We took our time this morning, hogging the free wifi at the hotel for a bit longer. Breakfast was included but, again, tested our resolve as it was fried rice with fish or vegetable fritters. I am really struggling with the food for breakfast which I would find tasty at a later point in the day… The tea on the other hand was the best I had in quite a while and it didn’t go well with the fritters.

Leaving Bima which we found to be an interesting and lively place, we stopped at a gas station again to refuel. It was a swelteringly hot day and we had run out of drinking water in the hotel so it didn’t take long for us to stop at a roadside warung to buy water and peek into the freezer to check out the ice cream.

Unfortunately, there was no ice cream to be had and I saved Flo from buying a Fanta with strawberry flavour thinking it to be a coke. Instead, we had an orange juice and a big, chilled bottle of water. Everybody was super nice to us and when we opened the bottles in the shop, chairs appeared in the shade and we were sat down.

At that moment, one of the local women came back with another woman in tow. It turns out that Wati was called to translate for us. Since we had already bought all we wanted, we had a conversation with her instead which she partly translated for the crowd which was swelling and ebbing with the arrival and departure of school kids. The local ladies asked if we had tried “Indonesian ice cream” already and were quite keen for us to try when the answer was no.

“Indonesian ice cream” consisted of a few ice cubes in a bowl to which are added red and green jelly blobs. As a sauce, you get coconut milk poured over it, then some kind of sugar melasse as a sweetener and bits of bread as crunchy pieces. I actually enjoyed it a lot, clearing the bowl with just one spoonful for Flo to try.

Wati turned out to be an incredible human being and she shared her very personal and touching story with us. Also, she invited us to “rest” aka stay overnight at her parents’ house or at least have a shower. At some point we relocated to her parents’ veranda where we were fed with water melon, mango and a kind of dessert cucumber I have never even heard of. Flo also got a taste of home-made lunch and, of course, the local coffee. I caused a minor incident with the school kids who had followed us to the house. I picked up my camera to take a photo of them and instead of laughing or running away as I expected, they all ran towards me right onto private property, only stopping short of hopping onto the veranda themselves. Oops. The commotion meant I only got a blurry picture of the kids though.

When it was time to continue on our way, I got really emotional. I wish just the best to Wati, her husband and her family. She is about to leave for Japan again with the plan of staying a couple of years so hopefully, we will catch up in Japan at some point.

Back on the road, it looked like rain and yes, we had our first tropical rain downpour today. It didn’t rain for long but the streets still flooded while the kids played in the enormous puddles at the roadside wearing nothing but underwear and having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, we have no pictures as I didn’t want to expose my camera to the rain.

Arriving in Lakey Beach, we had a look around the beach and despite Sumbawa being not very touristy developed, this place already seems too touristy for us. I am not quite sure what we will think of Lombok and Bali.