Labuan Bajo – Kampung Tengah (Middle Village)

I’ve been in a small town in Indonesia near Komodo National Park since early September, working on becoming certified as a scuba Divemaster.  I met my dive instructors, Sylvain (French) and Samira (Swiss), last year on a dive trip in the Maldives, and have joined them here to get my training in Komodo dive sites that have beautiful coral reefs, a LOT of fish, and strong currents.  These tidal currents flow between the Indian Ocean to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the north, and bring nutrients that sustain and attract large populations of sea life, including Manta Rays and sharks.  I’m happily up by 5:30 in the morning to trek down to the wharf area so I can help get the daily divers onto the boat for the long trips out to the dive sites around the park.

The boat we dive from leaves from the town of Labuan Bajo.  The town is on the western coast of Flores Island, and is in the midst of a big transition from old to new, driven by a thriving dive industry.  It’s a mixing bowl of old and new cultures, buildings, and ways of life that are on display every day in the parts of town that I walk through to get from my little hotel just outside of town to the boat.  When I first arrived I was taken aback by what some would consider the squalor that’s apparent in places.  Public water and sanitary sewer systems are in the early stages of development, and there’s a third-world flavor to some parts of the town.  On the other hand local people are universally friendly, and seem to be healthy and happy.  You can’t walk down the street for more than a minute or two without getting an offer from a passing scooter rider to give you a ride to where you’re going for a small amount.  Hopping on the back of scooter is a really nice way to feel like you’re connecting with someone!

I’ve been exploring a small part of town between the main street and the waterfront that is a maze of pedestrian alleyways – perfect for taking my time to look at the old structures and to interact with folks.  Kampung Tengah (middle village) is the old name of this tight-knit little section that remains surprisingly isolated from the bustle of the main street nearby.  The people are primarily Muslim, and at least one mosque broadcasts prayers several times a day.  I love this neighborhood because the life that goes on within it is on display all over.  The alleyways are a hybrid of public and private realms, with hanging out, meals, and sometimes even sleeping on platforms happening outside in the small passageways.  People are generally friendly and approachable, and often want to engage with me, a few with enough English to ask “where are you from?”, “what is your name?”.  Young people in particular are interested in connecting with someone from a different culture.  No one’s asking for money when I ask if it’s OK to take a photograph.  Although the places where most of the inhabitants live don’t look very comfortable by Western standards, it’s easy to feel at home here.  In this post I’m sharing photographs of people in their passageway surroundings, to give a sense of what life is like in this little section of town – and what it’s like to walk through it.