Advertisement
Published: October 15th 2009
Medan
Medan madness09 September 2009 - 14 September 2009
Indonesia Exchange Rate as of 09/09/09-- 1GBP = Rp16,580
TRANSPORT
Penang to Belawan (Indonesia) by ferry (RM150)--6 hours (Langkawi Ferry Service)
Belawan to Medan by opelet (Rp 25,000/person)--1 hour
Hotel to Pinang Baris Terminal by taxi (Rp 50,000)
Pinang Baris Terminal to Bukit Lawang by bus (Rp 20,000)--3 1/2 hours
Bukit Lawang to Village by becak (Rp 8,000)
Village to Bukit Lawang by becak (Rp 8,000)
Bukit Lawang to Pinang Baris Terminal by bus (Rp 15,000)--3 hours
Pinang Baris Terminal to hotel by becak (Rp 25,000)
HOTELS
Medan: Hotel UKM--Dbl, fan, squat toilet and a mandi (Rp110,000)...not worth the price but pretty much bog standard affair in Medan. Room isn't bad, but the bathroom was infested by ants and stank. Best try somewhere else.
Bukit Lawang: Jungle Inn--Dbl, western toilet, shower directly from the waterfall! (Rp200,000)...amazing looking room, and the cheapest of them all! 4-poster bed, awesome bathroom, balcony with hammock looking out over a waterfall. Great staff also! RECOMMENDED
Medan: Hotel Raya--Twin, fan, TV, half a western toilet, mandi (Rp 65,000)...much better than the Hotel UKM but that's saying something. Perfectly fine for a nights stay.
We departed Penang early morning to catch the 8:30 ferry across the Strait of Melaka to Sumatra. The ferry didn't end up leaving until near enough 10am for no particular reason, but once again it wasn't a surprise!
The journey would take us across the busiest shipping route in the world and would take about 4 to 6 hours. It took us 6 1/2, but the seas were calm, there were no pirates and the waters weren't that busy today with ships. The aircon on the boat was absolutely freezing though and for the first time everyone started putting on jackets and scarves. Amy came prepared with a sweater but Dan braved it out without one! He didn't actually bring any cold weather clothing!
6 1/2 hours of chattering teeth later we arrived at the desolate looking Belawan port, about 18km from Medan. We passed through immigration with no problems, even though we will still have to find out in 60 days time if we can extend it. We were warned by Lonely Planet to expect a huge throng of touts on exit trying to usher you onto buses etc. They weren't wrong about that. We were (almost)
Medan
More Medan madness! forced onto a waiting bus (even the security was pushing us onto it) but we refused knowing that this tourist bus would take us to some office in Medan for an extortionate price, and then after you'd have to take a taxi to wherever it is you're heading to. Dan shouted out a few Indonesian things and ended up negotiating a fare on a public bus. Actually public bus, meaning opelet, a small minibus with bench seats in the back. The driver agreed he'd take us directly to our hotel in Medan, but he then recruited Dan to find some more foreigners to get on our ride. Dan managed to find a Dutch couple, who had no idea what was going on. He negotiated a fare for them and we set off.
Indonesia is chaotic to say the least! Horns honk 100 times more than in Thailand and Malaysia, lane discipline is non-existent and every single vehicle belches out a toxic black smoke. Lovely, but it's nice to be back "home" (for Dan!). After an hour of absolute mayhem driving, avoiding every moving form of life and a few near misses, the driver dropped us off at Hotel UKM.
Medan
Classic! We didn't ask to be taken here, instead we asked for Hotel Raya! The driver informed us that there was a change in names and recognizing the address we believed him. We checked into our ant infested room, thinking it'll do for the night. The hotel is situated not only opposite one of Sumatra's biggest mosques, but also under the flightpath of Medan's notoriously dangerous airport!
We decided to have a mooch around, stopping off at a nice cafe and checking out the real Hotel Raya. Much nicer and much cheaper, so we decided as we were returning to Medan in a few days time we would check into there instead.
As Medan isn't a tourist destination, the people here take a severe interest in you. Especially if your a woman and Amy was finding it a bit uncomfortable to start off with. Dan however has been compared to numerous famous people. The immigration officer thought he looked like John Travolta and some local in Medan thought he was Robbie Williams!! I mean come on! But overall the people are friendly, even though their stares may look hostile. It's definitely a far cry from the relatively orderly (in comparison)
Medan
Medan's Central mosque Thailand and Malaysia!
The plan was to wake up early the next day to head off to Bukit Lawang but we never actually got any sleep at all as the huge mosque over the road was blaring out music all night. So we ended up getting up a little later than expected.
We caught a taxi to Pinang Baris Bus Terminal which is situated 10km north of Medan. Indonesian cities like to put their terminals way outside of the town which I suppose eases congestion but we figured it's to help make the city's transportation more profitable. The driver kept persuading us to take his taxi all the way to Bukit Lawang, not understanding why a tourist would want to take a bus! The taxi journey itself was interesting enough! The driving in Indonesia is lawless and we counted at least five times that we almost collided with a motorbike. At one point a motorcyclist almost joined us in the back seat my mere inches! The taxi driver dropped us about 800m past the terminal and told us to flag a bus down. We suspected that this was a ploy for us to take his taxi as most likely
Medan to Bukit Lawang
Local entertainment on the bus the buses were already going to be coming past fully loaded, but luckily it wasn't so we hopped on and began our first experience of Indonesian buses. They are nothing like the luxuries of Thailand or Malaysia...vendors pack the aisles selling absolutely everything and anything and local buskers provide the entertainment. Some of them are really good, but others require you to wear ear plugs! Another thing about Indonesian transport is that you should never expect to get anywhere fast and if you have a schedule to keep, forget taking a bus! The bus didn't leave for another hour after we got on as the driver waited for more passengers. After we got going we stopped 20 minutes later so the driver could have some lunch. When we finally got going the bus took us out of the city and into Sumatra's beautiful countryside. The road turned into something you may find on the moon and we started wondering what our insides were going to be like when we ended up at our destination!
We had been warned previously that guides from Bukit Lawang hop onto the bus at Medan and try and force you into signing up for
Medan to Bukit Lawang
One of Dan's favourite Indonesian snacks! a trek. We had no such problems but there was one guy who was being more subtle and gave us a guided tour of the countryside through a bus window.
We arrived in the village of Bukit Lawang 3 1/2 hours later, and hopped onto a motorized becak to the village. A guy who was also on our bus and who happened to work at the same place we were planning on staying lead us through the village and to the far end, where Jungle Inn was located.
The village is a beautiful one, along the banks of the mighty Sungai Bohorok. The village was devastated by a flash flood in 2003, resulting in almost 300 deaths. The destruction is still very much evident, with the empty shells of past buildings scattered next to the river. The village is back up and running, with the buildings now built further away from the river bank.
We checked into a fantastic room and the cheapest out of the lot--4-poster bed, a shower which comes directly from a waterfall and a balcony (with hammock) overlooking the said waterfall.
We were unsure about which kind of trek to sign up
on while we were here. There were various treks available ranging from half a day to 3-week treks, as well as the orangutan feeding platform to look at. We were told by various other travelers and staff that the feeding platform isn't worth the visit as you only get an hour there and they charge you Rp50,000 for camera usage, regardless of whether or not you get an orangutan sighting. This money, we were told, DOES NOT go into the conservation, instead it goes straight into someone's pocket. We sat down with Darwin (the guy who had led us to the Jungle Inn) and discussed the treks. We stuck with him, not only for his name, but because we immediately trusted him as the right guide. We're not the trekking types and we are certainly not the camping type, but we decided to sign up to a two-day trek the next day with 2 Dutch women and an Aussie girl.
During breakfast the next day we had our first sighting of an orangutan on the other side of the river. These creatures are elusive, very rarely coming to down to the ground, but for a couple of minutes this
one was and it was a special moment.
We set off on our trek which would take us 6 hours through ever-thickening jungle to our camp next to the river. After a few hours we spotted a family of orangutan's in the trees. It was amazing and after a while we continued on. We stopped for some well-earned lunch next to a stream, cooked by Darwin and his co-guide, Remo. The Nasi Goreng and egg went down a treat and while we were eating we were joined by a group of Thomas Leaf monkeys, a monkey only found in North Sumatra. They weren't fearful of us and were just concentrating on our food, but it made for a great photo opportunity. We set off again and heard a load of gibbons and only caught a glimpse of one swinging through the trees. After a while it started to rain and the last part of the trek was a hard one. An almost vertical trek down towards the river took a while and sapped all of our energy and concentration. It was tough and dangerous but all of us made it down safely to the river bank. We had to cross
the river to our camp. It didn't look too bad and as Darwin and Remo helped the girls across, Dan started to wade across alone. He was just about to get swept away when Darwin grabbed him by the arm and helped him across. Now, Darwin is a tiny guy, but his strength is huge! It was amazing how strong the river was, even though it was just about waist deep. Dan found a new found respect for it after his little escapade! Soaked through, we sat under the cooking tent and drank some tea. Dan decided to sit in a calmer part of the river, contemplating his brush with the river gods. We changed into dry clothes and it was then that Dan realized that he had somehow forgot to pack his dry t-shirt. We settled down to relax, Dan freezing his nuts off and dinner was served. It was just what was needed. A huge spread of rice, curried chicken, vegetables and chillied tofu. It went down a treat with some water straight from the river.
The tent was a big one fitting all of us in, with an open front--open to whatever creatures of the night
were on the prowl. Stories of tigers and leopards roaming these parts made sleep uncomfortable. The guides were great though, keeping us entertained with card tricks and stories. We were actually more concerned about the leeches as one tried to attach itself to Amy! When sleep time came it was a hard one. Bugs were having a feast and as Dan found out they were solely feasting on him! His whole left side was covered with various types of bites as he had no top on overnight.
The next morning we awoke to a nice breakfast and spent most of the day relaxing by the river. It ended with a trip 5km down river back to the village in a few joined up inner tubes. It was a fun ride and by the time we got back we were exhausted. That night was spent relaxing in the restaurant, with the locals and Darwin and Remo, with them providing their own music. We were looking forward to our bed more than anything!
The next day we had a lie-in, only to be woken by a gang of Macaques running across our roof and some selfish European girls next door
making way too much noise at 6am!
We checked out at noon and headed back to Medan. The journey kept us on the edge of our seats for 3 hours as the driver kept his foot off the brakes and his hand to the horn, plowing through the Sunday traffic! By the time we got to Medan we started to relax, until we hopped onto a motorized becak (a motorbike with a side car) and soon were back on the edge of our seats as we avoided being hit by other traffic. In Indonesia the bigger the vehicle the more right of way they have which meant we were near the bottom of the food chain! We arrived at Hotel Raya, the hotel we were meant to be at on our first visit to Medan and for Rp65,000 the room was somewhat better than the Rp110,000 we paid for the other flea-pit! As a bonus Dan had Formula 1 bed sheets on his bed, so he was more than content!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 15; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0309s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
