Blogs from Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 8

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

Van Danau Maninjau (waar we kennis gemaakt hebben met Freddy, " The Hugest Cocroach Ever!", onze vaste nocturne gast in de badkamer met speciale voorkeur voor " hangplek" bij wc-bril of wastafel) via Bukitinggi naar Medan met de touringcar (een "ge-upgrade" gewone volksbus met airco). De tocht zou 18 uur duren en vertrok vanaf B'ttinggi om 13.00 uur. Na 5 minuten de eerste stop bij het ticket-office van de busmaatschappij ALS. Kwam goed uit want Anneke moest plassen. Al kokhalzend kwam ze even later terug: alles onder 1m50 hoog in de hele toiletruimte was lichtbruin aangekoekt en en de stank was onvoorstelbaar; smeriger kan echt niet. Inger heeft de hele reis haar plas opgehouden;) De tocht duurde uiteindelijk 26 uur want: 1. de band was lek dus wisselstop; 2. de lekke band werd ter reparatie aangeboden ... read more

The highlight of Sumatra is definitely Bukit Lawang. Set right in the jungle, next to an Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, the place is amazing. Everything is quite minimalist, power is from generators etc. This is partially because huge floods came through the area in 2003, killing 300 people, and destroying a huge number of houses. Initially I was staying in a pretty grotty guesthouse, but then I took a walk up the river, and found the Jungle Inn, a luxury Tarzan styled guesthouse. I splashed out and spent twice as much on a room as I had been (only $10), but it was worth it! I had a four-poster bed, a balcony, hammock and a waterfall right outside the window. I spent a couple of days there, hanging out with a Scottish guy called Chris, trying to ... read more