April 7th: Pamanukan to Jamba rang – 66.06 km
Day 176
Taking longer than usual to get out the bed, we pulled ourselves together and got on the road. We passed several fishing villages where the ships were tightly packed, it’s hard to imagine how they all got in there in the first place.
Along with the sea we were also treated to the powerful stench of rotten fish. We passed several markets and for a moment I considered stopping before I noticed that ground was composed of several layers of compacted trash.
Turning off of route 7 onto 1 everything changed in a moment. The endless wall of businesses was broken and a fresh breeze was blowing off the fields. The road, regularly punctuated by ruts, holes was suddenly smooth. I couldn’t help but put my hand out to let the grass that grew along the road run under it. I was overjoyed but Cher had not given to premature celebration.
Jatibarang was the first town we encountered that lost that scruffy feel. Local residents strolled about and were shopping in a small mall. We bought food in a well stocked grocery store and found some excellent avocados. Our hotel was extremely clean, quite, well priced and friendly. We went to bed that night each with a little more optimism than we started with.
