A bit to catch up on, no WiFi for a few days & exhausted at the end of each day! From Dompu we had a nice 50 km detour to Lakey beach, a surf spot with 6 surf breaks. We were there by lunchtime, stopping for mangos at the mid way point at the top of the hill. 4 for $2.50 cut up on a plate, we stopped for more on the way back as well. Just relaxed for a day & a half swimming & reading books. A few surfers about. We chatted with the young guy running the restaurant, he works 7 days a week, no annual holiday. Starts 7am till 11pm with a few hours off in the afternoon. Gets paid $20 per week, (loves his job) it is not always busy so he plays the guitar & sings - he is one if the lucky ones... Not outside in the heat breaking up rocks. Headed the 50km back to Dompu for the night. We knew the next day was going to be a big one as it was 97 km to the next hotel. We left at 5.15am tail lights on for about 15 minutes. Beautiful time of the morning. People were all ready about getting started at the market. We came across some young boys cycling about 6 o'clock. (Photo) The first 50 km was nice, coastal but up & over the headlands then down to the coast, about 10 x just enough to trash the legs, then the next 50km was unbearable. It just got hotter & hotter. 35-40 degrees. Very little shade, open, hot & dusty. The heat off the rd was intense. We kept stopping for cold drinks & long rests in random places but basically had to keep going. The only taxis here are horse & cart, which are everywhere in the little villages. We got to Empang at 5.30 so over 12 hours out there, 97 km. Not many tourists on Sumbawa, most take a bus straight through hence the lack of places to stay.
Empang to Sumbawa Besar - 98 km This day was even worse. We didn't leave till 7.30 so it was all ready quite hot. Dead flat, uninteresting, stinking hot for 98 km & we had not recovered from the day before. This island is so dry & everything is being burnt off, we cannot understand it. Could have done without those 2 days. I find it really hard to eat in the heat & to keep hydrated. The water in our drink bottles is hot, we stop whenever we see a place with a fridge but often there is no electricity so the drinks are not cold anyway. Got to the city about 5.30 &.found a nice place to stay, rest day required. We were both too shattered to eat, nothing looked very appealing so just bought a rockmelon. Best part of those 2 days was getting to the end of them! This island is way too intrepid for me, I am a little over nasi gorang for breakfast, lunch & dinner, only another 100 km to Lombok. We did see lots of monkeys, even they looked hot & bothered, as well as Water buffalo & monitor lizards, they slithered away before I got the photo. We seem to take less photos on the bad days... I have given up on the Kofe ( coffee) that photo is as good as it gets. The flavour is good but it is just ground coffee so there is a lot of sludge!
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