On our recent trip to Indonesia, my wife and I visited an amazing place called the Wae Rebo village in the island of Flores. This village was granted the “award of excellence” by Unesco in 2012, during the Asia Pacific Heritage Award in Thailand. The journey to Wae Rebo started from Labuan Bajo, where we boarded a van that took us on a four-hour drive to Denge.
We went through all kinds of terrain, from narrow village roads and winding mountain roads to bumpy gravel roads with gigantic potholes. On several occasions, our driver had to stop to fill these potholes with pebbles so that we could drive through the road. At Denge, each of us had to ride pillion with a rider on a motorbike – we were not given helmets.
The 15-minute bike ride was a heart stopper, as the biker sped up steep slopes and rode through potholes. That said, we were very thankful that all our drivers and bikers were skilful enough to take us through such challenging road conditions without any mishaps. The bikes dropped us off at the trailhead and we started our hike to the village.
It wasn’t too difficult as the trail was clear and well used, although some parts were quite steep. Hiking to the village. After slightly more than two hours of hiking, we finally reached Wae Rebo village.
Before entering the place, we had to announce our arrival to the villagers by hitting a hollow tree trunk. We were told not to do anything like wander around the village by ourselves before being welcomed by the elder o.