Page 57 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL9

Woman weaving Ikat cloth.If you’re not in a rush, Moni is worth exploring. Easy hiking trails link one Lio tribal villageto another. You canvisit the hot springs or browse through Lionese ikat clothes at the local marketof neglected ancestors.It’s best to stay overnight in Moni,a town at the foot of Mount Kelimutu, and start out around 4am the next day to catch the best lights on the lakes and their mystical morning atmosphere. An hour on the road winding through the mountain’s evergreen rainforest will expose you to Jurasic Park-style plants, and once you’re high enough, to the green rice paddies below. It’s an easy 30-minute hike from the parking area on a partly paved trail with viewpoints and resting areas until you reach the top at 1,640m. Near the top, amid a landscape dotted with low green shrubs, monkeys hang out and look for food. Keep your distance from them.If you’re not in a rush, Moni is worth exploring. Easy hiking trails link one Lio tribal village to another. You can visit the hot springs or browsethrough Lionese ikat clothes at the local market.Follow the TransFlores highway westward and Bajawa is your next stop. The town is the centre of Ngada tribal spells, plus a year-round hill station for Western visitors seeking more familiar weather. The actual town has no attractions; you have to venture into the 15 traditional villages tucked into lush valleys with views of the mountains or Inerie Volcano. Two tiers of wooden thatched-roof houses slope around a central courtyard where megalith stones for animal sacrifices and ancestral shrines sit. These are real homes, decorated with beautiful carvings and patterns. The shrines, always in pairs, represent the clans’ male and female ancestors – respectively an umbrella structure topped with a warrior figure, or small thatched roof hut that resemblesElite+ 55