Hello Sumbawa

Up early again, I am sure there is only dark & quiet between 1-4 am in this country, between the dogs, roosters, ghecko's, mosque's & motorbikes we r learning to sleep without peace. No one could actually tell us what time the ferry left so we were on board early to get a seat. What a zoo, after 2 hours sitting(in a sauna!)  before we had even left on the 8 hour trip my level of tolerance was pretty low. We whiled away the time passive smoking as everyone around us puffed away. An incredible amount of people smoke here & the advertising is everywhere. " Go on try it, it's MILD " Every little shack/shop sells & advertises. In front of us on the boat was a young woman with 3 kids & grandparents. The grandmother let the 3-4 year old puff away on a cigarette & drink her coffee. Was hard to watch...  The cargo section below had pigs that got loose, the back of the boat had a prayer room, the middle section had platforms that were covered in people sleeping side by side & the front section that had the seats in was full & noisy with people strewn all over the place chucking their rubbish anywhere. After 4 hours we noticed a few people going into a front cabin, their version of business class I think,  so we bowled on in there as well. It was non smoking, had aircon & comfy seats. Heaven! So slept the rest of the way & read our books. Lots of islands along the way & very calm water. Finally arrived in Sapi, found a pretty good room at a Losman & went for a little ride around the village through the back streets, very entertaining, I think we were the entertainment for the locals. A bit of boat building in this village.
Sapi to Bima 55 km, only one pass to go over & all rideable so a good ride to busy Bima. Had an ice cream on the way! Not quite Mr Whippy... A young man, who spoke English well, escorted us into the town, helped us find a map & a nice hotel. Later we wandered around, bought street food & a rockmelon & watched a movie on Tv, they had Fox movie channel!
Bima to Dompu 73 km. Got a bit confused getting out of the city but then a nice 30 km coastal ride to start. Salt drying in this area. Lots of goats too. Stopped for freshly cooked corn along the way. Then lunch, then water melon. Really hot so had to stop in a field under a bamboo shelter for an hour in the middle of the day. Then it clouded over for a bit, rained heavy for half an hour or so where we took shelter under the front of someones house. The kids thought it was great. Stopped at an army base to ask where a hotel was & a guy jumped on his bike & led us to one. The people are so pleased to help. The least hilly day but still long & tiring. Found a great place to eat, had sardines again & Trevor had fried chicken with the usual rice & vege. Decided to detour to a beach 45 km south tomorrow - Lakey beach, a popular surfy spot where we will swim & relax for a day or 2
The Kofe (coffee) here comes exactly like the photo. I think it is just a spoon or 3 of ground beans so you get a lot if sludge. They add at least 3 teaspoons of sugar unless you get in quick to say no sugar. We just had to buy some Nescafe, that way we can just ask for hot water.