We stayed in Labuan Bajo much longer than planned.  We were trapped on the island, unable to book a flight out because the local travel sites and Lion air would not process our U.S. credit card payment online.

Tuesday & Wednesday no flights out.  Thursday sold out while we tried to resolve our payment issues over the phone.  That left Friday.  We were so desperate to get off the island that we were willing to risk our lives to take a boat over to Bali or travel 7 hours in a cramped car to fly out of another city in Flores.  Our only remaining option would have been to go to the airport and buy a ticket from the airline in person hoping that we can use our credit card there or at least pay cash.

We were finally granted permission to leave Flores when Nusatrip (another local Indo travel site) accepted our payment request with no problem.  Of course, this transaction immediately triggered a fraud alert.  After a quick call to the airline to verify we actually booked the flight, we cleared the transaction.

During our 6 days in Labuan Bajo, we stayed in 4 different places, being forced to relocate from one fancy hotel to another fancier hotel enjoying hilltop and beachfront views of the harbor, eating at great restaurants, and hanging out by the pool.  After 2 days of forced relaxation, we boarded our flight and bade Labuan Bajo good bye.

Here was one of our favorite restaurants that we visited twice.  We actually had to climb those stairs.

The deplorable conditions and views we were forced to endure. To add to our misery, the pool was too warm for us to even cool down after sunning away on the beach.  Where is the UN when you need them?

Our Bemo driver taking us to our hilltop accommodations.

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Finally our escape