there aren’t many valid reasons to get up early, let alone before sunrise. watching the sun rise from the top of kelimutu volcano (flores, indonesia) at 06:00 a.m., however, is definitely one of them.
we started our short walk up to the viewing area under a clear starry sky. then, minutes before sunrise we were suddenly surrounded in a thick cloud of mist. luckily, the clouds lifted and revealed the colourful crater lakes in a beautiful morning light:
kelimutu actually has three beautiful crater lakes (tiwu nua moori koohi fah, tiwu ata polo, and tiwu ata mbupu) which sometimes change colour due to changes in their oxidation-reduction status, from various shades of turqoise and green, to deep red or even black.
when we visited in early 2018, tiwu nua moori koohi fah (lake of young men and maidens) and tiwu ata polo (enchanted lake) exhibited slightly different shades of turquoise, while tiwu ata mbupu (lake of old people) was dark green.
sunrise over tiwu nua moori koohi fah:
tiwu ata polo (and part of tiwu nua moori koohi fah in the left corner):
tiwu ata mbupu:
