Gua Rangko, motorbiking, fish market

Sleep was a little elusive last night as there was tons of noise (live music, Muslim prayers, motorbikes, etc) because we stayed in the heart of Labuan Bajo. Muslim prayers start at about 4:45 from loudspeakers all over the city. Dan says that you don't ever need to set an alarm in Indonesia and I would agree. 

Floating in the beautiful blue water of Gua Rangko

We had a good breakfast at our hotel and then set off to check in with our liveaboard company and to rent motorbikes in order to ride to Gua Rangko. The cave is essentially the equivalent to cenotes, as it is a small limestone cave with water in it right near the sea.

The view of the harbor from our hotel

Fruit platters are so beautiful here

Typical breakfast of fried rice with an egg on top

Right outside of our hotel 

I had some trepidation about riding a motorbike in Indonesia as they drive on the opposite side of the road as us. Some of the rules are similar to VietNam in that there are sometimes rules to the road, but it mostly seems like a free-for-all. Riding in the city worried me the most, but once we navigated out of the city, it was fun. 

Along our route, we stopped for construction and a guy on a motorbike road up next to us and asked where we were going. We told him where and he said that he was going there too and we could follow him.

A pause in the motorbiking right before we got to Rangko village

Rangko village is right behind us 

In the village of Rankgo, we found a boat that would take to the cave, wait while we explored and then bring us back to the village.

The boat taking us out to Rangko cave

Some fishing boats in the village of Rankgo 

A typical Indonesian toilet

The trailhead for the cave

Rangko cave was so cool. When we got there, there was a group of people, but after a little while we had the place to ourselves. There were some Muslim women swimming with all of their clothes on including their hijab head scarves. They asked to take photos with me (which was common on our trip) - our clothing was such a juxtaposition.

Heading down into the cave

There are tons of minerals in the water which makes it easy to float

Inside the cave there were stalagmites and stalactites and bats flying around. Yet another thing on this trip that we said Angela would not like. There were a few rules in the cave, but not many. You were not allowed to smoke or go to the bathroom in the cave, but you could climb all over anything you wanted to. There were Indonesian kids who came over on the boat with us who had great climbing skills. Dan and I commented that these stalagmites and stalactites would have been more protected in the United States.

Some of the Indonesian kids who came over on the boat with us were super agile in the cave, climbing all over everything

Just beyond there I was floating was a much darker room in the cave with more bats and a cool jumping spot (if you could climb up)

I was not nearly as graceful at climbing as the Indonesian kids

The water inside the cave was dreamy. I didn't want to get out. Many people try to arrive at the cave at a certain time when the sunlight is hitting it just right. But Dan and I did not want to be there when there were lots of people, so we went a little earlier. Outside of the cave, there was a beautiful beach all to ourselves with crystal clear water. I didn't want to get out of that water either, but Dan eventually convinced me to get out so we could leave.

On the boat ride back from the cave, there were some super cute kids. I think their dad was the boat operator. As you can see from the photos of the kid with his fingers in his ears, the engine of the boat was very loud. However, it clearly didn't keep him awake.

The noise of the boat engine was super loud

Nap time

A local fisherman diving

Once we were back in the village of Rankgo, we hopped on our motorbikes to head back to Labuan Bajo.

A view of the Labuan Bajo harbor from our lunch restaurant

Fresh fish with a mango sauce - my mouth was on fire from the heat

Dan, checking out the view from the restaurant

On our walk back from lunch, we saw some girls who were eating ice cream. It looked so good so I tried to ask them where they got it. They tried to explain where it was, but finally gave up and just walked us to the shop. It has been our experience in Indonesia that people go out of their way to help you, even if it interrupts what they are doing. And, the ice cream hit the spot.

A local girl showing me where to get ice cream

Happy campers!

We bumped into the girls after we got our ice cream and thanked them for the help

We walked around Labuan Bajo for a while getting things that we needed and then caught the sunset on the harbor. After the sunset, we went to the dive shop to get fitted for our gear so we would be ready to roll come morning.

Fried rice in the making on the street 

The next stop was the fish market that happens every night starting around 6:00. Each stall has a slightly different catch and all where arranged beautifully. It was a site to behold. Being a market, we were asked at each stall if we wanted to buy some fish. We were so full from lunch that it was not in the cards. The routine is to pick out the fish you want, then they they grill it for you right there for you to eat. It doesn't get any fresher than this. Poor Dan is not a fan of seafood, so this experience was not his favorite.

Grilling the fish behind each stall

Each stall has a small kitchen for preparing the fish

Freshly cooked fish for dinner

Despite going to a place where we could get super fresh fish, we opted for yogurt in bed for dinner - kind of sad, but it is where our tummies were at in the moment. Ironically, we were thrilled with this option. After dinner, we packed up our stuff so we would be ready to roll for the liveaboard boat early in the morning.