Day 59 - Kupang - Unfinished Business

June 28, 2023

Day 59 - Kupang

I can't describe how good it was to sleep in a bed and to have a shower. Also, there was no to need get up early and rush away. Instead, I was up by 7, Edwin made me a coffee and I started reading Shirley Shackleton's "The Circle of Silence", given to me by Michele, in Balibo. As I read, Edwin brought me more coffee and a savoury omelette.

Edwin and I. There's any number of newspaper clippings of his former career as an actor.

It was 10 am when I jumped the No. 10 bemo to the museum. Music blasts in bemos. I thought of my father who wouldn't have tolerated it for a second.

The view from a bemo on route 10. I can't explain the fluffy toys. Pseudo-airbags, perhaps.

I got to the museum and found it closed for the Eid al-Adha holiday. But one complicating thing about countries like this is that places are never quite closed. The doors remain slightly ajar.

I enjoyed the display on the 1 m tall Homo floresiensis and an even older relative - 700,000 years! The full skeleton of a blue whale was also worth seeing.

Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch but I'm good at bargaining hard with people holding the keys. He wanted 50,000 but settled for 10,000.

I left, crossed the road and jumped on a bemo 10. Ten minutes later we arrived back at the museum. Of course! These things drive a convoluted loop! I stayed put and eventually reached my destination. The street scene appealed.

I got back to Lavalon mid-afternoon and read more and drank more coffee before venturing to the night-market for dinner. I chose a fish and had it turned into fish soup of terrific flavor- kaffir lime, lemongrass, tamarind, ginger, garlic, spring onion and chili were some of the things I could identify.

I washed it down with a drink made from Buah Naga or dragonfruit that looked spectacular.

This may sound like the laziest of days - it was! But I'll make up for it tomorrow with a ferry to Flores that leaves at an uncertain time, takes 12-15 hours and drops me in Larantuka between midnight and 3 am.

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