After the night in Ruteng, it was an early morning start for five more hours of jungle mountain driving to Bajawa, Flores. Beautiful, serene scenery, blah blah blah. Is it possible to tire of gazing at beauty? Maybe not. But then again, it didn't stop me from trying to take a nap.
On the way we stopped at a small village, where the local intoxicant, arak, was being brewed. As we have come to expect from the stills in these types of places, it probably would not have passed FDA standards. Still, we purchased a water bottle full of the yellowish stuff, which we were told was thrice-distilled (more than cognac, so it must be better, right?) for drinking later that evening in a delayed birthday celebration.
In Bajawa we found the usual shabby room for dirt cheap and set up a tour of the surrounding villages for the next day. Bajawa is a pretty town, located up in the mountains, so it was quite cool--jeans and long-sleeves were required, and not for the first time was I happy I brought them along. It also rained a bit, which frustrated our driver (he kept gesturing to the sky and shrugging, saying "this not rainy season"). We explored the town on foot, including the pasar (market) and again talked to some locals.
At night we purchased some limes and sprite and attempted to make arak mojitos (minus the lime). Or rather, Maria attempted it. She did a fine job, but the arak was not acceptable at all to Laurent (I guess his refined French palate rejected it) and I was the only one to polish off more than one glass. By which I mean two glasses. We gave the rest to Sigfried.
While we were drinking in the lobby of our hotel, we had some good laughs watching a group of French tourists trying to check in. The hotel was full, but they were insisting they had called ahead to make reservations. Laurent joked, saying that the French are always complaining about something. He has a good sense of humor about French culture...anyway, we sat and watched the drama unfold from across the room as though watching television, occasionally commenting to one another about the ways the 'show' could be improved. At one point Laurent suggested stealing their backpacks. We were laughing quite loud after a while and I don't think the French tourists appreciated it.
Next time, we have a great day in Bajawa and nearly cause an international incident.
