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Published: March 16th 2012
Bohorok River
Bukit Lawang is on either side of the river. Picture taken as day was fading. After our beach day in Krabi we headed south to Penang Malaysia via minibus. The roads in Southern Thailand are paved, but they are rather bumpy and it made for a rough ride. Crossing into Malaysia was easy (only country where you don’t have to fill out Visa forms), but the lines were long. We arrived in Penang around 6:00pm, having set-off around 7am, an eleven hour day.
On the ride we sat next to a very chatty German who was a retired contractor, I’m guessing he was around 65. He has travelled a lot and now calls Asia home. He made the trip very interesting as he told us all of these stories about the United States that he learned through the “news” – many of which I have not heard. I say “news” because a lot of what we are fed from mainstream media (internet, cable and network TV) is really garbage. My eleven hour conversation with the German gentlemen only confirmed this. He had travelled through the U.S. back in the 70’s and thoroughly enjoyed his time – having started in New York and making his way across the U.S. and eventually to Mexico. From that experience
Man On A Ledge
Later jumping into water. he had a favorable view of the United States, but it has since changed from the “news” that he reads. Just about everything he now knows about the U.S. is from what he can read or see on TV. Generally, this consists of murders, theft, bad economic news, Hollywood stuff, crazy politics, and whatever negative story is regurgitated that specific day. You can imagine his view of the States when that is all that is available on 99 percent of TV and the internet. For the most part the “news” is about clicks (internet) and ratings (TV), therefore, the stories are developed to bring clicks and high ratings and as a result they are essentially garbage – nothing with substance that will teach us something or really report in depth on the topic. For years I have believed this to be true, but all I did was drown it out because I don’t care to “consume” that garbage. Little did I realize the impact it has around the world and how it creates such a negative image of the United States. Can you imagine what it would be like if the news turned 180 degrees and reported how much the
Mom and Baby
This is the mother Orangutan that has attacked 75 people. U.S. gave to countries in Africa to help them fight disease and build water wells? What if 99 percent of the stories were positive – think how different the foreign perception of the U.S. would be?
For those still thinking about what I just wrote, try this exercise…clear your mind of everything you know about the States. Now, go to the three places you get news from most often (Google News, Yahoo News, ABC, NBC), whatever they may be. Look or listen to the headlines, now create your view of the U.S. based solely on what you read or heard. Sucks doesn’t it? As an example, Amy has an app on her ipod that brings up news, under the “headlines” section here is a snapshot of what is going on… “How Oprah’s endorsement hurt book sales,” “US soldier who massacred 16 Afghans is a married father of two,” “Homeowners battle banks to stop foreclosures,” “The Lorax’ stays strong at box office”…you get the point. Enough of that rant.
With our limited time in Malaysia (one day) I definitely do not have a clear picture of the country, people, and culture. However, in the time we were there a
Male Orangutan
This was the large male Orangutan we saw. few interesting things stood out. First, the food is essentially the same as Indian food. This really isn’t that surprising given that India is just across the Andaman Sea, but I did not know this prior to our arrival. Second, the people are much darker in color than the other parts of Asia we have been to. Many of the people appear to be either Indian, or a mix between Asian and Indian. Third, the major religion changed to Muslim as we got into Southern Thailand and close to the border in Malaysia, and it continued into Malaysia. Finally, Malaysia is rather expensive – it is probably the most expensive country we have visited so far. We are spending some time in Malaysia again at the end of our trip so it will be interesting to see if these observations remain true.
Our flight to Indonesia was quick, about an hour, and we saved ourselves 6 hours on a ferry in rough seas for just about the same price. We flew into Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia. As with Malaysia, it is very similar to India, but I would say even more like India than Malaysia. The
Male Orangutan
Same male Orangutan on the ground. streets, smells, people, and noise reminded me a lot of Northern India. On our first day in Indonesia we ventured out a kilometer or so to Tharmin Plaza to grab some food and snacks for our trip to Bukit Lawang (the plaza was recommended by our hotel). As we walked I could not help but think of India the whole time, but as soon as we walked into the Plaza we entered an entirely different world – a Western mall. It was just like being at a mall in the United States, it had a food court on the top floor and the seven floors below were all shops and it was modern. Once in the plaza the only thing that reminded me of India was our celebrity status. Everyone was looking at us and several people wanted to talk just to talk. We actually decided to see a movie at the cinema for $2, we saw, “Man On A Ledge” without knowing anything about it – we both enjoyed the movie.
From Medan we left to Bukit Lawang on a bus. As we approached the bus station we were greeted by mini-bus drivers that wanted our business. We
Leach
Standing erect on the ground ready to climb on a leg - Amy had one on her leg, but it never attached itself. opted for the larger bus. Neither of the buses were air conditioned so the larger the vehicle the safer – well in theory. We started our trip at 1:00 and at 1:05 we stopped for a half an hour for no apparent reason, just waiting on the side of the road. The bus was pretty warm sitting in the sun and full of people. The temps were probably close to 90 and so far Indonesia seems to be pretty humid. We were sweating! After our 30 minute stop we made it through part of Medan, moving for a half an hour. Suddenly we stopped again for 30 minutes, so one and a half hours into our trip and we were stopped for one hour and moving for 30 minutes – we were not liking how this trip was going to turn out. Luckily after the second stop we kept moving for the most part – just a few stops to let people off and on. Overall the journey which is about 80 kilometers took about four hours – 20 km/h (12 miles an hour). The roads are notoriously bad in Indonesia, but I never expected that speed!
We were
Thomas-Leaf Monkey
Check out that hairdo! greeted by the usual touts at the bus station in Bukit Lawang. From our travels, we have developed a somewhat harsh approach to touts and especially when arriving in new towns. This is not unique to us; it is a common traveler trait. It is developed over time and it is not something that you want to do, but more so do out of necessity to deal with not getting ripped off or getting in a dodgy situation. Usually the routine is for someone to approach you before you even step off the bus – they have some hotel or a taxi ride or whatever. The price is usually pretty inflated and after a long bus ride the last thing you want is to be “jumped” before you even get a chance to look at the ground. This results in the typical backpacker response – ignoring the person. Doing this in Bukit Lawang – I was immediately told by the local, “You are in Bukit Lawang, no need to be mean.” Often times you hear a line like this from the touts but in this case it turned out to be true. The people of Bukit Lawang are the friendliest
Lake Toba
Looking at the mainland from Samosir Island people we have encountered on the road. The Vietnamese had excellent service, but they were not as overtly friendly as the people of Bukit Lawang. Add that to the amazing scenery and Bukit Lawang was an absolute gem – a breath of fresh air!
The Bohorok river cuts down the middle of the town with restaurants, shops, and guesthouses lining both sides of the river. However, it is not built up in a typical tourist fashion and the locals by far outnumbered the tourists. The river is fast flowing, clean, clear, and has a blue hue. Overall, it was one of the most idyllic settings we have encountered. Our first day there we settled into our guesthouse, set up a guide to trek the next day in Gunung Leuser National Park, had some dinner, and went to bed. We rose around 6am to catch some breakfast before meeting our guide at 7:30. The main draw of the Gunung Leuser National Park is to see Orangutans. As we would learn from our guide Orangutan means man of the forest (orang = man, utan = forest). Orangutans are found only on two islands in the world – Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo
Lake Toba
A view of a bay at Samosir Island (shared between Malaysia and Indonesia). The Orangutans in Sumatra are considered critically endangered – these are the Orangutans we were trekking to see. We would also learn that Orangutans only give birth every six to eight years so rebuilding their population is very challenging especially with the forest destruction that is wiping out Orangutan habitat in Indonesia. There are only 6,600 Orangutans in Sumatra the remaining 55,000 in the world live on Borneo.
Our trek started at the Gunung Leuser Orangutan rehabilitation center and ascended quickly up the jungle. When the rehab center was first opened they did feedings every day to help get the population back up, they have since stopped the rehab work as the population is at relatively balanced rate for the size of the national park. However, they still do feedings. We were greeted immediately by an Orangutan and her baby that have unfortunately grown accustomed to the feedings. As a result, they are violent towards visitors unless they get their food. Our guide told us to stand back as this particular Orangutan has attacked 75 tourists over the years. The ranger we were with immediately gave her some milk and bananas to quell her
Amy Biking
Biking the shores of Samosir Island. and to keep her busy while we passed. Another 100 meters up the trail we were greeted by an enormous male Orangutan who is apparently a new addition to the area and has chased off some of the smaller males that used to inhabit the area. We watched him for close to an hour and then continued on our trek through the jungle. We quickly stumbled across some Thomas-Leaf Monkeys, which have a Mohawk hairdo. As we continued our trek we saw some leaches – which essentially stand on one end perpendicular to the ground waiting for you or anything that it can latch onto to pass. Amy ended up with one crawling up her that never attached. Our guide picked up a large ant and had us smell it, it did not have much of a smell but the burning sensation that it creates is what I’m guessing snorting Tobasco would feel like. Luckily it quickly dissipated. Later one we came across five more Orangutans and we watched them for close to an hour. They are a really interesting animal to watch as they are much slower than other monkeys we have seen. They are very deliberate in their
Orangutan
One of the seven Orangutans we saw. moves and tremendously strong.
After our wonderful trek we walked around town, setup our transfer to Lake Toba, and had some dinner. The next morning we had some breakfast and set off for Lake Toba at 8am. Our travel day to Lake Toba including the ferry was 11 hours long and we only covered about 250 kilometers – another slow day on the roads of Indonesia. However, our arrival at Lake Toba immediately put the day of travel behind us and the appeal of Island life in front of us.
Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world created by a massive volcanic explosion. The lake is 440 square miles, a far cry from Lake Superior, but it is actually deeper than Lake Superior at its deepest point – about 1660 feet deep! Lake Toba is also one of seven Super Volcanoes in the world – meaning if it erupted it would be 1,000 times larger than an average volcanic eruption. It is actually believed to cause the latest small ice age that knocked out the majority of the human population. Located within the lake is Samosir Island – our destination. Samosir Island is the largest
Jungle Vine
Vines are all over the jungle in Bukit Lawang - Orangutan's hang from them. This is just a start of a strong future. island within an island in the world.
On Samosir Island we stayed at Samosir Cottages directly on the shores of Lake Toba. Our room was $13/night and in the United States would easily be over $150/night given the location and quality of the room. As I type this I’m sitting on our balcony listening to the waves lap against our resort landscape. We rented bikes and biked around a portion of the island seeing the next closest village. Along the way we enjoyed Batak Architecture and wood carvings. The water in Lake Toba is enjoyable, probably similar to Lake Superior on a relatively warm day – the water is heated by volcanic activity. The weather here is cooler than we have seen in the rest of Southeast Asia – the lake clearly causing the change in weather. It is a nice relief from the sweltering temps we have had since we left Northern Vietnam.
Tomorrow we leave Samosir Island back for Medan. We then fly to Yogyakarta on the Indonesian Island Java. Yogyakarta is well known as the art and cultural hub of Indonesia.
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