Ende

Introduction

Bung Karno Statue

© theo1006

The town Ende counts about 30,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the regency of the same name. The town lies at the ‘neck’ of a peninsula formed by two mountains, extinct volcano Gunung Meja (Table Mountain), and Gunung Iya which last erupted in 1969. That’s why it has two harbours, one on each side of the neck. The ferries and the fishermen’s boats moor at the western harbour, named Pelabuhan Bung Karno. Ipi harbour on the east side accommodates freighters and has an oil terminal. For Indonesians the main fame of Ende town is that the father of the republic, Ir Soekarno, was exiled here in the 1930ies by the Dutch colonial government. Foreign tourists mostly just pass through Ende on their way to the coloured lakes of Kelimutu. But if one allows more time in and around Ende, the attractions are the historic sites, the market, the traditional villages of Ende regency and a challenging hike to Iya volcano.

Sights and Activities

• Bung Karno Exile Home - A sacred place, this house where independence activist and Indonesia's first president Soekarno lived from 1934 to 1938 when he was banished from Java by the Dutch colonial authorities. You can look at Soekarno memorabilia in a showcase, admire the original furniture he used and a Balinese style painting he created when living here. Many of the items were given by Soekarno to local friends when he was allowed to return to Java and were later donated by these friends to the museum.
• Bung Karno Meditation Park - When Soekarno in 1955 revisited the place of his exile, he found still there the pohon sukun or breadfruit tree under which he had spent hours sitting and thinking. This is what he declared on the occasion of his revisit: Di kota ini kutemukan lima butir mutiara, di bawah pohon sukun ini pula kurenungkan nilai-nilai luhur Pancasila. In English: “In this town I discovered five pearls, under this very breadfruit tree I ruminated the high values of Pancasila.” Pancasila is Indonesia's state philosophy. As a matter of fact, the original breadfruit tree that Soekarno sat under fell down during a storm. The replacement you see now was planted on independence day, 17th August 1981.
• Weaving Museum - The Weaving Museum is located on the northern edge of the Soekarno Meditation Park in a traditional house.

Mbongawani Market

© theo1006

• Mbongawani Market - Mbongawani, Ende's main market, has an important fish division where one can buy everything from small dried fry to big chunks of enormous fish. Other merchandise includes live chickens, vegetables, rice and beans, cooking oil and spices. On the beachfront there are some gazebo's where locals with nothing to do enjoy the breeze.
• Wolotopo Traditional Village - Wolotopo is the traditional village closest to Ende. It used to be isolated and all dwellings were built of wood with thatched roofs. But in 1993 a road has been cut through the cliffs isolating Wolotopo, the population has exploded and most inhabitants now live in brick houses. These as well as the remaining long houses are built on a steep slope, close together with narrow paths and stairs between them. Many women are engaged in traditional weaving, a good deal buying some cloth can be made here. Between the houses one finds the ancestral tombs of rock and a grand old banyan tree. The winding road itself - over cliffs and along the coast – and the views are worth the trip.

Saga Ancestor Effigies

© theo1006

• Saga Traditional Village - Saga is better preserved than popular Wolotopo and as easily accessed. The people living in Saga belong to the Lio tribe, a mountain tribe as contrasted to the Ende tribe living at the coast and in Wolotopo. The village is built on a steep slope, and walking around one needs to negotiate some ingenious stairs. It was much damaged by the 1992 earthquake, but the traditional houses have been restored including the wood-carvings that depict local legends. The men's meeting house (taboo for female visitors) also was remade, as were the 100-year-old wooden ancestor effigies that had been stolen.
• Mari Longa Statue - A not very flattering statue of Mari Longa freedom fighter, who resisted the Dutch when they tried to impose their colonial rule on Flores. He was mosalaki (chief) of Watu Nggere, where he had built a fortress which was taken by the Dutch in 1907. Located at the turnoff to Wolotopo village.
• Iya Volcano - Iya volcano is not very high, yet rarely visited. If you would try it on your own, proceed with care because of the steep unstable sandy slopes. And bring enough water, it can be hot on the bare mountain under the sun.

Trans-Flores Plaque

© theo1006

• The Ende-Moni Road - The road from Ende to Moni is part of the Trans-Flores Highway which runs all the length of the island. Most tourists doing Kelimutu will travel the Ende to Moni section at least once, and indeed it is an adventure by itself. Most of its length the road follows the Wolowona river valley, endlessly winding with a deep ravine on one hand and steep cliffs on the other. Ask your driver to stop half way where a simple plaque on a rock standing on the edge of the ravine says: Floresweg geopend 31 / 8 - 1925 (Flores road opened 31 / 8 -1925). On the other side a more ornamented but less readable plaque reads: Dengan rahmat Tuhan yang Maha Esa Jalan Gako-Ende-Maumere-Kewapante diresmikan oleh Presiden Republik Indonesia Soeharto, Kupang 14 Oktober 1996. (With God's blessing the Gako-Ende-Maumere-Kewapante road was inaugurated by President Soeharto of the Republic of Indonesia, Kupang 14 October 1996.) That may be the date that this section of the road was sealed.

Getting There

By Plane

Ende has a small airport, H. Hasan Aroeboesman Airport, served by Wings Air and Transnusa. They offer direct flights to and from Labuanbajo and Kupang.

Eat

• Pangan Lokal, specializes in traditional Ende food. Book a day ahead for a surprise dinner composed of local ingredients grown by traditional methods. Address: Jalan Melati #8.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is becoming more widely used in Indonesia, and warung Internet (warnet) - Internet cafés - are emerging everywhere. A lot of restaurants and cafés in big cities normally have wireless internet available for free. Internet connection speed in Indonesia varies between ISP and location. Prices vary considerably, and as usual you tend to get what you pay for, but you'll usually be looking at around Rp3,000 to Rp5,000 per hour with faster access than from your own mobile phone. In large cities, there are free WiFi hotspots in many shopping malls, McDonald restaurants, Starbucks cafes, 7 Eleven convenience stores, and in some restaurants and bars. Some hotels provide free hotspots in the lobby and/or in their restaurants and even in your rooms.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

You can use 112 as an emergency number through mobile phones. Other numbers include 110 (police), 113 (fire) and 118 (ambulance).
The international phone code is 62.

If you have GSM cellular phone, ask your local provider about "roaming agreement/facility" with local GSM operators in Indonesia (i.e.: PT Indosat, PT Telkomsel, PT XL Axiata). The cheapest way is buying a local SIM card, which would be much cheaper to call and especially use internet compared to your own cell phone's sim card.

The Indonesian mobile phone market is heavily competitive and prices are low: you can pick up a prepaid SIM card for less than Rp 10,000 and calls may cost as little as Rp 300 a minute to some other countries using certain carriers (subject to the usual host of restrictions). SMS (text message) service is generally very cheap, with local SMS as low as Rp129-165, and international SMS for Rp400-600. Indonesia is also the world's largest market for used phones, and basic models start from Rp 150,000, with used ones being even cheaper.

Post

Pos Indonesia provides the postal service in Indonesia. Pos Indonesia is government-owned and offers services ranging from sending letters and packages to money transfers (usually to remote areas which have no bank branch/ATM nearby) and selling postcards and stamps. Sending a postcards, letter or parcel is relatively expensive, but fairly reliable. It takes several days at least to send it within Indonesia, at least a week internationally. It is recommended to send letters from a Pos Indonesia branch, not by putting it inside orange mailbox (called Bis Surat) in the roadside, because some of the mailboxes are in very bad condition and aren't checked regularly by Pos Indonesia. Opening times of post offices usually tend to follow general business hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm (sometimes shorter hours on Fridays), Saturdays from 8:00am to 1:00pm, closed on Sundays. Bigger cities, tourist areas and central post offices tend to keep longer hours, into the evenings.

Private postal services based in Indonesia include CV Titipan Kilat (CV TIKI), Jalur Nugraha Ekaputra (JNE), Caraka, and RPX. There are also foreign postal services that have branches in Indonesia, including DHL, TNT, UPS, and FedEx.

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