Blogs from Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 18

Mum was lying on a sun lounger reading when the 8.6 quake occurred, apparently a significant enough quakes to make worldwide headlines and generate mass panic..except for mum, who chose to just keep reading. She felt her lounge start shaking and thought..hmm..what's going on here. So she stood up, lifted the lounger to see if there were 'animals' under there moving around. Now think about this. Statistically, what are the chances that a couple of pangolins wandered out of the jungle and thought, yes, just what we need for our romantic interlude, an australian on a sun lounge, right at that moment. Like that would happen! Now statistically, the chances of an earthquake on the Sundra arc is pretty high, up there in the top places likely to make your lounge move. So mum stood up, ... read more

For the first time I am planning to go to Asia on a holiday. I have only ever been over there “travelling” before so I would normally not have as many plans but I have spent some time planning this trip to make sure it is maximised. It feels a bit strange doing it this way but I have a job and a flat and all that shizz now so there is no other option. After an overnight stop in KL we got on a short flight to Banda Aceh with AirAsia. There is an early morning flight and an afternoon flight at present. If you do not want to spend a night in Banda Aceh then you will need to take the morning flight – not that there is anything wrong with BA! We were ... read more

We are back underwater for few more bubbles, this time, it's Pulau Weh. Most of you are going to ask, but where is this place. Well, it is the northern point of Indonesia, just above Banda Aceh. Does this help? If not, another clue, we are next door to the ground zero of the 2006 tsunami which killed thousand of people. Getting here is actually the first burden. You can however arrive directly here from Malaysia, with a daily flight on Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur, and few flights a week from Penang on Firefly. We arrived by Penang and left to KL. The original plan was to take some time to visit Penang, but our flight from Bangkok ended up an hour delayed....we waited 40 minutes for a bus...and a two hours ride in the ... read more

During the last few days in Malaysia I had started reviewing my plans for Indonesia. Originally I had intended to travel Indo by land and sea only from Sumatra to Darwin, however with a 30 day visa it appeared to be a ridiculous idea. Trying to travel over a distance equivalent to London to Nigeria, during rainy season when boats were known to frequently postpone travel or simply sink and roads were closed due to mud slides or flash floods. Maybe a plan for one day, but for the time being I planned to fly from KL to Medan in Northern Sumatra, visit the tourist hotspots and then fly to Jakarta, travel through Java and then onto the islands to the south. Having camped out overnight in KL airport to catch an early morning flight I ... read more

Geo: -7.83075, 112.697 After a 10 hour taxi ride we arrived inBukit Lawang which is the access point to the Orangutang forest. Onarrival a couple of chaps helped us carry our baggage... thankfullybecause On The Rocks, unlike Nepal where Everest View Hotel is nearthe Indian border, is up a steep climb of nicely laid out steps to aplace that can only be described as paradise in the jungle. The placeis right on the edge of the jungle border and has a collection of 4bungalows made in the traditional style arranged in a secluded layoutwhere you can parade around naked, if it takes your fancy. When theafternoon monsoon rain fell it took my fancy…. During our firstnight in the Bungalow we were attacked by a butterfly that had a wingspan the size of my hands..we both hit ... read more