Only 50 km to Bajawa, should be a piece of cake... No such luck, first 30 km rolling hills, just enough to trash the legs while it heated up & then the hill started. Both feeling the effects of the big day yesterday, not recovered at all. Interval training for 15 km, in 35 degree heat, 1 km then 5 minute rest in the shade. Low gears have never had so much use. Stopped & had a good rest & chat to some young policemen, then as the hill got steeper our stops were only 500 metres apart. I didn't think I could ride as slow as 5 km per hour, the kids were running along side us faster. Lots of little villages, lots of quarries, big stones being broken into little stones. More rd works, seems to be in a perpetual state of construction. All the houses here seem to have rusty iron on the roof, don't think it is galvanized. Finally at the top of the hill just before Bajawa there was a hotel just waiting for me !! It also had a great view over the valley. 6.5 hours to do 45 km, hot & smashed. Good hotel with hot water for a cuppa. But the chef was sick so the restaurant did not open for dinner. Lucky Trevor had enough energy to bike down the hill, buy some tubs of 2 minute noodles & bike back up.
Good breakfast of omlette & toast and away by 7.30 . 40 km downhill to Aimeree on the coast. Awesome down. This is our rest day, checked into the only hotel we could find by 10.30 in the morning & just rested & read our books through the heat of the day. It is so hot on the coast. Found a little place to eat & went there twice. About $1.50 for a meal. Unbelievable eating places, little shacks on the side of the rd.
Left next morning at 6.30 to bike 55km to Borong. Passed all the kids on the way to school. All calling out & excited to see us. Up & over the pass by 8.30 a bit cooler, more bush & shade. Arrived in Borong by mid morning, the ' mayor' of the district found us within 5 minutes. He spoke English well, was interesting to talk to him while we had a cold drink. Then he helped organize a car to take us 50km up to Ruteng. No way we wanted to or could of done that bit in the heat of the day. I got him to ask the driver if he was a good driver & could he go slow so I could see everything out the window! He really took that seriously so we crawled the 50km which was great as these roads make you car sick. Found a great business hotel in Ruteng, Trevor thought it was a bit antiseptic but I was happy with clean, hot shower, & buffet breakfast plus WiFi all for $30 Much cooler up here, only about 20 degrees overnight. It is the dry season here, if you ask the weather forecast they just say hot until November! Everything is dry & dusty. We feel hot, sticky & dirty all day long on the bike. But you really do get to see everything along the way & interact with the locals who are amazingly friendly & helpful. This island is mainly Catholic. There are big churches everywhere & more under construction. Amazing the amount of money being spent on a church on one side of the rd & the poverty & squalor on the other... Pigs, goats, chooks, rubbish everywhere. Every evening the small villages smell of burning plastic as fires are lit & some of the rubbish burned.
No comments:
Post a Comment