Surreal volcanic lake atop Mt. Kelimutu – photo by Rosino

It’s Indonesia back-to-back for #wheretogowednesday as this week we’re highlighting the remote, colorful volcanic lakes atop Mt. Kelimutu on the island of Flores.  To give you a little taste, here’s a travel tale from a memorable hiking experience there…

It’s 3:30am–time to catch a truck ride up the 8-mile kilometer path to Keli Mutu, a unique cluster of volcanic lakes just outside Moni village, on Indonesia’s island of Flores.  A few groggy trekkers join my wife Ingrid and I for the chilly ride up in an open sided wooden stake truck.  During 45 minutes of slow curve climbing and just-in-time downshifts, stars give way to nascent orange sunlight and purple clouds.

We crawl out of the crate-like truck and hike to a perch above 3 volcanic lakes, each nestled within a blasted-out crater, colored by the chemical composition du jour.  The closest was a pale aqua blue green, like a tub of molten Crest toothpaste.  Next to it, over a razor thin ridge, lies an oval shaped dark green-brown pool of what looks like 10-W-40 motor oil.  Behind our viewing peak, a rich charcoal-black lake sits inside a tree-lined crater bowl.

An entrepreneuring villager sells hot tea on our viewing peak, the perfect complement to a mountaintop sunrise.  By 6:00 am, we’re bathed in sunlight.  In the distance, misty ocean surf rolls in.  Closing my eyes, I listen to the breeze as it envelops me, etching the scenery forever in my mind.
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