http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Indonesia , Sumatra en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:34:04 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:34:04 +0000 I arrived at Lake Toba on December 22nd. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world. It is 100k by 30k and goes down 505 meters at its deepest point. After a 30 minute ferry ride I arrived at Samosir Island the largest island within an island in the world. Sumatra is the 6th largest island in the world and Indonesia is the largest island country in the world with more than 17000 islands http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-462757.html I rolled into the small village of Ketambe after a 9 hour windy bone rattling bus ride from Takengon. The bus driver dropped me off at the wrong guest house but it didn't matter. As soon as I met Ahmed I was at ease. He has those kind eyes that you know can be trusted. Ketambe is a great base for trekking into the park offering a serene alternative to the tout shakedown at Bukit Lawang. Rates t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/blog-460937.html Een korte blog over mijn heerlijk weekendje met papa hier in Banda Aceh.Door een annulering van een vlucht enzo was er donderdag namiddag ineens een verandering van de plannen. Door het offerfeest was iedereen op donderdag na half 3 gestopt met werken en was het dus even hectisch om de chauffeur te contacteren. Maar na een hoop telefoontjes van Ingrid kwam het uiteindelijk in orde. Vrijdag was he http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Banda-Aceh/blog-457145.html Dag lieve Blog lezersAllereerst bedankt voor alle lieve berichtjes op mijn vorige blog. Zo mijn eerste week Banda Aceh zit erop en met veel trots kan ik melden dat ik het heb overleefd. Hier een greep uit mijn recente avonturen.Woensdag avond vroeg Patrick of ik geen zin had om in de stad met hem wat te gaan eten. Patrick mijn huisgenoot houdt er niet van om te koken dus meestal wil hij uit ete http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Banda-Aceh/blog-452164.html En toen begon het avontuur pas echt. Na een paar dagen verblijf in Jakarta. Vloog ik maandag 2 november gisteren dus naar Banda Aceh. De plek waar ik voor naar Indonesi ben gekomen. Ik vertrok maandag zeer op tijd vanuit het hotel het verkeer staat bijna permanent stil in Jakarta dus voor een stukje rijden naar het vliegveld 30 km moet je twee uur rekenen. Maar zoals je altijd zult zien was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Banda-Aceh/blog-450485.html When I first arrived in Indonesia there were little signs on all the tables in Balinese restaurants that just said L.A. Lights. I had no idea what they were advertising. It was about two weeks before I realized they were a type of cigarette. Every single male over the age of six months smokes in Indonesia and there are cigarette advertisements everywhere although interestingly all of them also http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukittinggi/blog-449603.html After I had finished my stint at Mt. Kerinci I moved on via yet another horrible overnight bus experience to the town of Bukittinggi eight hours north. Bukittinggi is a popular place for tourists to visit and all the cheaper hotels seemed to be full although it turned out that wasnrsquot due to tourists but to the recent earthquake having destroyed all the hotels in Padang so all the local tra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukittinggi/blog-446621.html It wasnrsquot much fun getting from Way Kambas National Park in the south of Sumatra to KerinciSeblat National Park in the middle. I had been planning on taking a ten hour train ride from Bandar Lampung to Palembang then another ten hour train ride to Lubuklinggau followed by a ten hour bus ride to Sungai Penuh and finally a one hour bus ride to the final destination of Kersik Tuo but from one http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/blog-446607.html After the Ujung Kulon trip in Java my first destination in Sumatra was to be the Way Kambas National Park down in the very south of the island. In Carita on Java I had run into a local chap who told me that I should hire him to take me to Way Kambas in his car because it would be easier and cheaper than using local transport. Only 1.7 million he says. When I said that was very expensive he said n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/blog-444830.html Hi folks Just a quick update as it's been a while since we have been able to update our blog with Melaka Penang and Sumatra.As you may be aware there has been a series of devastating earthquakes in Sumatra with the worst hit being Padang. We are glad to say that we are not affected by this but we were in Padang about a week before the earthquakes struck.We are now in Jakarta and hopefully the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Padang/blog-441686.html September 22 2009 September 24 2009Exchange Rate as of Sep 23 2009 1GBP Rp15928HOTELPadangImmanuel HotelDouble fan TV shared bathroomRp125000 inc. breakfast.Small homely place within walking distance from Padang Beach. Price is slightly high for the quality but it's still a spotless place.TRANSPORTTuk Tuk to Parapat by ferryRp7000 1 hourParapat to Padang by busRp450000 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Padang/blog-439130.html September 14 2009 September 22 2009Exchange rate as of September 14 2009 1GBP Rp15724TRANSPORTHotel to Amplas Bus Terminal by motorized becakRp30000Medan to Parapat by busRp20000 5 hoursParapat to Tuk Tuk by ferryRp7000 1 hourHOTELSSamosir CottagesDbl cold waterRp119000 inc. breakfastOne of the nicest places on Samosir with very decently priced rooms with a good view of th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-437856.html Efter nogle dage i Bukittinggi var tiden kommet til at vi ville videre til Danau Toba. Vi undersoegte de forskellige muligheder for at komme derop og priser. Vi ville gerne rejse saa nemt og bekvemt da det var en bustur paa 15 timer. Valgmulighederne stod mellem minibus max 6 personer eller executive bus et saede til hver med AC og som ikke stoppede for at samle lokale op undervejs. Vi snak http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-435878.html Vi befinder os i oejeblikket paa Sumatra i en by der hedder Bukittinggi hvor vi har vaeret siden i forgaars. Siden sidst har vi faaet taget vores advance open water og maa nu dykke ned til 30 meter. Det var rigtig fedt at tage certifikatet men ogsaa en smule graenseoverskridende isaer da vi skulle natdykke og hoppe i vandet hvor det var baelgragende moerkt Men da man foerst var kommet i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukittinggi/blog-435876.html Von Port Dickson mit der Faehre nach Dumai 5 Std. Fahrt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Dumai/blog-435834.html 09 September 2009 14 September 2009Indonesia Exchange Rate as of 090909 1GBP Rp16580TRANSPORTPenang to Belawan Indonesia by ferry RM1506 hours Langkawi Ferry ServiceBelawan to Medan by opelet Rp 25000person1 hourHotel to Pinang Baris Terminal by taxi Rp 50000Pinang Baris Terminal to Bukit Lawang by bus Rp 200003 12 hoursBukit Lawang to Village by becak Rp 8000Vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukit-Lawang/blog-435147.html Well our journey of Malaysia comes to an end and we have to say how amazing Malaysia is It is one of those places that in the past we never really thought of but we should say that it definitely has to be put on the map.So we now enter what is most likely to be the most taxing most arduous part of our travels...but we are expecting it to be the most rewarding.With such as huge country we won't http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Medan/blog-435123.html So from Bukit Lawang it was time to head to Lake Toba. Unfortunately this meant going back through Medan. Which meant being a celebrity again. You see what I didn't mention last time is that because hardly any tourists stop in Medan those that are around are a great attraction to locals and everyone gets taught the phrase Hello Mister and isn't afraid to use it. It's quite a nice feeling http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-433819.html Yet again I start with an apology. This time its that the highlight of Bukit Lawang undoubtedly was trekking in the jungle with orangutans. However my camera had packed up by then and thus no orangutan photos. I'm still hoping that one of the folk I trekked with will get round to sending me them one day but until then you'll have to make do with the residue of my photos Im afraid.See the m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukit-Lawang/blog-433750.html After we got our visas for India we took the next flight to the North of Sumatera. We got in to the capital of Northern Sumatera and quickly got a bus up to Bukit Luwang. It was so nice up there. It was not to hot and it was just a quiet village so it was a nice change for us. The 1st day we just chilled and checked out a bat cave that was a little scary on our own. A guy there had a python http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukit-Lawang/blog-432598.html