14th February 2011
It started to rain on the morning we left Flores, and we sat in the little cafe on the hill overlooking the airport watching for our plane to land through the drizzle. Around us sat locals playing chess and smoking cigarettes over coffee. In half an hour they would finish their drinks and head down to the terminal building, where they would become the pushy mob of touts and taxi drivers clamouring for the attention of newly arrived tourists and generally making their first minutes on the island difficult. But in the meantime, they ignored us as we obviously didn’t need anything from them. A good reminder that every tout is just a local guy trying to earn a crust. Not that I’m forgiving or excusing them, you understand.
The rain seemed to underscore the good luck we’ve had with weather here, and back in Bali. This is the monsoon after all, and we’re told that you can often face three relentless days of rain anywhere in Indonesia at this time of year. Fingers crossed for our last destination, Permuteran back on Bali.
PS – my arm didn’t drop off
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