Not Just Wakatobi, You Must Go to Labengki and Sambori, Indonesia

mahyul (40)in #travel • 7 years ago

** Hai stemian lovers 😂😂😂 **

Kendari city is famous as entrance to Wakatobi, "underwater paradise" in Southeast Sulawesi. Wakatobi attracts tourists with national parks that occupy one of the highest priority positions of marine conservation in Indonesia. However, is it the only tourist destination? No. In fact, there are some islands that are not less amazing than Wakatobi.

Holiday Lebaran yesterday, I plan to travel. Initially, I planned to go to Misool Island, one of the big islands in Raja Ampat, but canceled due to bad weather reported by the inn. Do not want to resign because it is almost not a walk, I immediately look for alternative tourist destinations in the eastern part of Indonesia. After searching the information on the internet, I found an open trip package to Labengki - Sombori.

Maybe Labengki and Sombori are still not well known to local tourists, including me. Therefore, I am increasingly curious to see the travel itinerary that turned out to be quite interesting. After steadily making Labengki and Sombori as a holiday destination this time, I immediately contacted the open trip service operator and booked the plane tickets. "It's really a sudden traveling plan!" I thought to myself.

Tuesday around 4am, I was at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to my flight schedule to Kendari at 06:00. The open trip service party will pick me up and the group at 11:00 at Hahuleo Airport. Upon arrival at the airport, we were immediately greeted by a tour guide. My total group is 15 people, so we provided three cars. We are escorted to hotel for check in and lunch.

When we got ready, we went to the first destination, Moramo Waterfall. This place is in Sumber Sari, Moramo, can be reached for 2 hours from Kendari. Access to Moramo Waterfall is partly damaged, but still passable vehicle. Here, you will hardly get a signal, so this is the time to enjoy nature completely.

Moramo Waterfall is located inside a protected forest area. So we need a little trekking to get there. I suggest that you come here in the morning or afternoon because the forest is still bright and safer. After trekking about 30 minutes, we arrived at this waterfall. Do not be satisfied first after seeing the bottom of the waterfall. Take a little more to see the different side of Moramo Falls

Here, I am satisfied to swim with the entourage while taking pictures. Unfortunately, we can not linger because the day is getting dark. Not wanting to endanger ourselves, we finally went back to the hotel with a journey of about 2 hours. Before returning to the hotel, we had dinner with delicious seafood and rest.

The second day, we were picked up by a tour guide who will drive to the port of Kendari. Yes, we crossed to Labengki and Sombori Island. There was a unique experience when I was taking a piss at a citizen's house. Me and my female friends are required to use a holster to urinate because they do not have adequate room.

Around 08:00, we left for Pulau Labengki Kecil. The journey took 4 hours and successfully made me sleep. When I woke up, the ship was leaning on the dock. We had lunch, changed our clothes, and chatted with the Bajo children who were natives of the island. The children were very friendly to us. Although they can not speak Indonesian, they try to stay in touch with us. In fact, there is one of the children who invited us to visit his home. Interesting right?

Next, we visited Big Labengki Island for snorkeling. Before that, we trekking to the big rocks located on the beach. The big black stone attracted me to climb the rock. You must use a comfortable footwear if you want to trekking to this stone because the surface is quite sharp. No need to linger trekking, we've reached the top of the rock.

Great view of Labengki Island beach from the top of the rock is amazing. Plus the day was quite bright, the gradations of blue sea water look more beautiful. Satisfied taking pictures, I went down and immediately took snorkeling equipment. After nearly two hours, I and the group boarded the ship and continued on to Sombori Island. The island became our overnight place for the next two nights.

The next morning, we visited the first destination, Grandma's House. Called "Grandma's House" because there is a grandmother who occupies the house on stage behind karst hills. The landscape here is very beautiful. Grandma welcomed us kindly. Despite his condition, he keeps the spirit of presenting coffee for us. After chatting, we say goodbye to continue the tour to Goa Allo with no forgiveness to thank.

Allo Cave or commonly called Goa Swimming Pool is a cave located behind Pulau Labengki Kecil. The cave is called "Goa Swimming Pool" because it is shaped like a pond. Initially, the condition of the dark cave enough to make me a little scared. Moreover, the presence of several bats that paced in it. However, my fears were unbeatable with a crystal clear water pool that was refreshing.

The next destination is Lagoon Rumah Nenek. We went back through Grandmother's House to enjoy the blue lagoon located near Grandma's House. The surrounding scenery is also very beautiful, there are karst hills and shady trees. In the afternoon, we headed to Koko Beach and played around spending time on this beach. After the satisfaction of playing water, we have traveled and returned to Sombori Island to rest.

The next day, we returned to Kendari. On the way, we popped into the famous Sombori Hills similar to Pianemo in Raja Ampat. In my opinion, trekking to Sombori Hills is more difficult than Pianemo because there is no dock and has a sharper karst. In addition, karstnya rock easily stepped down, so you should be extra careful. For your safety, wear comfortable gloves and shoes, yes.

After being satisfied taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of Sombori Hills, we went down and continued on to Teluk Cinta. So named because the shape of the water surface of the bay is like a heart that symbolizes love. Reaching this bay is not difficult because the ship can lean the coastal plain and there are already steps to reach the top. We did not linger here because it was suddenly raining. Finally, we immediately went back to Kendari.

Now, already know anything on Labengki and Sombori Island, right? Let's immediately see the beauty of nature that is not less amazing from Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi this! Just like me, you too will be happy to visit here!

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