Sumbawa. Nice to sea you!

Our next stop was Sumbawa, the slightly larger island next to Flores. After a very dubious ferry across (I can’t possibly try and explain the inefficiencies of buying a ticket for one of these things), the town of Sape came into view under the setting sun. Although the main port on the east side of the island, there wasn’t really anything outside of the harbour walls. Suddenly we were confronted by the realisation the time had come to strap the bikes to the top of a death wagon and speed around the mountain roads. As you can imagine, I was thrilled. 

In the interest of being ‘easy breezy’, I summoned my most convincing “It will be fine” mantra and climbed aboard. I was not easy breezy for the next 40 minutes. It was a miracle the bikes stayed on as we careened around tight corners and overtook lorries on blind bends. But we made it to Bima and after cycling around for 20 minutes we finally found our hotel. Unfortunately our room was at the less luxurious end, with a leaking toilet and worms coming out the tap. Despite this we slept fine (?!?) but we were quick to leave in the morning.

Flores was full of jungle, steep roads and friendly villages. Sumbawa, in contrast, was more forest with hedgerows and an IndoMart every 10km. Delighted at the change of scenery, we wizzed around the north of the island.  At some point, I’ll work out how to share our route on our website so you can see exactly where we’ve been. In the interim, you can track us on Strava. We wore down our brake pads as we flew down the steep hills and smiled in awe at the flat plains full of paddy fields and salt farms. Much later, after 100km, we took a chance on a road that may or may not be a road (according to Google) so that we could continue around the coast. Luckily the gamble paid off as we cycled down our first single track road fringed with small fishing villages and working horses. The going finally flat, the heat of the sun wavering, we got some speed up, cycling right next to the sea. 

Quite abruptly, we had a sharp awakening as we saw some steep inclines ahead. Our legs already tired, we swore loudly all the way up several hills, much to the confusion of the locals. Even the waves lapping at the shore mere meters away could not calm our anger. Nowhere on the map indicated steep hills!!

The Whales and Waves Resort was a welcome finish. Greeted by 2 friendly yellow labradors we felt right at home walking into this beachfront paradise. The next few days were spent snorkelling and exploring the reef. We took a kayak out to a small island offshore and paddled our way over to a coral wall, brimming with all types of fish and beautiful (live!) coral. The colours were exceptional – the most vibrant coral I’ve seen to date. We spent hours swimming around, completely alone with the fish. Then, with slightly sunburnt backs, we swam home and continued to relax with the sound of the waves.