Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 306

should cover at least Bena and Wogo , as
well as the hot springs at Soa , but many
also include a trip to Wawo Muda , one of
Indonesia's newest volcanoes. If you don't
get approached by a licensed guide at
your hotel, try the guide association
which operates an information o ce
opposite the Hotel Eidelweis , though it's
only open sporadically.
Soa, Wogo and Bena are all accessible
by public transport from Bajawa (though
Bena only has one bemo a day); it can be
hard to find accurate information about
this, and guides will often inflate prices to
discourage you from independent visits,
so ask bemo drivers directly. Alternatively,
you can rent a motorbike and explore the
region for yourself. he market is a good
place to look for people willing to hire
out their wheels; expect to pay from
Rp150,000 per day. An ojek (motorbike
with driver) will be around the same
price. Female travellers should be careful
of the latter, though, as there have been
several reports of indecent behaviour by
ojek drivers in the area.

NGADA ARCHITECTURE
In the centre of most villages in this
district stand several ceremonial
edifices , which represent the ancestral
protection of, and presence in, the village.
These include the Ngadhu , which
resembles a man in a huge hula skirt,
the thatched skirt sitting atop a crudely
carved, phallic forked tree trunk, which
is imbued with the power of a male
ancestor. The female part of the pairing,
the Bhaga , is a symbol of the womb, a
miniature house. The symbolic coupling
is supplemented by a carved stake called
a Peo , to which animals are tied before
being sacrificed.

striking volcanoes. Gunung Inerie
(2131m) is just one of the active
volcanoes near Bajawa: it's an arduous
but rewarding hike, and if it's clear
you can see all the way to Sumba from
the summit.
Bajawa is the largest town in the
Ngada district , an area that maintains its
status as the spiritual heartland of Flores.
Here, despite the growing encroachment
of tour groups, indigenous animist
religions flourish and the villages
maintain traditional houses, megalithic
stones and interesting totemic structures.
Up to sixty thousand people in the
Ngada district speak the distinct Ngada
language, and a good proportion of the
older generation don't understand basic
Bahasa Indonesian.
Not for the faint-hearted are the local
specialities of moke , a type of wine that
tastes like methylated spirits, and raerate
or “ rw ” (pronounced “air-vay”), dog meat
marinated in coconut milk and then
boiled in its own blood.

4

Ngada villages
BENA is the prettiest and most traditional
of the Ngada villages, lying about 13km
south of Bajawa. To reach it, take the
turn-off past the large church at
Mangulewa, 5km east of Bajawa. Here
they have nine different clans, in a village
built on nine levels with nine Ngadhu/
Bhaga couplings (see box above). It's the
central village for the local area's religions
and traditions, and one of the best places
to see festivals such as weddings, planting
and harvest celebrations.
Some of the finest megaliths and
Ngadhu are at the twin villages of WOGO
BARU and WOGO LAMA , the former lying
1km south of Mataloko (30min by bemo
from Bajawa). Wogo Baru is a typically
charming Ngada village, but the main
attraction lies about 1.5km further down
the road at Wogo Lama, where some
apparently neglected megaliths sit in a
clearing. All of the above villages ask
visitors to give a donation, but the
amount is up to you; Rp20,000 per
person is reasonable, although more is
always appreciated.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
he influx of tourists to the Ngada region
has led to a booming guide industry in
Bajawa, with a corresponding hike in
prices. For around Rp250,000-350,000
a day per person, a guide will arrange
transport, entrance to all the villages and
often a traditional Bajawan meal; for
mountain treks, guides charge from
Rp500,000 a day per group. A day-tour