Our next destination was the Harau Valley, and getting there was the longest, most complicated journey I have ever undertaken. It involved the following: a shared taxi, a ferry, two aeroplanes, two buses, a minibus and a motorbike taxi. We had a small break in the middle of this journey for an emergency trip to the hospital for Zena. She had a high fever, aching muscles, headache, fatigue and vomiting. Classic symptoms of malaria. If untreated, some cases of malaria can be fatal. So we headed to Medan hospital with the greatest of speed. The hospital was clean and surprisingly efficient. We were attended to immediately, assigned a bed and blood samples were taken faster than you can say "antiprophylaxis". Within two hours Zena was diagnosed with a "miscellaneous viral infection", thankfully not malaria. The fever
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