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Published: August 22nd 2007
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Walk away
The baby was too lazy to walk up the hill so dragged off her mother's leg and kept making them both fall over- classic comedy! Ok, so its been a while but that’s really down to where we’ve been more than anything - Indonesia-net is as fast paced as the lifestyle there, if existent at all (apart from Bali of course)!
After the Thai islands we ended up in George Town on Penang, Malaysia. This was unplanned and we didn’t like it that much so we quickly headed for Singapore. Singapore is a really picturesque city with a great nightlife; unfortunately outside of China Town it’s also very expensive so our stay was short.
It was a luxury coach ride up to Kuala Lumpur with massaging seats, before flying to Medan in North Sumatra, Indonesia. KL wasn’t to my liking really, it’s OK as far as big cities go but apart from the Petronas Towers I didn’t find it that special. In case you were wondering this section is very brief because we sent all the photos back with my parents who visited recently - oh well!
Once we had made it through one night in a Medan Guest House opposite a Mosque loud enough to make a resident of Baghdad jump out of his skin, we set off for a small village
called Bukit Lawang. The journey was interesting to say the least. What passes for a road in North Sumatra would make the Cambodian highways agency (that’s a laugh) shake their heads in disbelieve. To say it was worth it would be an understatement. Bukit Lawang is definitely the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been. The Jungle stretches high on all sides away from the lazy river in the centre. As one of only two places on the planet that Orang Utans (Jungle Men) are found in the wild this place really couldn’t get any more special. On our first night we saw a couple of the orange fellows having a drink in the river opposite our Guest House.
The Jungle Inn happened to be a dry establishment so it was the first time I’ve not had a drink or ten on my birthday in many years but in compensation for this more than commendable sacrifice I got to see an Orang Utan that looked like Elton John being fed and be in a place that looked like the inspiration for Jurassic Park (apart from the dinosaurs).
They have a rehab centre where monkeys come from captivity and is
currently housing a 6 year old Orang Utan that had been rescued from a Chinese couple who treated it like a real child who couldn’t have kids. They dressed it up in clothes and taught it how to eat with chopsticks and go to the toilet, they even spoke to it like it was going to talk back-PG tips!?
The main thing to do in Bukit Lawang is the Jungle trek and we took a one day hike through the jungle where you stand to lose around a stone in sweat and see a lot of monkeys. Among the highlights were the black Gibbons (Danny, you need to ask your parents some serious questions!), we fed some Thomas leaf monkeys (called ‘Funky Monkeys’ due to their Mohicans) and of course we saw a lot of Orang Utans. I got a little close to one called Sandra so she took a typically lackadaisical swing at me - lucky for me they can’t be bothered to do anything quickly - a theory confirmed when we saw a couple doing something you would rather not see your parents doing! A curious female chased us (story of my life!) as we tried to
have lunch by the river but we managed to get away in the end despite Charlotte not having her shoes on!
We spent that night in an open sided tent, assured that no snakes or the really big monitor lizard that was hanging around would come in, which thankfully was true (to be honest we were so zonked anything could have crept in). The next day we rafted back on tyre inner tubes tied together - it seemed quite safe despite the fact it obviously wasn’t but it sure beat walking!
The only other destination for us in North Sumatra was Danau (Lake) Toba. A lake the size of Singapore created over 100,000 years ago when a volcano blew itself to pieces, with a small island in the centre called Samosir. It isn’t actually an island but they go to great lengths to disguise the fact it’s joined in one place to the mainland, which is itself an island (so Keep it to yourself). The whole point of Lake Toba is to relax, so that’s what we did. Only venturing out properly once on a moped to see the sights. We didn't actually have time to visit the
lake on Samosir, which is a shame because I don’t know where else you can visit a lake on an island which is on a lake on an island!
The scenery around Danau Toba is spectacular lush rolling hills, forming a perfect foreground for the beautiful Sun rises and sets.. Most of the houses are Batak which is unique to Sumatra - the easiest way to describe it is to show a picture (see below). We stayed in one similar to that. When we woke up on the first morning it seemed we weren’t the only ones, who enjoyed the Batak style home, oh no, it seems that snakes quite enjoy it too. It wasn’t all bad waking up to a snake using your facilities though, it makes for a good story and after a lot of salt was poured everywhere it never came back. Salt seems to be far more effective than a dog that in our experience will run away as fast as it can!
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mum
non-member comment
Oh the toilet
What are you supposed to do in that bathroom - never mind the snake whre is the running water? I just could not brig myself ! Thinks my treking days are over. Loads Love have fun Mum Di xxxxx