Ay Dios Mío, my stomach is in full rebellion. During the night I had to get up a couple of times and barely made it to our very narrow "head". I am not going to complaint because we have a regular toilet, in some sort of working order, but when the fishing boat was converted to cruise ship there was not a lot of room for fancy plumbing (or for guests that are unusually deep).
On an aside, I have not told you that a good number of toilet facilities are of the squat type, where you line up with the hole in the porcelain floor (little footprints provided to give you a clue on where to stand), squat, and hopefully hit the hole without making too much of a mess. There is plenty of water provided for you to flush, rinse any mistakes, and sanitize your behind, but you have to be extra careful not to get your pants wet, lose your cell phone down the hole, or slip off one of the wet footprints and land ... well, you get my meaning.
Did I mention that here they drive on the wrong side of the street? Also, when you are walking on the sideway you have to remember to walk on the left side to avoid head-to-head collisions.
Anyway, my stomach has rebelled and is removing all sorts of mephitic substances in the most expeditious way. I almost welcomed getting out of bed at 4 am, to be ready for the 5 am hike to see the sunset from one of the peaks of Padar Island. It was Irvan, the two young men Joan and Carlos, and myself. Well, they all made it to the top, together with 500 other tourists, but I called mid-height good enough and stopped to enjoy the view. Reminds me a lot of the Galapagos Islands, in that the stoss side of the islands is dry, and the lee side is luxuriously green. Because of the many inlets and bays it is possible to see both sides at once. Alas for my traveling companions and the other 500 hopefuls the sky was overcast and there was no sunrise.
Needless to say I spent the whole day on a strict diet of water, water, and more water, while our cooking staff outdid itself with a great display of Indonesian dishes. Me, I laid back under the canopy and enjoyed one siesta after the other.
Eventually we made it to Komodo Island, and this of course was one thing I could not miss. I believe both Padar and Komodo Island are included in the Komodo National Park, which charges a fee for visiting. Once you land you are put under the stewardship of a guide, who like a mother hen looks after his charges making sure none of the chicks gets too far ahead. No guarantee you will see a dragon, but it takes only a second to spot a gaggle of people following through the trails by the entrance to know where to look. Poor things the dragons. Tourists and their cameras are a nasty bunch, and everyone wants to break from their group to take a frontal shot or a selfie. Komodo dragons are big and have a bad temper, so if you block their path they will attack (you can still get a decent shot by standing behind the dragon and giving you camera to the guide). Dragons are carnivorous, and will eat a skinny Jakartan princess, a kid, a baby dragon, a deer, or even a wild pig. What they do is hide to wait for a clueless prey, or lunge at an air-headed tourist and bite with their sharp little teeth. But then they let go. Since they never brush their teeth, the bite causes a massive infection, and a couple of days later the prey will die, and the dragon will smell the dead animal and invite all his friends to an orgy of eating and fighting, until everyone is satiated.
We went for a short walk around (and I mean less that 300 meters), saw another dragon, took may pictures, and then we were herded back by our guide. I suggested a tip but Irvan told me that no, tips were not encouraged (but at an aside the guide suggested a tip would be appreciated), and I was a bit disappointed at the way we were taken there, give a glimpse of the dragons, and then hurried back to the boat. Seems like a long way to travel for such short visit.
By now I have been taking some pills and the eruptions in my intestinal tract seem to have become dormant. Still, I am not taking any chances and will go to bed on an empty stomach.
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