time we descended the volcano, took the dinghy back to the ship and sat down with a well deserved icy cold Bintang.

Day 6 Lembata

Another early rise this morning but this time I joined one of our other travellers, John, who conducts a yoga class each morning. It is slowly growing in size and there were about 6 of us all on the top deck while the sun rose in front of us as the boat set sail for Lembata.

This photo shows the Ile Api with its plume of smoke as the sun rose behind it. While we were doing yoga, a large pod of dolphins swam very close to the boat, unfortunately I couldn't take a photo because I was in warrior pose 1....!

Our first stop after breakfast was the village of Mawa on the island of Lembata. This was a lovely village  that grows and spins it's own cotton and the predominant patterns are stripes in dark indigo/black with Morinda citrifolia.

The quality of the weaving was good, and there were many pattern variations so shopping was a hard task!

This photo shows Ibu Martine showing how they collect the cotton from the plant and then process it. These are some of the beautiful cloths they weave, all handspun and naturally dyed.

I bought a few scarves from Ibu Fatima. During one of our nightly lectures by David and Sue, we learnt about the marriage system on this island, about dowrys and counter prestations from the groom's family to the bride. Many of these alliances are asymetrical. An interesting fact was about the  status of these gifts and the value placed on them. In this village there are two sisters who have a cloth that is so valuable that no-one can afford the counter prestation..... This means in effect that they cannot marry and are destined to live with this cloth for the rest of their lives, as the cloth does not just belong to them but the whole village. These are the two Ibu with their cloth below.

After lunch on the boat and a rest from the midday heat, we headed over to another village called Jontana. This seemed completely different in feel, and I didn't think the weaving was of the high standard we had seen previously. However they had produced the most intense black year I have seen during the trip and from their answers to our questions they said it was just indigo but it had taken two years to produce. It certainly smelt like a rich indigo, however I am not sure things may have got lost in translation.

David and Sue organised a trip up to the ceremonial village, halfway up Ile Api, which is only used once a year during the Bean Festival. There are some very sacred objects up there in one of the four chief houses, including some large elephant tusks. Only six of us took up this adventurous opportunity because the road is extremely rough and unpredictable. Our open bus in fact could not make it all the way to the village so we did a short walk to get there.

It was certainly berluantan kita besar - our big adventure - and I thank them for ensuring my core muscles were put to good use. It was dark by the time we descended the volcano, took the dinghy back to the ship and sat down with a well deserved icy cold Bintang.

Day 5 - Larantuka

I woke up this morning to see land through my porthole and raced upstairs to see the mist still coming off the mountains in the early morning sun as we cruised pass Larantuka, at the foot of the Ile Mandiri volcano.

Sue and I sat sipping our coffee in the peaceful early morning light appreciating the cool breeze and quiet. We all had breakfast on deck before heading ashore to visit the Lamaholot villagers. This was one of the high points of the trip because the women decorate their earthy ikats with tiny white shells, painstakingly cut then pierced so they could be embroidered on to their sarongs. We were treated to a wonderful dance and singing by young children, which I think was called puteh ture, with young girls dancing a story of how the fibre is spun, warped and woven. 

Older women then performed the soka alo or bamboo dance.

We then had a chance to look at their beautiful textiles which were quite different from others we have seen so far, and of course another opportunity to buy. Again, the main dyes were indigo and Mengkudu, but their ikats were simpler, the added highlights being the small clusters of shells.

We were invited to walk around the village which was so tidy and well-cared for, you could tell people were happy live there, and we were told that this was at the instigation of the chief. The whole village gave off a great vibe, people genuinely smiling, laughing and happy to live in such a healthy community. Even the anjing seemed content!

After lunch we went to a small beach to swim and snorkel, but the tide was low so it was quite hard work to get out from the beach far enough to swim. We all managed to collect some beautiful shells and red coral as we scavenged the tideline, and after returning to the Ombak Putih we sat up on the top deck with a cold drink, watching the sun set to our right whilst at the same time to our left the moon rose directly over Ile Api. Perfect!

Day 4 - We are sailing!

I haven't quite adjusted to the Indonesian time yet, so when I woke up at 4am this morning ( Friday) I decided to stay up and finish off yesterday's post. The internet connection is bad a lot of the time, so even if I have finished writing, it won't upload until we get ashore....so if it looks like my days are out of sync, that's the reason.

Anyway we left the boat at 7.30 am to go to the busy Wairkoja market. There were a lot of fruit and vegetable vendors and some textiles, but the ones selling the pigs were a bit distressing, so I didn't like it that much.

Next stop was a drive up into the Iwang Gete highlands to visit the small village of Doka where I was selected as the group representative along with another group member, John. This task is shared amongst us for each village visit and can be quite simple as wearing a scarf presented to us and leading our procession through a group of dancers. So no big deal. However this village had John and I changing into traditional clothes  - and for me that meant top and sarong, numerous wooden and beaded bangles, which they struggled to force onto my wrists and then the head Ibu brushed my hair for ages and put it up in a bun with a fake hairpiece. Not a look I am eager to replicate in the future....

Our official duties also required us to either smoke a homegrown cigarette or chew some betel leaf, lime and pinang, or areca nut.  I went for the betel chewing and had a red mouth for the rest of the day. The arak that they gave us added to the whole experience!

Part of the cultural dance performances put on in our honour.

Natural dyestuffs for producing yellow - kunyit,or turmeric, kapur sireh or lime, mengkudu, mangga.

For the deep reddish brown they dye with Morinda citrifolia (mengkudu)

In the afternoon we went to the Museum Bikon Blewut in Ledalero  and then went a bit further south to Nita Kloang village to again watch production of cotton yarn, ikat, and dyeing.

Tarum or indigo dyeing with Indigofera which is kept in a ceramic vat and then put in a leaf container for dyeing.

For green dye the women use leaves from the Dadap tree, which has spikes and grows to about 2m along with kunyit and kapur.

Returning to the boat in the evening we had a great lecture from Sue followed by our safety briefing from Nato in preparation for our cruise. Whilst dinner was served we heard the anchors being raised and we were off, sailing through the night.

Day 3 - Kelimutu - Maumere

We had a very early start this morning before breakfast, driving up into the Kelimutu National Park to view the three-coloured crater lakes, known as Tip (Tiwu Ata Polo), Tin ( Tiwu Nua Moori Koohi Fah), and Tam (Tiwu Atu Mbupu). These three lakes differ in colour according to the water composition. Tap is an acid saline crater whose colour changes according to the state of water oxygenation; Tip is a cool  acid brine lake which contains minerals and chemicals such as sulphur; and Tam is an acid sulfate crater lake.

The view from the top was breathtaking but you could only take a photo of all three lakes if you were high above in a helicopter as Tam is on the other side from Tip and Tin.

On our way back to the Ecolodge to have breakfast and pack our bags we noticed all the small villages on the way busily cleaning the roadside, slashing grass, sweeping and burning off rubbish, and tying colourful garlands onto makeshift fences along the road.  This was all in preparation for the 'Tour de Flores' which was due to start today from  Maumere.

After a little traffic congestion due to TdeF followers, we finally made it to the harbour and had our first glimpse of the Ombak Putih, or White Wave.

Here we are getting into the first dinghy to get to the boat in the background. Once on board we were shown to our cabins and sat down to a delicious lunch.

View of my cute cabin - all cabins have their own ensuite and are air conditioned. It was threatening to rain when we arrived but miraculously passed us, leaving a wonderful omen for the days to come.

After finding our cabins we had a few hours to unpack, relax and unwind before we got back into the dinghys to head ashore for a short trip to visit the nearby village of Wuring which is home to the local Bugis and Bajao sea gypsies.

They are mostly Muslim, and many of the men were volunteering their time and money to build a new masjid at the end of their village on stilts.

Many of the parents  wanted you to take photos of their babies or toddlers, as did the small children who were were totally charming and cheeky. So while we didn't see more textiles, we did have the opportunity to have a short glimpse of what life was like for these sea-village families.

On board the Ombak Putih we had an informative lecture by David about the history and textiles produced by the Sikka people (the region we are now in) followed by a delicious dinner of nasi campur which included beef rendang, fish, mixed vegetables and salad folowed by fresh fruit.

We were all pretty exhausted so looking forward to our first night sleeping onboard the boat.

Day 2 - weaving village of Nggela

This morning we wove our way south through the spectacular Mbuli Valley in order to reach the remote weaving village of Nggela.  After travelling that road in the back of the bus I certainly realised why it would take perseverance and the promise of some lovely textiles to go there.  Here is the photo of the road less travelled, even at 10km per hour:

On the way back I made sure I was in an airconditioned car rather than the bus......however, just as Sue and David promised, the views were great when you weren't looking over the edge of a steep cliff.

The villagers welcomed us with dancing and music and the largest displays of textiles you could imagine. Apparently there are about 300 weavers in the village and beyond, but if I heard correctly there may have only been about 25 in the village.

The women gave us wonderful displays of carding and fluffing cotton, reeling, warping, natural dyeing, ikat and preparation for weaving. One of the processes I was particularly interested in was the combing of a sizing medium, made from boiling rice, tamarind seed and juice and candlenut flour together onto the warp which was then left to sit for a day before warping up on the loom. This procedure kept the fibres straight and aligned, I guess making it easier to separate and manage them in the fine-tuning process of shifting and bundling the threads in heddles before weaving takes place.

The Lio weavers in this village, like many others, have adopted the practice of using commercial dyes and cotton to make life easier for weaving cloth for everyday use, but they still use natural dyes for special cloths including the ceremonial lawo batu. After lunch we were invited into the mosa laki's hut, in fact we went into two, to see objects of cultural importance in ceremony and life. It was pretty dark inside and I was fearful of falling through the bamboo slatted floor, being the Westerner I am, which would have meant getting very up close and personal with the pigs directly below.

The village itself is boat-shaped with two rows of tall thatched houses on either side of a central area, which held the 'belly-button' of the village, a circle of four stones with a centrepiece which we were forbidden to touch. After the walk around the village we were eager to go and meet the weavers and do some retail therapy, which ticked quite a few boxes for our group! 

I bought a small ikat from this woman whose name I did not write down, but I will be more diligent and respectful in the days to come. 

Tonight we have a pesta or party celebration put on by our hosts, the Kalimutu Eco Lodge, and tomorrow we take a trek up to the volcanic craters.

Untuk besok ( till tomorrow) 

Julie