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.

Komodo Dragon visit - Awesome day

Enjoyed a rest day & sorted a trip to Rinca & Komodo islands for the next day.  We hired a boat for just the 2 of us so we could have a full day. I was not keen on staying on a boat for the night. Left at 6 am, with skipper Ari & crew. The boat had life jackets... & we had flippers if need be. Got to Rinca island by 8 am, met by a lovely guide, Abdul, who we both thought reminded us of my brother Nathan in disposition & his smiley face & twinkly eyes. We told him that so he was our best friend from then on! He was very informative and had his pronged stick to fend off any aggressive dragons. I was a bit nervous to be honest, they r scary looking enormous things. They live for 50 plus years & to 3 plus metres long. He told us if we had to run to throw our hat away from us & zigzag away. We went for a walk for about 45 minutes, plenty long enough in the open and the heat. We saw quite a few, 15  I guess, there r over 2400 on the island, we saw a mother one  protecting her eggs, they lay about 30 eggs at a time,  in a deep hole, they take about 9 months to hatch. When the rainy season comes the holes all fill up with water but the eggs survive. Then when they hatch the little ones live up in the trees until they get bigger, they r on their own from day 1, the mother will eat them!!  The big ones can move quite fast, with their lethal tongues darting in & out. They sneak up on the deer, pigs or buffalo when they r sleeping, bite them, then stalk them for a week or so until they die from infection. From Rinca we went to komodo island which took a couple of hours in our little boat. Everyone was having a siesta, we had to walk quite a way to find the rangers. Really nerve racking checking all around in case there were some dragons lurking. Another 2400 ish live on that island as well as 1200 people. Imagine being born there! They even have a guest house where u can stay, NOT me. There were heaps of pigs & deer on Komodo, but a very parched landscape, just waiting for the rainy season. Back to the boat, had fried sardines with rice, vege & bananas for lunch then did some snorkelling on a small reef which was great. Got a bit cold after a while so then headed out to find the manta rays. Lots of strong currents in the water but was a very calm day. Saw dolphins & flying fish. So many islands everywhere. Quite a beautiful spot. The boat broke down twice on the way back, the bolts on the drive shaft sheared off. But they managed to keep it going, just. Trevor had a look under the floor at the motor & just shook his head at how it was still going. The two crew were great fun, one had a great time diving in & out of the water spotting the manta rays & then they boogied to the music on the front of the boat on the way back. We were supposed to be back by 5 pm but didn't get back until after dark, about 6.45 so a long but really good day. So goodbye Flores Island, the biking was every bit as hard as I imagined & more. But a great experience & the people were awesome. Ferry to Sumbaya next.

120 km to go on Flores

The young Indonesian guy at the hotel was quite fascinated that we were cycling Flores island. He said Indonesian people think everything is impossible but foreigners (older ones) think anything is possible. He was referring to a dutch cyclist that he had met who had a prosthetic leg & was biking the island. But then he told me he thought the hill to Labuan Bajo was definitely impossible & " a car would be more suitable for u Mrs" so i was a little concerned. We decided we needed to split the 130km into 2 days even though there was not much of a town between. We did 70 km to Lenbur by 1.30 lots of small ups & downs but all rideable. Cloves drying on mats beside the rd along the way. One place a house was being built, all the materials were on the rd outside the house site. This is the highway, the only main rd on the island. Everyone just slows down & goes around it. It will be there for months. Even the bricks are being hand made outside the house. Motorbikes with mum,dad, 3 kids, side saddle with babies, mattresses, eggs, chooks, you name it they can carry it, trucks & buses loaded with people on top. But pretty modern cars, no old ones at all. The only place to stay in lenbur was a Losman (home with a room to rent ) it was pretty bad,  intermittent water, no shower. Just a basic bed & grotty toilet area. So we bought water from the shop to wash in, found a place for dinner, made our own breakfast & were really pleased to be on the rd by 6.45 am for the last 60 km to Labuan Bajo. Great first 20 km till the base of the hill. We could see the cell ph towers at the top which were quite daunting but away we went. Up up & up. 2 km in & we needed to stop to eat and drink. Steep! We were putting in maximum effort to get around the corners only to see the next corner ahead. Not much levelling off to recover at all. There were lots of trucks going between a quarry in  Lembur to Labuan Bajo which just alerted us to each corner as they changed gears, mostly in the lowest gear for a very long time ! Finally my legs couldn't ride the steep corners anymore so i had to get off & push my bike round quite a few. Trevor managed to ride them all but only just. At one stage I didn't have any energy left to push my bike either & the sweat was just pouring off me, so i had to stop & recover in the shade for a bit. Took us 3 hours to get up the 10 km hill. Then across the top, a great downpour when we were right outside a little shop so we stopped for a rest & a cuppa. Last 12 km down and along to our destination. Another 10 km looking for a hotel along the coast rd but decided to back track &  stay right in town nearer the eating places & boats.  Finally got to a room at 4.30pm so a really long & tiring day. Well deserved drink watching the gorgeous sunset & ate pizza at an Italian restaurant. Rest days ahead so we can go see the komodo dragons.

This must be the hilliest island in the World, Bouwae to Ruteng

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.

Whose idea was this?? Ende to Bauwae

We cycled around down to the port area, promptly getting confused with the one way streets and morning traffic. We stopped to ask a guy which way out of town, he jumped on his bike & escorted us through the narrow streets & few km to the main rd. Such cheerful helpful people, all seem amazed we are biking the island. Lovely coast road this morning, shady for a bit, making good progress , around 20km done in no time. Sunday here, everyone in the villages just sitting outside their houses watching the world go by or this day, US! Kids so excited, all calling hello and waving, not much traffic.  Stopped to eat our snacks of boiled eggs, crackers & fruit about 10.30
That's where I would have liked the day to stop... We understood it was about 45 km to the next hotel at Bouwae. Looking back we r not sure where that info came from. We started climbing & climbing. It was incredibly hot, wet our shirts every opportunity. We felt like we needed an intravenous liquid drip, we could not get enough water in. Was really open and treeless, lots of road works, such slow going in the heat of the day. Everytime we asked someone how many km to Bouwae we were told something different. We hit the wall at the 50 km. Stopped to rest every couple of kms. Found some more  'pocari sweat' a type of  replacement drink which was great, even though it was warm. No fridges today, not even much food though I think we were past eating. About 4pm it started to level out a bit & cool down a little. But still no sign of a big town. By 5.45 we were starting to plan a wilderness stay but were assurred it was only a few km away. Just on dark rolled into this town. Had to find a second wind to chase this lovely man & his  daughter on a motorbike another 5 km in the dark through busy rds to where he thought the hotel was. Turned out it was a homestay, or more of a boarding place where longterm Indonesian people stay. But i think the lovely old lady owner took pity on us & agreed to give us a room for the night. We were so exhausted. 10.5 hrs and 88 km later. Quite an adequate private outside room, in a block if 5, no shower but a tap. Mattress still had the plastic on it. But we would have stayed anywhere at that point.  Managed to cook up some tubs of noodles for dinner, wash our filthy clothes and were asleep before 8. Was not prepared for that big a day at all. That hill was not made for biking!! Woke up around 6 to find a tray outside our door with a flask of hot water, tea/coffee and sweet rolls. Awesome and all inclusive price of $10 So lucky to find that place, a real gem

Moni- Kalimutu - Ende

Day 2 cycling. We left our panniers at the hotel and road up to Kelimutu national park. It was 17 km up, really steep corners that we could only ride the outside of as the inside angle was too much. After grinding up in low gear for 14 km then we came to signs indicating a steep road! Last 3 km just went up & up with no levelling off. Took us a couple of hours then we walked up to the crater lakes. Beautiful colours which change often. Not many people about as most take a taxi up to see the sunrise. The reward was all in the downhill, spotted monkeys swinging in the trees & peaceful. A good training ride for me. Day 3 cycling, Moni to Ende. 55 km Left at 6.45am to try & get the hill in before the heat - Trevor is in his element here as everyone gets up at 5 am - a couple of hours up, hard going, stopped to soak our shirts in water whenever we could to create a bit of coolness while riding. Then a pretty decent exhilarating down to sea level. Average about 12 km per hour, pretty slow but we were in no rush, in saying that we could not go any faster ! Trevor's panniers loaded to the max compared to mine. Had lots of fruit today, passion fruit, tamarillos, papaya, bananas, lots of kids calling out " hello Mr" and motorcycles stopping beside & the drivers tying to chat . Where u from, where u going etc. Ende is a port town. Hot & dusty. Checked out a few grotty places to stay then a guy on his bike who had just picked up his  3 kids from school helpfully escorted us to an 'English Hotel' the room wasn't ready so waited while it was cleaned. Not sure what they used on the tiles but it smelt like straight cleaning fluid. Took a while for the smell to evaporate. Air con did not really work & had to buy some insect spray to debug the room. Thought I might be asphyxiated during the night. Wandered around the town in the early evening and more nasi gorang for dinner. They have these little eating places here called Warang's which are really cheap but most of the food is all ready cooked & just sits in the window waiting on people who want to eat straight away to buy it. It is hard to  know how long it has been sitting there. So we try to go to a restaurant where you wait for them to prepare the food though rice always seems to be cooked Just waiting to be fried! Pretty good day today. Looking fwd to a coastal ride tomorrow.

Flores Island, Indonesia

Wow, been here nearly a week but seems a lot longer, couple of days in Bali where we organized our flight to Flores Island, wandered around in the heat & managed a Bintang ( beer) at Kuta beach. Flew to Flores on Tuesday morning via West Timor. All thoughts of putting our bikes together at the airport in Maumere went out with the midday heat so got a lift to accommodation, a lovely beach bungalow. Great place. Coconut on arrival then fresh fish lunch with the neighbours. Had a swim. Put our bikes together then got a lift to town to see a local fishing village & market. The people are so friendly, most obviously very poor & lots of rubbish about. There is just no where to put it, some burn what they can but the beaches at this spot are full of plastic. But all wanted us to take their photo & giggled when we showed it to them. Back to the beach for Fresh & fried tuna, eggplant & rice for dinner, table & chairs by the beach. We were told this was the best place on the island so stayed another day, great watching the fishermen early in the morning catching sardines and other  fish right off the beach. Lots of leaping fish flying over the nets.  Biked around the city, it was incredibly hot, survived the traffic & got ready to go. Plan to leave 6.45 am Thursday. A little daunting... It is light about 5 am and dark at 6 pm, no twilight just goes from light to dark really quickly. First day cycling, off early, passing all the kids on there way to school, they start at 7 am. Out the other side of the city & a steady climb up then undulating for a couple of hours. Hot hot hot !! Over the top & a nice down to Pago beach, 54 km took about 5 hours. Lunch at the only restaurant, nasi gorang plus shared a fried barracuda with a guide/taxi driver. We had planned to get a ride up the next 30 km hill so stayed at the beach for a couple of hours until he dropped off his tourists & came back for us. Had a swim. Great call getting the car, no way I could have ridden that! Trevor was wavering... but I made him stick to the plan! Windy switchback & very steep up. Took nearly 2 hours in the car. Moni is the town at the top, about 1200 metres up & cooler. Tourist spot near kelemutu national park. Great first day, traffic awesome, I really felt just a part of it, people walking along, motorbikes, cars, small trucks, the roads are narrow and windy, everyone has to go fairly slow & everyone slowed down & then tooted before they passed. Less stressful than riding in Taupo! So, so far so good. Climb up to kelimutu (without panniers)  tomorrow.