My latest trip this month was to Wonderful Indonesia! Being an archipelago like the Philippines, I got a taste of two of their many beaches - one of them particularly famous for its powdery pink sand. If we have 7,107 islands, they have around 17 to 18 thousand islands! Let me take you to Kanawa Island and the Pink Beach for now =) I brought along with me a beach-friendly turquoise blue Lagu blanket for a test drive so I'll be telling you a few instances when I was able to use it during the trip. There's also a chance to win one of the two blankets they sent for my readers in this post! So, here we are on a speedboat immediately after our flight - 2 Pinoys and 3 new friends from Turkey thanks to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economies of the Republic of Indonesia. To get to the two beaches I mentioned, we flew from Bali to Labuan Bajo City (pronounced "Labuan Badjo") in Flores Island, Indonesia.
Fast forward first, we just finished a trek at the Rinca Island (which is worthy of another blog post). After all the trekking and action, our itinerary included relaxing, er beach activities like snorkelling, at Kanawa Island. The view was breathtaking with crystal clear waters and mountains all around. We walked at a long, uneven wooden platform to the shore, partner that with a groggy me who just woke up from the boat ride after a tiring morning. I was a bit wobbly, obviously not used to that much exercise, um hiking to see the Komodo dragons haha.
I was still too stunned to be here so I just took my time taking pictures. I still couldn't believe I got to see Indonesia this year.
Some of our new friends just left their things on the beach table and headed out for the water.
Others who were not first-timers said we should definitely put our snorkeling gears on and check out the magnificent underwater scene here.
I knew we had more beach time the next day so I just brought out my Lagu beach blanket (proudly made in the Philippines) for a dry run. If given the choice, I would just look for a shade with no insects then sleep at the beach hahaha.
I stayed in the water for a while and when it was time to go, I just dusted off the sand from the Lagu then wrapped myself in it for the boatride back. I couldn't find a showering area and we had to leave before sunset. I was more energized the next day. We went to the Pink Beach after our second trek to see the Komodos in another island. It was super duper hot but the sand and water was just so enticing.
I also had time to snorkel and a life vest was in order for me because the depth of the water just dropped a couple of steps from the shore. I snorkelled and saw purples, greens and many other colors of live corals under water and so close to the shore. Others just can't get enough of the sun and the sand here haha.
I was still a bit tired and we had a few hours to spare so I stayed under "some" shade with my new friend Afife.
I observed them for a while and wondered how they could survive under that very hot sun.
I remembered my own skin and wrapped myself in Lagu hahaha.
The fabric was airy but it blocked the sun pretty good.
As I slept and covered myself from head to toe in this, it also dried up a little. The only thing I noticed is that when it's wet, the sand still sticks a bit but not as much as other towels. It repels sand better when it's dry so it is beach-friendly in that way. All the sand just falls back down as you leave. This way, you can literally take nothing away from the beach but memories. I would take home wonderful memories of sleeping without getting sun-burned and snorkeling here in Indonesia beaches hehe.
I would recommend that you check out these two beaches as well when you're in Labuan Bajo, as well as seeing wild Komodo dragons at least once in your life. I got to see these and more first in Indonesia before I checked out Bali, which is the more popular tourist destination.
I believe TransNusa flies to Labuan Bajo from Bali daily. I would recommend going here with friends for the trek, the beach, snorkeling and diving. I haven't been to Halong Bay but I've seen it in pictures and I was reminded of it when you go here. You can rent a speedboat or an old-fashioned slower boat to go to the Komodo National Park and do some island hopping for a few days. Better yet, I suggest you get a travel company to arrange your trip, transpo (didn't see any taxis), tour and food or check out the Tourist Information Center near the loading dock to help you out with the arrangements. We stayed at the Bintang Flores Hotel for this trip.
Want a similar beach blanket from Lagu Philippines? I'm giving away a Verde (yellowish) and a coral one (Naranja)!
Just join through the Rafflecopter below:
Tell me in the comments: Have you been to Indonesia? If yes, where? Where in the world do you plan to bring your Lagu beach blanket first? What is your favorite thing to do in the beach?
It's always beach-time in the Philippines and for Pinoys. I'm starting to get it haha. Now also in Indonesia hehe =) Will tell you all about the other days of my Indonesia trip in the next posts!