After the amazing boat trip at the 17th Islands of Riung (Ngada Region), we get to Mbay, at the Nagekeo regency. At the afternoon we will go to see the sunset at the ricefields and Marapokot harbour. At the next day, we will leave to Bajawa (Ngada Region). On our way, we will stop to visit the traditional village of this area called Tutubhada and a bit after leaving it we will find a very nice people who invite us to enjoy a traditional ceremony at the woods.
Mbay
Mbay is a Large town and the capital of Nagekeo regency. Driving around the regency we could see the views of a dry landscape that makes the weather and the vegetation very different from where we had been.
This town is not really common for tourists so there are not a lot of hotels or restaurants. We stayed at Pepita hotel and it really surprised us in a good way. There was a celebration of a well-known doctor of Flores at the hotel the night we were there so it was nice to see.
Marapokot ricefields and harbour
At the north of Mbay, in the road going to Marapokot there are a ver beautiful ricefields. We went there to see the sunset at the end of the road, at Marapokot harbour. However, we took so many time on our way that ended up arriving to the harbour at night.
Tutubhada traditional village
The road from Mbay to Bajawa which is called Jalan Tengah, is very beautiful. Following this road, not so far from Mbay, we went to visit a traditional village of Nagekeo regency called Tutubhada. To enter you will have to pay a fee of 10.000rp each. The head of the village, an 80 years old funny man, will welcome you asking about your country and your costumes.
This village is completely different from the one we saw at Ende regency. The shape, the roof of the houses... However the most important is the distribution of the village with the shape of a circle. They did it like this because in the middle is where their ceremonies are performed.
Even though Flores people are mostly catholic, their ancestral traditions are still very important for them. For example, the head of the village explained to us that they were setting up for a ceremony that would start the next week. This would be a boxing ceremony, in which every man of the families that belongs to the village would take part, to decide who would be the next head of the village.
After leaving the Tutubhada, at the same Jalan Tengah road, we found a small town with some people wearing traditional costumes. Luckily they were gonna start a ceremony and invited us to join them. If you want to know more about the ceremony click at Knowing Flores people.
If you want to continue reading about the trip click to Ngada regency. To know a little bit more about Flores and the accommodations we stayed at click at Flores the exotic island.
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