Indonesian roadtrip adventures!!

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Today we set out from Ruteng, originally planning to try to make it all the way to Ende, the largest city on Flores, or Moni, a small town near our final roadtrip goal of Mt. Kilimutu and the colored crater lakes. We changed our plans when we realized it was going to take too long and there were some other orange crater lakes at Wawo Muda, outside Bajawa, that we also wanted to check out, and it seemed a much more reasonable goal for the day. Tomorrow we will set out as early as possible for the lakes, and then see how far towards Moni we are able to get.

Our ride today was rather eventful. For one, we stopped to rest our asses and stretch our legs next to a school in an unknown village outside Ruteng by an hour or so. Before we knew it we began to attract a crowd of school children. We waved and said hello, made some funny faces at them, and at one point I picked up 3 stones to show them a little juggling, and they all scattered in fear! It was HILARIOUS! Apparently I look like the type of asshole that lures small children in with smiles and waves, just so I can pelt them with rocks. After they realized I was not an immediate threat to their safety the crowd returned, and before long grew to around 50, 60, maybe 70 kids! We got some great video of Jessika and them dancing and jumping and all the kids screaming with excitement... really... seriously.... SCREAMING. As we said our good-bye's and hopped on the motorbike, Jessika suddenly began yelling urgently for me to "GO! GO!" while thumping my back, informing me that the massive swarm of students that had engulfed us and our bike were pinching her .... HARD! Oh it was quite funny, and left us wondering if their collective conciousness led them all to start pinching the white lady at the same time, or if pinching is a thing with the kids of Flores. It also left Jessika with welts.

After escaping a near death-by-pinching, we were off again, on the serpentining jungle lined road. Not long after that I managed to search out and ride through, with pin-point precision, a well camoflauged botomless pothole from hell. Shortly there after Jessika and I both felt the telling shimmy of a motorbike with a limp. The limp soon became a crawl as the back tire went fully flat. The second flat tire of our current travels through south Asia, i might add. We slowly made our way to the next tiny village, and with a little luck, found someone that could patch it up for us. And the unexpected delay ended up being rather enjoyable as the entire local community, or so it seemed, stopped in to check on the situation and say hello. We passed the time taking photos and playing with 3 extremely giggly local kids, and before we knew it we were back on the road once again, being sure to avoid all future potholes. The people that we have met here so far have been SO friendly, smiley, and eager to help us in anyway they can. It's been great!

So now were here in Bajawa getting ready for bed so we can go get lost looking for the Wawo Muda crater lakes at 4:30 tomorrow morning. The directions I have obtained from the internet are vague at best, and although the people are VERY helpful, it seems that if you ask 5 different people for directions to one single place, you are highly likely to get 5 completely different answers. I suppose that is what we get when the extent of our understanding of the local language ends at good morning, good afternoon, and thank you, all three of which we tend to mix up with eachother, accidentally thanking someone for absolutely nothing. . . we are idiots. . . I must now put my pen down, for Jessika is demanding a massage of her derriere to help ready her for what is sure to be another very long day on the back of a motorbike tomorrow.

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