Indonesia is so full of magical places to explore. With over 17,000 islands, we're not even going to scratch the surface but it's so exciting to discover a new place that is so different from other islands. Rote (Row-tay) was such a memorable and unique place to spend our fall break week. It's the southern-most point in Asia and only 300 miles from the coast of Australia. It was a 4 hour flight to Kupang and then a quick little jump over to Rote. The kids were interested to go on their first island hopping flight.
Can't complain about the length of this flight!
The tiny airport was adorable and it wasn't difficult to find our driver!
The 45-minute drive to our resort was fascinating. Rote is very dry and not overly populated, so it immediately looked different from most places we've seen in Indo. There was no outside influence to be seen...no Indomarts, no McDonalds, nothing that looked geared to tourists in the least. I was getting very curious about our boutique resort and how it would fit in with the local style.
It was absolutely gorgeous without being showy and blended perfectly with the local village without changing the landscape at all. There are a handful of places on the beach, mostly geared toward surfers, and the owners have been so careful to not disturb the peace or change the vibe of the island.
We had two bungalows side by side and they were so simple and lovely. The air-conditioning was greatly appreciated as well because it was noticeably hotter than anywhere else we've visited in Indo.
The outdoor shower was so nice, but a little weird to be talking to the kids, who were showering just on the other side of the wall!
It was a long day of travel with drives and a layover in Kupang, but we were rewarded with our first amazing sunset to welcome us to Rote.
The restaurant was really great and cooked us up some memorable meals during our week. We also played some fun card games and the manager Faisal even taught us a fun new rummy game.
Our first morning dawned sunny and bright! Matt surfed early most every day but the kids and I enjoyed so much extra sleep and totally unwound throughout the week.
Ben rates his hotels on their bacon, I rate my on the coffee and the view. 10 out of 10 stars for this one! Is there a better way to start the day?
Granola with fresh mango and dragonfruit...also a pretty perfect way to start the day.
The island is lined by reef and has protected areas perfect for seaweed farming.
It was really interesting watching the farmers work at low tide and bring their seaweed in to dry on huge tables.
The beach was almost unreal because it looked so perfect.
Our biggest adventure was getting on motorbikes for the first time! I've never even been tempted to try but the roads were so empty and quiet that it finally looked fun. We had a great time exploring.
Pretty fun to just drive up to a new beach and go wander through tide pools.
By far, the pool was our favorite place. It was warm and perfectly positioned to enjoy the sunsets.
How are these colors even real?
Another day, another beautiful blue sky!
Alex loved to hide under the raised edge of the pool and make us guess where he would appear. "Where's Alex" and marco polo kept us all laughing together.
The design of the pool was very cool, because the edge made a waterfall all the way around.
It also had curved ledges facing the ocean, perfect for playing or enjoying the view.
We all did a LOT of reading and relaxing. I loved that both boys read several books and really unplugged for most of their days.
We saw the green spark on this perfectly clear sunset!
Almost every night we had at least a few other guests at the hotel with us, just enough to make things feel normal but never crowded. Even so, they set up a lovely dinner by the pool for us one evening.
They cooked up a fresh fish caught just hours before.
My only complaint at the resort was an uninvited guest in our bedroom. I have no problem with normal geckos and I'm grateful that they're eating insects, but I HATE the big, noisy tookays. Not only are they creepy, they're SO loud, especially in a little bungalow. This guy would scream into our bedroom about every 30 minutes and scare me off the bed, but we couldn't quite see into the part of the ceiling where he was hiding to catch him. I was kind of miserable after the second night of his noise.
Big kudos to the resort staff because they went on a mega-gecko hunt before our third sleepless night and they caught the culprit! We slept like babies that night!
We spent so much time out here playing, reading, and relaxing.
We ventured farther on the motorbikes to check out a beach that seemed pretty and were just blown away by the colors.
Loedik beach was so amazing! And no one else was even there except for a few fisherman coming in for the day.
...and a few cows. Most of the livestock on the island wander freely. It was really fun to see, except for the goats and cows in the middle of the road challenging my motorbike skills.
The sand was a little bit pink from bits of red coral mixed with the white.
We couldn't have asked for a better place to spend our morning! The sun was hot and water was cool and clear so we could swim with schools of fish.
We stopped for a drink after hours in the sun and Matt bought the local kids their own sprites as well...huge smiles all around!
The houses were just charming and so well maintained. People swept their sandy yards several times a day to keep them looking perfect.
This was how most of the roads looked - totally quiet and peaceful.
Rote is 100% Christian and their churches were just fantastic, some big, some small, most very colorful. I loved this one all lit up at night.
We did go out for dinner at another small resort run by a Spanish couple. To make sure they had enough food, we just called a day ahead and ordered our food, then showed up and feasted on delicious seafood and paella.
The manager had a sweet dog with two puppies that were so much fun to cuddle!
Rote was everything we had hoped for and more beautiful than we had imagined!
