midpoint

i just came back from rua :) amaziiing place! when i left the internet place last time i walked to the bus terminal to look for the bemo to rua and suddenly i heard 'Rita!' i turned around and the guy from the internet place was driving a car and told me he would drive me there as he likes to travel. ok then, i told amjad, and off we went :)

on the way there there were a few ladies in the jungle wearing nothing but their sarongs and holding babies on their topless chests. the road to rua is gorgeous, passing through many little villages and offering glimpses of some of the tribes that live around here.

when we got to rua and after amjad had bought me water and cookies and coca-cola (which i later gave to some kids as i really don't like it)... i found out that all the info on the lonely planet was outdated (nothing so new in remote areas in this part of the world...). so there was no homestay there. and actually... it made me happy :) it meant i'd be looking for another family to stay with :) i found one with 8 kids that wouldn't leave my room and we went through the whole indonesian-english dictionary ;)

the beach in rua was perfect! and south of there there is nothing :D sumba is so dramatic!! it took 1h15min to walk the whole stretch of sand and today as i walked it in the morning i met a father and a son both wearing their huge tribal knifes around their wastes. after using all my bahasa indonesia with them and running out of things to say, i tried to sit down and write my journal. they got closer to me and stared and stared and went on talking in indonesian. we sat there for about 20min and i think we talked about an amaerican called lucy who once visited rua :) soon after that as i walked in the direction of the harbour a group of 5 fishermen offered me 2 fishes they had just grilled on a fire made with coconut wood. that was lunch :)

suddenly i felt the urge to get back to waikabubak xx got an ojek to the junction and got a truck to drive me back here where i met amjad for dinner :)
today is the midpoint of my trip. 55 days have passed :) and there are 55 days to go!