"The crowd lined up along the street, shoulder to shoulder, back to front. Fathers held up their boys over their shoulders. The older children climbed up the trees to have a better view. The pressure of the crowd was building behind me. On the other side, fifteen men assembled around the buffalo. The sacrifices were about to begin. We were in the remote island of Sumba, Indonesia, invited to witness the funeral rites for a hundred year old woman." Journeys with the caterpillar, is a humble and humorous attempt to capture the dramatic simplicity of Nusa Tenggara Timur(NTT) in Indonesia, covering the islands of Flores and Sumba. Here, islands greet the sky with over a dozen volcanoes rising hurriedly from the seas, nestling within them whimsical colour-changing lakes that shelter dead spirits. Along the edges, shores adorn themselves with kaleidoscopic stones and beaches blush from the remains of dead pink corals. Nearby, baby Komodo Dragons scramble for the nearest tree, fleeing from their prowling mothers. In these islands, people live in small tightly-knit communes, holding on to their ancient cultures. They practice elaborate animist rites for births, weddings, harvests and funerals, and ones'prestige is still measured by how many buffaloes and pigs he sacrifices.Across the islands, one encounters overwhelming humanity that celebrates and greets life with ever-blossoming smiles in the midst of grinding poverty. All royalties from this book will be donated to Ayo Indonesia and Yayasan Harapan Sumba (YHS), two NGOs doing wonderful work in Flores and Sumba respectively.