Medan: English Lesson with a Happy Ending It’s a day faster and with Air Asia it’s actually cheaper to fly KL to Medan, Indonesia's third largest city, a quick hop across the Straights of Malaka but I need to reach it by sea, want to relive bygone days of explorers and spice traders. The ship, however, is oblivious to any romantic notions, a low aluminium hull tosses its cargo from port to starboard and back mile after nautical mile, air con preserving passengers like produce in a refrigerator, no promenade deck for shuffleboard, just a muddy window pane, and a neighbour reeking of tobacco smoke and in dire need of a shower. Customs and Immigration are efficient and friendly, a young man in a tight grey uniform reminiscent of C.H.I.P.S. steers me to the front of
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