Blogs from Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 50

"Hi, my name is Stuart. I am from England." I found myself in front of yet another group of high school kids introducing myself. I had been recruited yet again by a local teacher in order to give her students practice in speaking English with a native speaker. It's one of the few dangers of a visit to Sumatra. It's quite a high risk, because the local tourism industry is almost dead. The hordes of backpackers that used to visit Sumatra now go elsewhere. Instead of partying at Lake Toba (which the Dutch writer Rudy Kousbroek called 'the most beautiful place on earth');they howl at the moon, full of drink and drugs on some Thai beach. Sumatra is an example of the problem with placing too much reliance on tourism to develop an economy. Sadly, there ... read more

Slung into Singapore our now worldly and bearded boys are on the return journey, the Odyssey has commenced and with it a new chapter of tribulations, considerations and felicitations unfolds. Our stay with the Lion People can only be described as fabulous. This was thanks to our Singapore connection; Sarah. Having been whisked off from the airport we soon found ourselves on the 17th floor of Regency Park. Condominium luxury lifestyle ensued over Gin and Tonics, marble floors and practically panoramic views of the city. We spent our time getting ourselves together, making and executing decisions, preparing and gathering our thoughts. All the while breathing in Singapore’s atmosphere. Hawker centers, Little India, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Orchard Road and Raffles may sound familiar? Throwing peanut shells at one another in the Long Bar at Raffle’s Hotel, ... read more

As soon as I arrived back in Bali I was greeted with the usual group of enthusiastic taxi drivers, each desperate to rip-off the westerner on his trip back to the hotel! I immediately felt back at home!! As my plans were to start heading north through Java to Sumatra as soon as possible I was a little slow off the mark, nine days to be exact! It was a little too easy to just chill out in Bali for a few days with nothing to do but eat, sleep & attempt to surf (By the way i'm shit!). In the end I had to move and after my nine days I headed to Sumatra. This is a monster journey and as it's much cheaper and quicker to fly some would ask why I decided to ... read more

with the intent of hitch hiking my final leg of indo- i set out, loaded up and walked the 4 km out of town to meet the joining highway, nothing more than a bumpy single lane road stood between me and my last stop apart from about 1000km of nature. waiting 5 hours i wondered if anyone was going my way or as far as me, my only potential means of transport were trucks- stopping everyone in sight they greeted me with laughs and nos', the night was closing in, the rain began and the villages were gathering to watch my every attempt. not wanting to be stranded through the night, my determination was over riden by 'boring safety' and it was time for plan B- flag down the next night bus that passed. sure enough ... read more

For my taste of Sumatra, I followed a friends recommendation and took the bus down to Bukitingi before returning to PKU. I met Dominic at the guesthouse in PKU, and due to the fact that I had two beds in my room, the guesthouse was full, and the town had no other budget accommodation, his arrival late at night kind of lended itself well to our sharing a room. He was going down to Bukitingi as well, so I not only had a roommate for the night, but a traveling companion for most of my visit. Our arrival to Btingi demonstrated yet again why I love to travel in the off season. A quick peek around the city netted a room for a total of $2.50, = $1.25 each. This compared very well to our grossly ... read more