As though sensing our arrival, the mist clears from the summit of Mt Kelimutu to reveal three gigantic crater lakes of distinctly different colours. The Lake of Young Men and Maidens is almost white today but can be turquoise at other times. Beside it, separated by a relatively thin crater wall, the Enchanted (or Bewitched) Lake is green but has a tendency to turn red. On the western side, alone among the trees, the Lake of Old People is a consistent deep grey-green.
It's been a charmed day, right down to the perfectly timed cloud dispersion, but there's a bittersweet appreciation because not everyone is here.
The Indonesian island of Flores, to the northwest of Timor, lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. At 1639 metres, Mt Kelimutu is one of 13 volcanos that stand more than a kilometre high on this dragon-shaped island. Kelimutu last erupted in 1968 and the shifting colours of its eastern lakes are scientifically attributed to periodic chemical and bacterial changes brought about when rain falls or there's upwelling from underwater fumaroles.
To the local people, this is a sacred place – spirits of the dead come to Kelimutu.
After our small ship, MS Caledonian Sky, edged its way up to the short dock at Ende this morning, its 100 or so passengers went their separate ways: Mt Kelimutu or Rada Ara village.
Today is the third and final time, within our 17-day expedition cruising itinerary, that there's a choice of two concurrent shore excursions. In the Philippines, I swam in the limestone-clear waters of Kayangan Lake on the island of Coron rather than visiting a cashew factory and hot springs. In Borneo I saw orang-utans and sun bears in rehab centres instead of taking a WWII city tour through Sandakan and stopping in at an English teahouse. I feel these were the correct choices for me and haven't heard any complaints from other passengers, whatever they decided to do, but today is different.
Today, some people are really missing out.
Those of us who made the right decision wound our way up into the mountains of Central Flores this morning in a colourful convoy of decoratively spray-painted minibuses pulled from public use for the day. American pop stars eyed us moodily from where their laminated faces protected seat upholstery as we gazed out at villages and rivers and farms and jungle through bus windows or the open side doors where guides stood.
Everyone on my bus, at least, soon had that Zen-like facial expression that happens when tourists become travellers, if only for a few minutes or a single day, and get caught up in the moment and give over to the adventure.
It's about two and half hours from the port to the carpark-in-the-clouds on Kelimutu, including a stop-off for tea, fried plantain, rice cookies and cassava balls provided by the nuns of St Francis of Assisi convent. After distribution of blue ponchos, we set off like an army of leggy Smurfs into the mist through the bush and birdsong. A couple of kilometres of gravel path, many steps and two lookouts later there's heady excitement at the physical achievement and the view and the natural environment and dynamic weather.
But it's not all downhill from there: on the drive back we stop off at a hotel for an alfresco Indonesian lunch, prepared and served by local women, then the buses drive boldly onto the dock and deliver us metres from the gangplank in the late afternoon light.
The others have been back since lunchtime and are a little cagey about their day. But when someone from our group starts insensitively gushing about Kelimutu, there's noticeable relief. They tell us they got so much more than they'd bargained for at Rada Ara where the mountain-dwelling Lionese people, who still strongly adhere to a traditional lifestyle, welcomed them to the village with dancing and shared food and enriching insights into their daily lives.
They say the only thing that detracted from the whole experience was feeling sorry for the rest of us for making such a bad choice.
aptouring.com.au
For expedition-style trips in Asia, Northern Europe and the Kimberley, APT owns and operates three small ships: MS Caledonian Sky, MS Island Sky and MS Hebridean Sky. Fares for the 17-day South East Asia Adventure in 2016, are from $11,995 a person, twin share, with an all-inclusive pricing policy. Phone 1300 196 420; see aptouring.com.au.
