Chasing dragons

For the last stop in Indonesia, we went to track down some of Dylan’s extended family. 

We took a flight over to the Komodo National Park and spent the day on a boat exploring some of the islands that make up this National park. 

Our first stop was the Padar Island, where we took a quick hike up to a viewpoint, and what a view it was!

After this we spent around the other side of the island to what is known as Pink Beach, as the sand is a bit pink, and did some snorkelling. 

We then went to the biggest island in the park, Komodo Island. It being the biggest means it also has the highest population of Komodo Dragons. 

I wasn’t too impressed with how they treat the dragons here. It’s clear that it’s quite rare to spot a Komodo in the wild, so they use pretty nasty tactics including chasing them with food and poking them with a stick. It felt like a circus. In typical Indonesian fashion it was all over dramatised as to how lucky we were to see one when we could evidently see what they were doing. 

Our group were pretty repulsed with what they were doing so we didn’t spend much time with the first dragon, declining for our photos to be taken with it. 

Fortunately, we actually did see a second dragon naturally. You could tell this was natural by the reaction of the guides, they were pretty shocked. This felt more relaxed than the first encounter, and we spent some time taking photos with the dragon, which this one seemed to really enjoy. 

After this, we went to a few more snorkelling spots, and spotted manta rays, turtles and reef sharks. We also stopped at a random sand bank in the middle of the water, which featured the clearest water I’ve ever seen. 

And with that is the end of the Indonesia leg of the trip. We flew over some of the places we went to on the first flight over to Singapore. They look even more stunning from above. 

If you’ve ever thought about coming to Indonesia, it really is a beautiful place. Lots of people just go to Bali, which in my opinion, is the worst place in Indonesia. It’s very busy and hectic here, whereas other places are equally beautiful and a more chilled. 

However, I can’t get over the local people. I really struggled to enjoy the Indonesian culture, because they are just absolute savages. I get that they don’t have much money and want to make a living, and to be honest, if you get ripped off then it’s kind of your own fault for falling for it. But the constant lying and sneaking around is just insulting and paints this country in such a bad light. I’ve been to Asia before so I am no stranger to this, but not on this scale. From being lied to about the availability of transport, being grabbed and dragged to a taxi, and having my luggage just picked up and taken; none of this is ok and they need to learn that. 

I’m glad I came and I did enjoy the things I did, but I’m happy to leave and don’t think I’d ever return.