Indonesia > A Rainy Day on Sumbawa

“Salemat Pagi,” sounds as I enter the breakfast room. The waitress is busy with the sandwich toaster. A slice of bread is stuck. Once the bread has been removed, she has time to fry me an egg. At eight o’clock we get back on the bus. Today we have quite a journey ahead of us. Although the distance to Sumbawa Besar is “only” 250 kilometers, it is expected to take the entire day. Just outside Bima are fields for salt production. Each field is surrounded by small dikes. Normally, during high tide, salt water can be allowed to flow into the fields, after which the water evaporates. However, due to the rainfall at this time of year, the fields are already flooded, and no salt can be seen. As far as I can see, there are salt production fields. The simple shelters for the owners, located between the fields, look abandoned. “Stickman” explains that salt production is increasingly suffering from plastic particles in the salt. This is caused by waste entering the sea. Waste is a problem in Indonesia in general. People throw away whatever they no longer need. Litter is everywhere. “Stickman” attributes this to the past. Back then, people were used to carrying food in banana leaves and drinks in bamboo tubes. When no longer needed, they would simply throw it back into nature. With today’s packaging, they still do the same. He tells a story from a previous tour group: an Indonesian boy throws away an empty packet. When someone comments on it, the boy looks surprised. “But the packet is empty.” It’s actually good that today is a travel day. The sky is cloudy, and now and then it rains. Life on the street immediately looks messy and chaotic. Perhaps Sumbawa is less orderly than Flores. From the bus, I see the fishermen’s houses. Many are built on stilts for protection against high water. With some houses, I doubt the stilts will hold much longer. Because it is Ramadan, the restaurants along the way are closed. As it has started raining again around lunchtime, we eat our lunch packs on the bus. There’s mie goreng and nasi goreng. We skip the planned walk through a fishing village because it’s still raining. This means we arrive in Sumbawa Besar earlier. The Samawa Seaside Resort is about twelve kilometers north of the city.

Indonesia - The accommodation in Sumbawa Besar

At the resort, staff stand ready with large umbrellas to escort us to reception. The cottages are spread out across the grounds. Cottage 8 is a bit further from reception. I don’t even get the chance to carry my own bag—someone immediately comes over to help me. The wooden cottage is nicely furnished and fully equipped. Such a cottage suits this location well, and perhaps even the rainy weather. Tomorrow’s forecast is not great. Maybe it won’t be so bad? I walk back to reception and order a Bintang beer. From the terrace, I look out over the sea. It seems to be getting just a little drier. Around seven o’clock I head to the restaurant. Although we haven’t set a meeting time, everyone arrives around the same time. I order chicken and beef satay with rice. It tastes great. Back in my room, I pull the mosquito net around my bed just to be safe. I saw a mosquito flying this afternoon. The net has seen better days—several holes have been patched by earlier travelers, but some remain. I tie the largest hole shut and carefully crawl into my newly created little tent.