Day 12: "Hello Mister!" - Visiting the small town of Ende

From Labuan Bajo, we flew to Ende. It's not quite the end of the world there, but we could count the tourists in the 60,000-inhabitant town on one hand. Wherever we went, we were greeted with calls of "Hello Mister!" or less frequently "Hello Miss!". We already knew that the children in school often only learn the male form of address, so we were more amused than annoyed. However, we explained the difference to them as often as possible.

Once, a whole class of students rushed towards us, interrupting their sports lesson to shout "My name is..., what's your name?" at us thirty times. They screamed with excitement as we shook hands with each child and played along.

In the evening, we bought the only two beer bottles in town. One of the bottles was warm because so far it had been sufficient to cool only one bottle, and the reason was clear:

There are many Muslims living in the town, and even little girls wore headscarves. At night, we heard the call to prayer from the mosque again, which accompanied us to sleep as a familiar sound.

The next morning, a driver took us from the south coast to the north coast to Maumere. It was time for us to sleep in a clean bed without lizards in the room. That's why we spent a night in a hotel in Maumere before continuing to small huts on the beach on the north coast today. The accommodation offers so much peace and seclusion that the internet only works for a few hours a day.

Greetings from the north of Flores.