A Glimpse of Flores and A Lesson About Accepting Reality

I had spent months plotting a bikepacking trip across Flores Island. The plan was to weave through iconic stops like Wae Rebo, Kelimutu Lake, the 17 Islands of Riung, Mount Inerie, and more. For me, though, the real allure wasn’t just the destinations; I was drawn to the endless savannas and untouched gravel roads I’d spotted only through satellite images on Ride with GPS.

Tapping my friend Josh Edwards, a Liverpool native now calling Lombok home, was an easy decision based on his love of Indonesia, cameras, storytelling, along with his experience touring the island of Lombok on a bicycle and his participation in several trail running events in the country.

I took notes from past experiences and friends who have been to the island, also absorbed reading materials from the experts like Bikepacking.com for overall preparation. I tested my setup by bikepacking around Lombok, my home island, covering nearly 670 kilometers, which I split into three different trips in a span of a month. I felt confident in my setup, my physical and mental being, along with a mindset that things wouldn’t always go as expected. Embracing any situation, good or bad, is a necessary attitude.

The first day was very exciting as it was my first time in Flores. So many of my friends told me I’d appreciate Labuan Bajo, my first stop. Labuan Bajo has a lot of things and is very comfortable, and my old self wouldn’t mind spending one too many days there just to chill, probably bar hopping. My new self, however, made a plan to seek dirt roads, the unexplored, sleeping by the empty beaches or on somebody’s porch. My old self would probably suggest therapy.

Josh and I decided to spend an extra night in Labuan Bajo to do a test ride. In doing so, we found that we had several problems, from a bent rear mech hanger to mysterious punctures that we needed to fix before actually starting the trip.

After the first ride, the first real crisis struck: Josh’s knee started acting up. We returned to our starting point in Labuan Bajo to get it checked, and the verdict was clear—he needed to avoid heavy activities for up to a week. In the end, we decided that I would keep riding while Josh followed on a motorbike to document the journey.

Switching the mindset from having a partner to suffer with to battling the climbs by myself was tricky, but the show must go on. The magic of this island reveals itself in moments you can’t plan for. I didn’t end up taking the route I had originally mapped out and switched to the Trans Flores—the island’s main road—to make it to my first destination on time. Even so, I found myself in constant awe, sometimes even overwhelmed with emotion, at how beautiful Flores is.

The climbs are as intense as they are stunning. Roads snake up mountains in endless switchbacks, gradients punishing the legs but rewarding the eyes with sweeping views of valleys, turquoise bays, and green hills rolling toward the horizon. Flores demands everything from you, but it gives back in ways words can barely capture.

Wae Rebo—perched high in the mountains, wrapped in clouds—feels like stepping into another time. The walk there was long but enjoyable, a steady climb through lush forest and narrow paths. But rain followed us the entire way, turning the trail slick and blurring the views. When I finally arrived, much of the village hid behind a veil of mist and falling water. Even so, the cone-shaped houses stood like quiet sentinels of history, their presence a reminder of how small I was in their timeline..

We then headed for Mules Island by a fishing boat, a speck of paradise where the water is impossibly clear and life moves in slow rhythms. I hiked to the top of a hill there and found myself completely alone—no people, only cows. Poco Kepi, the island’s highest peak, stood tall in the distance. The view stretched endlessly in every direction, and as the sun set, the sky erupted into colors I’ll never forget. It was, without question, the best sunset I’ve ever seen.

I had only seen a sliver of Flores, and already, every day felt like an upward curve on a graph of wonder—each sunrise, each turn of the road revealing more beauty than the last.

But then, reality whispered something else, and the Flores adventure had to be cut short. Many factors came into play, and after long and honest conversations, we decided to move on and head to Bali. It’s not the journey we had planned, but it’s the one we’ve been given—and we’ll make the most of it.

TO BE CONTINUED...