Survival of the fittest

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Mark: Time to fill you all in on our Sumatran adventures and bring you up to date I think! Leaving Malaysia and all that amazing food was done with a heavy heart, and the journey to Medan on Sumatra didn't make things any better! The 5 hour ferry crossing was done on incredibly rough seas, and we were both very ill. To be fair though, I saw plenty of Indonesians with bags around their faces, so I didn't feel too silly! The ferry took us into Medan, a very uninspiring city which lacks any big draw and is primarily used as a transport hub. It was our anniversary (4 years!) though, so we hit Pizza Hut as a treat for tea. Our room here wasn't great either, smelling of urine and a guy tried to come in in the middle of the night! A little alarming! We decided we would leave as early as possible in the morning!

So we headed to Bukit Lawang, in Northern Sumatra. The local bus journey there was very amusing. The driver was a bit of a maniac and we were befriended by a couple of local guys, one of whom said his nickname was Ronaldo as he beared quite a resemblance to the porky Brazillian striker. Another guy invited us to come and watch his band practice, though sadly we never made it to do so. Both of these guys were guides who tried to convince us they were the man to go on an Orang-Utan trek with, but we decided to scout out a local guide when we got to Bukit Lawang.

It is amazing to think that this is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Indonesia outside of Bali, because it was practically deserted. We did treat ourselves here to a nice room for one night to celebrate our anniversary, and then headed out to see what we could find. We came across Raminder and Thea, an American couple we had met on the journey to Medan. They were staying at Nora's Homestay, which was an awesome little place down on the riverfront. When we heard how much of a bargain their place was we decided to move the very next day! Now Nora is the kind of girl you would describe in England as "bubbly", a real character as well. She made a mean cappucino shake and she advised us to go swimming in the river. We did, and we got the most wonderful surprise, as on the other river bank, literally only 15 feet away from us were 2 semi-wild orang-utans. What a privelege this was for us, though our encounters were about to get a lot more up close and personal....

The next day we embarked on a trek through the jungle with Ramider, Thea, and our 2 guides, Darwin (named after Charles!), and John. Now, the first half of the trek was one of the most amazing experiences we have had the entire trip. We saw a pair of adolescent orang-utans, and got very close to the elusive wild male. He wasn't happy to see us though and actually collapsed a huge tree only 50 feet away from us, scary! We got close to a few more orang-utans (with babies), trekked about 6km through the forest, and even saw the Thomas's Leaf monkey, which again is very rare and elusive. After lunch though, things turned a bit scary...

Walking along the trail we encountered a big female orang-utan. We had been told all about her before. She was called Mena, and she had attacked 80 people beforehand. Unfortunately this number was about to rise to 81. As she swung towards us from 50m or so away we made it clear to our guide that we weren't comfortable. But we were told to sit tight, as they would give Mena bananas and everything would be fine. Well, she started getting very close. Again we were told not to move. She then got down on the floor and started walking towards us. Still the bananas weren't thrown and she went straight for Raminder. He was remarkably calm as he held her arms in a way that she couldn't quite bite him, but she wrestled him and got him on the floor. She managed to plant her teeth onto him, but luckily only found his shoe, which very quickly then smashed into her face. This put her off and she got her bananas thrown to her. Raminder scarpered and Darwin sent me, Louise and Thea off with John, the other guide, to begin the walk back. Obviously we were all very shaken up, and separating Raminder and Thea was not a good idea on our guide's part. Considering she had no idea what's her husband's state of health was, Thea was incredibly calm, even when John got continually lost trying to get us out of the forest. Eventually we got back to Raminder and luckily, he was ok. Our guides got a massive telling off though. When you consider that Darwin has one of the best reputations of any guide in the park, it makes you wonder about the professionalism of the others. Sadly, as long as this continues, tourism will continue to decline.

Leaving Bukit Lawang (after many games of poker with Raminder and Thea!), we headed to Lake Toba. It may not be as breathtaking as Lake Malawi (could anything?), but we had so much fun. The water was perfect for swimming in, and for $8 we had a room which would have cost well over $100 anywhere else in the world. We spent our days doing not much, and after the adventures in the jungle this was just what we needed! We swam in the lake most days, ate great food, went hiking to nearby villages, and continued to beat Raminder and Thea at cards! I am now quite the cribbage expert.

Eventually the time came where we had to leave and head back to Medan. This journey took a lot longer than it should have, as we had to change vehicle 5 times! We got back to our urine scented room eventually though, and from there we headed onwards to the madness of Jakarta, where we are now...

Bali awaits, until then...

Love Mark and Louise
xxxx

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Comments

[Thea and Raminder]

OK, so maybe you whupped us in poker in Sumatra, but what about Gillis?? Huh? Just kidding, this is the 1st time we've read your blog, it is very impressive! Had a great time reading, we'll keep up with it. We are back in the US (Hawaii, does that count as back in the US???). Where are you guys? Cant wait to see you both again when you visit us! T