Amalfi coast go home - Flores here we come..

Things change. As well as my attitude to a day's ride. The LONG day (192 k) started fine for me - my legs strong and good energy to keep the speed up also when climbing. Started out with Ruth, who struggled with the heat and decided to pace down. After lunch I was alone (many riders decided not to do the afternoon or just started after lunch) - still with ok energy. And going along the most beautiful coastal road (Amalfi coast go home!) gave me more.

Fisher mens village on stilts..

The stunning northern coastline of Sumbawa..

 I was seriously considering to do the full day.. Was at the back of the group and when the lunch truck passed Henry jumped out to join me.. Still felt fine - but all of a sudden the heat started to struck me - and I decided to stop at the refresh stop at 140 - still not warn out - but not having Eva to push me I took the easiest option.. And went for a swim - in my biking clothes.. That was NICE! But no more riding..

 After another day with "just" 108 k - including some 1100 m gentle climb - we had our last stop in Sumbawa at the town of Sape by the eastern coast just next to the ferry terminal to go to Flores.
 8 hours was a hell of a long time on the ferryboat.

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But starting out waiting 2 hours at the dock to load some overloaded (too high) trucks and having a sail of 6 hours couldn't make it any different.. It is a terrible mess on board the ferries here.. Locals lie all over the floors and just throw their trash around them. We went in the VIP salon - not much better - but at least some chairs. It ended up getting smelly there and I escaped to the deck where it was nice to sit in shade and enjoy the view of the ocean.

View of the Komodo island from the deck..

We saw dolphins twice and passed pretty close by  the island of Komodo where the famous dragons live. Did not see any and decided not to use my rest day today to go there. In stead I had a WONDERFUL lunch at the number one italian restaurant here at Labuanbajo where we arrived just short before sunset yesterday.  All good - except for the rumors of a 3200 m climb tomorrow - oh, Australia - look so much forward to visit your flat and straight route going down from Darwin to Alice Springs!!

!! This blog is old news - had no internet access for a long time - so stay tuned for some later updates tomorrow!!