Indonesia | Oct 2024 |
Section 3 of the Sumba tour. This was a bone-crunching ride with some nice views, but longer and harder than expected.
After a decent 1-night stay in Waingapu, I hit the road back to Tambolaka. Though I had no information about this route (nor is there any, it seems), other than that it was mappable on Google (always a bit risky), it appeared to be the logical path, given I had already ridden the main road west to east from Rua to Waingapu.
Setting out from Waingapu, the road got crappy pretty fast. And it stayed that way for most of the journey - old, weathered pavement that has seriously depreciated into washboard. It was pretty slow going.
Th terrain on this stretch of north coast is the same as the west side of the island from Tambolaka: pretty much moonscape - though, somehow, people are cultivating it.
On the bright side, this area is undeveloped, appeared to have zero tourism scene, and is basically one giant stretch of 5-star beach. It will be interesting to see how the last 2 points collide in the future. Sumba is often referred to as "the new Bali", and I imagine you can buy prime desolated beachfront land for decent rates (perhaps it's already been done?). Regardless, some serious road development and upgrading will be needed for that to happen.
After about 5 hours of butt-numbing washboard, I arrived at Memboro (?), for the final stretch of road to Tambolaka. Here Google Maps gave me 2 options: one about 45 minutes along the coast, the other a big arch south and back north, about 90 minutes. Given the time of day and my degrading lower torso, I logically wanted to take the shorter coast route. But I took a wrong turn and started to ride up a hill, on a road built along the spine at the top, with some amazing views back down to the coast (I think it's a renowned photo point for Instagramers). When I realised I was off track I turned back - and proceeded to ride the worst section of road of the entire day.
I was happy to finally be back in Tambolaka, staying at the Pasola, the same hotel as the bike rental guy. The next morning I walked 200 meters to the airport, then was on my way back to Bali with some epic views of the south coasts of Sumbawa, Lombok and Penida along the way.
Ride: 162 km / 7 hrs
Stay: Hotel Pasola $20 ****
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