Towards Wae Rebo – ipadguides

I finally know why foreign tourists fall in love with Wae Rebo.

In fact, the cost to get there is quite expensive. It was like that, the journey that involved trekking up the mountain for three hours was not at all easy!

Not only because of its natural beauty, but because of the warmth of the people there.

They long for an atmosphere that is not individual. In Waerebo, one house new niang – a cone-sized house with a diameter of about 11 to 15 meters can accommodate up to six families. With a shared kitchen and stove to find warmth in the middle of the house, the atmosphere does feel very family-friendly.

There is an anecdote about the Flores people.

Once they smile, the hell is gone on their faces!

Because, even though their faces are somewhat ‘grim’ for some non-flores. But they are very friendly and easy to smile. Try to smile a little, they will return it many times over.

I also fell in love with Waerebo. And also Flores, time and time again.

…

After the Eid al-Adha prayer, I and Donna – a travel partner I just met in Labuan Bajo – headed straight to Ruteng. To continue the journey by Ojek to Dintor, the last village that can be accessed by vehicles before Wae Rebo.

This is the most expensive motorcycle taxi in my history to ride a motorcycle taxi. 150 thousand!

But, looking at the two hour journey. With the rainy conditions passing through steep hills, entering the forest, and passing by the beach, it was already too late and raining. I kind of believe it.

My back got a bit numb after going through that ride.

In Dintor, we stayed overnight at Wae Rebo Lodge, a bungalow-shaped homestay nestled in the middle of rice fields.

I thought Dintor was already upland like Ranupane. Turns out, Dintor is located by the beach! Across the dintor, you can see an island that looks like it came from ancient times. The name Mules Island. There is a pointy mountain that looks like the top of the tower of the tallest BNI building in Jakarta. What a sight.

Mr. Martin, the owner of the homestay who is also a Wae Rebo person who ‘went down the mountain’, told a lot about his hometown. Mr. Martin is one of the people who contributed to making this Wae Rebo village a tourism destination

“If only Waerebo had not become a tourist destination, maybe the residents would have moved here, mas. Because it’s hard to go anywhere. You have to go up and down the mountain for 5 hours to get back and forth,” said Martin.

It is Kombo, a new village from Waerebo. The combo contains residents who no longer fit to live in Waerebo, because there are only a maximum of seven houses in Wae Rebo according to custom. The combo also contains children who are in school. Since the first grade of elementary school they are required to live independently.

Sometimes, when they are on vacation, they return to their parents’ house in Waerebo. Of course by walking for 3 hours first.

***

From the homestay, we took an ojek for five minutes to an elementary school in Denge. This is the last point that the vehicle can reach.

Furthermore, it can only be passed by stepping.

There is also a homestay owned by Mr. Blasisus, who is Mr. Martin’s cousin. The form is a real homestay as usual, not like having Mr. Martin who is like a resort.

“I was taught by a Caucasian architect, what kind of Caucasians would I like to be, so I finally made it like this,” said Mr. Martin.

We started walking from elementary school towards the top. The initial track is a wide dirt road that looks like an asphalt road will be made. The path keeps changing into hills, landslides, and getting narrower.

On the way, we met many Waerebo residents who brought a lot of reeds.

“Upstairs, a house is being renovated, the reeds are the roof. Weaved first below, then brought up, “explained Mr. Sales.

We seem to have gotten used to climbing, so it took us less than two hours to reach the poncho roko post. A place where we can look for telephone signals because it is on the edge of a cliff where the position is LOS (line of sight) with the nearest BTS. I just had time to check in at paths.

“Of all the guests we brought, Mas and Ms. were the fastest to get here and never took a break on the road,” said Mas Sales.

Luckily, even though my stomach has swelled up, my racing knee is still functioning well haha.

A few minutes later, we saw a monitoring post with a roof like the house of a mbaru niang.

From there, you can see the village of Waerebo which is under the valley. A small plain flanked by high green valleys, with rivers flowing on either side.

From Mr. Sales’ explanation, I learned that a thousand years ago, it was the Minangkabau who made the village here. They are the ancestors of the Wae Rebo people.

I don’t know how the people from the Andalas plains got to Flores and made Waerebo.

We went down, entered a plantation dominated by coffee plants until we arrived at the gate of Wae Rebo. Dozens of people were sitting and watching a Mbaru Niang being destroyed.

They all looked at us with strange looks like seeing aliens. I just replied with a smile.

They laughed too..

(continued first ahh ~ )