On the way back I noticed that my back tire was funny. I had to drive very slow and the curves where horrible, I had the feeling I could fall any second and I was running low on fuel. I finally found a little shop that sold fuel, this is when I realized that the tire wasn't weird, it was simply very flat. A bit further I found what look like a bike mechanic.
It was already dark, the shop seamed closed, but I had hope seeing three was light inside the little home. I stopped and the wife came out. I tried to explain that the tire was flat but she didn't understand me with her little English until she came around and looked at it. She was one of the most friendly people I met while traveling.
Her name was Ina, she was 32 years old, and was married to her 47 years old husband, she was only 15 when she married him. I got to meet several of their 7 children of which, only one was a girl and the youngest had only just turned 5. I don't even want to know how old she was when she had her first son. But she seemed the happiest person on earth and was very grateful for her loving family.
She gave me tee while I talked to her and her husband and 3 of their children fixed my bike. They where very impressed that I had come all the way from Labuan Bajo by myself on a motorbike. At the end they even invited me to stay for diner, not wanting to be rude and also being interested in getting to know them better, I accepted. We had rice, chicken, fish and some green vegetables. The chicken was grilled and very tasty, in fact, one of the best roasted ones I have eaten, so much flavor, I was impressed by Ina's cooking abilities specially in the poor kitchens condition. They took many pictures with me while having diner, the wife insisted she wanted to have many pictures. And I was happy I could take pictures with them, to capture one of my favorite encounters while travelling.
I hadn't paid them for fixing my bike, so I asked and of course they told me no I shouldn't pay, they said I was family now. I insisted that I wanted to pay and finally they agreed but I had to pay the children because they fixed it, so I did. 10.000 RP 70 cent to fix a flat tire I was impressed, of course I gave them more, even though money couldn't pay for what I had experienced that evening with them.
It was already late and dark so after thanking them for everything I left to the Homestay I had found. I had my first warm shower in over 2 months and feel exhausted to sleep after such an adventurous day.
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