Blogs from Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 16

Location: Inner Sumatra. Date: Millions of years ago. Event: A catastrophic volcanic blast created basically the largest crater on Earth, which over time with the help of rivers and rain became Lake Toba! A large island rests in the middle of the lake, laced with jungle, and home to the friendly Batak people who possess a mysterious past... And that's exactly where I'm headed. So, hop on the back on my motorbike as I zip around this rock and unveil its secrets. A Brief Batak History The ancestors of the Batak people are known to be from Yunan province in China. Legend has it, they arrived in Indonesia by canoe around a thousand years ago or so, and based the style of their houses on the canoe-like shape. Stone Chairs: Just like it sounds. A bunch ... read more

The immigration officer leaves through my passport, gives me a long, hard look, checks the arrival card, looks at me again. Why are you here? where do you stay? Travelling alone? How long will you be in Palembang? Where are you going afterwards? And then? And after that? Where's your return ticket? Where do you know all those places in Sumatra from? I just stay polite and try to answer his questions patiently, same with the security officer who afterwards digs through my bag and asks what I need each item for. Through the glass door, I see a line of men looking at me, so I already know what I'm in for once I pass through that door. Thanks for taking out all my belongings in front of a crowd of local touts. "Taxi?" says ... read more

We spent the first two months of our trip travelling through Indonesia. Neither of us really knew what we were getting into. Not only had we dropped our lives to see Asia together but suddenly we were in a foreign country full of mosques and a culture very different from our own. This blog is going to summarize our experiences and our perspective of the many surprises we came across. Indonesia is immensely different from Canada, so while most of the surprises will hold a place in our hearts forever, some of them we could have done without. After almost three days of flying (with a stop in Singapore for a real bed), we arrived in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. Yogya (pronounced Jogja) was a perfect place to start – big city, some english, lots of true ... read more

After our jungle trekking in Bukit Lawang we came to Berastagi to chill out for a few days. It's a fairly large (population 600,000) city set among picturesque mountains. Everywhere we turn there is a peak of one mountain or another off in the distance. Similar to the mountains of Java, it seems like we are almost living in the clouds. With the higher altitude, the weather here is slightly cooler and we seem to still get rain most nights - we are beginning to think it's a Sumatran thing. However, most mornings we woke up to sunshine and had three near perfect days to wander around town. The first thing we wanted to see was the fruit market! It is only about a 10 minute walk from where we were staying so we checked that ... read more

Medan is the third largest city in Indonesia. It's dirty; It's noisy; It's polluted. We saw very healthy rats, we had a couple of cockroach friends in our room and there are beggars everywhere. It's a large Asian city... what else could you expect? Beyond these generalizations that many people avoid on their travels, we found a city that is sooo much more. Another thing you hear about is the constant “Hello Mister!” calls. We were expecting it to be hookers trying to see that my Tyler gets a happy ending but instead it was every child on the street, and they were saying it to Rebecca! We are back in an Indonesia that isn't quite used to seeing Caucasians. The kids that aren't brave enough to say “Hello” or “Good morning” tend to snicker in ... read more