Kelimutu is the reason many travellers cross the rough middle of Flores. The volcano itself is not a hard climb, but its summit holds something rare: three crater lakes set close together, each with its own colour and mood, and each treated by the local Lio people as a resting place for the dead.
Most people sleep in or around Moni, then leave in the dark for the sunrise road to the national park gate. The walk from the car park is short, cool, and often misty. When the cloud lifts, the lakes appear suddenly below the viewing ridge: mineral blue, green, brown, black, or whatever chemistry and volcanic gas have made of them that season.
Kelimutu is a one-sight destination, but it is a very good sight. Give it the dawn, then use the rest of the day slowly: walk back through forest and gardens, stop in Moni for coffee, and look across the rice terraces that make central Flores feel so different from the beach-and-boat Indonesia of the west.