Blogs from Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 56

Well here’s where things kinda just happened. I returned from my tropical island, and the next day, Nick brought me into the office of the NGO he worked for. He’d already talked to the head office in New York, and they were pretty keen to take me on. In fact they said that if Nick didn’t want me in Aceh, they had work for me in Africa! It was just a case of them checking out my reference - something that I don’t think anyone has ever done for me! Oh yeah and the medical test.... For those of you who don’t know, my biggest phobia in the WHOLE world has been needles. I was convinced that I was physiologically incapable of giving any sort of blood sample. But it only goes to reason that to ... read more

The following day I got in touch with Red Cross to see when I could start, and what I could do to help, but unfortunately bureaucracy got the better of me. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent had an arrangement with the local Red Cross, which meant that they couldn't accept any volunteers. Arse. The guy from the Red Cross said he'd look into other possibilities for me, but basically I was back to the drawing board. It's probably at this point I should talk about Hari Raya (or Idul Fitri in Arabic). This happens at the end of Ramadan (the fasting month) and is like a 3 day long Christmas. Of course in my infinite planning, I'd managed to turn up in Banda Aceh right before Hari Raya. and now everything was ... 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

Lake Toba is the old crater of a volcano, which a large island in it, where I stayed. Although I had heard that it was meant to be beautiful, and a perfect place to relax, I thought it was arse. The place is entirely set up for tourists, to the point of which it has no culture of it's own. To make matters worse there were virtually no other tourists around, so I had no company, and the locals were extra vigilant with there harassing: "Motorbike, Massage, Mushrooms...." I wondered what combining them all would have been like.... The scenery was pretty amazing, but it was awfully similar to New Zealand, and personally I think we do it better. One day I went for a trek with a crazy Finish guy. The plan was to get ... read more

After arriving in Lake Maninjau, my guide left me. It was raining and I was damp and alone in a strange land. A motorcycle took me to my homestay (read hostel) - Lillie’s. I had to weave my way through the rice paddies for about 5 minutes from the road to reach the homestay. Arriving was a surreal experience. A cluster of chalets nestled amongst luscious trees, right against the lake, and there was no one in sight. The cafe was complete with coyboy style swing doors; it all felt like it was some sort of jungle ghost-town. Eventually the attendant woke up, and showed me to my room right on the lake. I suspect I was the only westerner in miles. I spent the rest of the day in quiet contemplation, writing my journal as ... read more