Sumatra - into the jungle

Day 156 - 8th May

After a restless and uncomfortable night on a bench in Singapore airport, we boarded our 9:15 flight to Medan, the largest city on Sumatra. Medan has a reputation for being big, dirty and unpleasant, but we found it to be much like most other large Asian cities. We had decided to stay 2 nights to give us time to catch up on sleep and come up with a plan for our time on Sumatra. At the airport we met Udin, a guide from Bukit Lawang, which is in the jungle and is the most popular place to see Orang-utans. He seemed nice and friendly so we agreed to take a tour with him in a few days time. Udin says that tourist numbers in Sumatra dropped off significantly after the tsunami and bombings in Bali and Jakarta and have never really recovered. Apparently it can still get a little busy in the peak tourist areas in July and August, but other than that there is very little work for guides, guesthouse owners and shop-keepers. We were the first tourists Udin had seen that day. Because we wanted to spend some time recuperating after our flights, we booked into a fancy hotel, although this being Sumatra, it only cost £20 a night! We spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep, and trying to plan our itinerary. The weather was better than we had hoped for, around 30 degrees and quite humid but not unbearable. At around 6:00pm the rain started and their was a huge storm, with incredible thunder and lightening, which knocked out power to the area around our hotel. Luckily it only lasted an hour or so. If this is the pattern of rain, we'll be absolutely fine.

cool cloud rainbow before the storm

Day 157 - 9th May

We spent a bit of time exploring Medan today, which although big and a little dirty, seems very friendly. Because of the relatively small numbers of tourists, we appeared to be something of a curiosity for the locals. People on the streets watched us with mild interest but in a very friendly, non-threatening kind of way, always with a cheery smile and a wave and a “hello, how are you?” We started with a short walk in the area around our hotel but it very difficult without a map, so we took a becak instead. In Java and Bali becacks were cycle rickshaws, but here they are a motorbike and side-car, and still a very convenient way of getting around. Our first stop was the royal palace, Istana Maimoon, the official home of the Sultan of Deli. The current Sultan in 14 years old and lives on Sulawesi with his mother, although the people of Medan hope he will return to the city when he is an adult. The throne room is open to the public and you can see the opulent throne as well as some of the Sultan's furniture and family photos. The palace was vaguely interesting, but it seemed that we were the main attraction. We were interviewed by 30 school kids for a homework task, something which also happened to us a lot when we were on Java three years ago, although things have changed a bit since then – instead of taking notes in pads, the kids recorded our interview on their smartphones! Other people at the palace also wanted to talk to us and have their photo taken with us, and we happily obliged, albeit feeling a little silly. Our next stop was the the Mesjid Raya, the principle Mosque in Medan, where we were shown round by Edy, a friendly and knowledgeable local. The Mosque was built by the Dutch at the start of the 20th century, and Edy gave us a very interesting history of the building, as well as a lesson in Muslim culture and how the mosque is used today. We also walked round the fruit-filled garden and saw the graves of the Sultans. Having exhausted Medan's attractions, we went back to our hotel. The rain came at the same time as yesterday, hopefully this indicates a predictable pattern. For dinner we went to Tip Top restaurant, a Medan institution, which has been serving wealthy Sumatrans, Dutch colonials and tourists since the 1920s. The restaurant has lost some of its colonial era splendour but the food was very tasty, and there was one other set of tourists there.

Day 158 - 10th May

We were met by Udin in our hotel at 8:00 and took a taxi to the bus station, which is on the other side of Medan and took us over an hour, thanks to the crazy Indonesian traffic. Unfortunately Jon was sick this morning so we decided to take the taxi all the way to Bukit Lawang so we could travel in air-conditioned comfort rather than being trapped on a hot bus and unable to get off! We arrived in Bukit Lawang, a small town nestled in the jungle, at around 11am, and walked to our guesthouse, which was owned by Udin's friendly uncle and aunt. The hostel and gardens were beautiful, right by the river with tropical fruits and hammocks hung outside each room. The rooms basic but had a double bed and a bathroom and only cost £4 a night, so we were definitely happy. Once Jon was feeling better we walked over the river and around the town, which is set up for peak season, with tons of hostels and restaurants, most of which were empty at this time of year. The buildings, including the local houses, were simple and mainly made of wood with reef roofs, and there were bamboo shelters all along the river banks, where the locals gathered to pray and share meals. We stopped for lunch in a cafe overlooking the river, then carried on up to the top of the town. We had a beer in a riverside bar and watched a huge group of macaques making their way back up the river bank to the safety of the jungle for the night. We headed back to the guesthouse for dinner and to prepare for our jungle trek tomorrow. We spent the evening chatting to a friendly American couple called Lisa and Kyle, who had got back from the jungle that day and gave us helpful tips about what to bring.

Bukit Lawang

Macaques along the river bank

Day 159 - 11th May

We were met after breakfast by Udin to start our two-day jungle trek. On our way into Gunung Leuser National Park we met up with three other tourists who were to join our group – a Swiss girl called Barbara, and American called Simon and a Japanese guy called Tomako. We walked into Gunung Leuser National Park, which is home to many rare species of bird, plant and animal life, including the Orang-utan, Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhino. These last two are incredibly rare and our guide told us that in 16 years of working in the jungle he has only seen one tiger and no rhinos. Still, orang-utan sightings are virtually guaranteed, and indeed, we hadn't been walking for more than half an hour when we came across Mina, one of the orang-utans who had been looked after at the rehabilitation centre. The centre is now closed but since the 1970s has released more than 200 captive orang-utans back into the jungle. Mina has a reputation for attacking and biting guides and tourists so we kept our distance. We saw one more former captive orang-utan called Jackie, who was with her baby. She was happily eating a banana when things took an unexpected turn – she took hold of the arm or a girl from one of the other tour groups and would not let her go, taking her with her into the jungle. At first everyone thought this was a great laugh, until it became clear that Jackie didn't want to be parted from her human pet. We left the guides from that group trying to trick Jackie into letting go by offering her bananas! As we walked further into the jungle we saw more orang-utans, these ones were wilder and stayed up in the trees rather than coming down to play with the tourists. It was fantastic to see so many wild orang-utans and we found that, despite having seen them in Borneo three years ago, we were still totally captivated by these beautiful apes. 

Mina enjoying a banana

A wild orang-utan

Thomas Leaf Monkey

The walk through the jungle wasn't long but it was hard going as the trees grow on steep slopes alongside rivers and we spent a lot of time hauling ourselves up cliffs, muddy with the recent rains, hanging on to trees and creepers. Going up was exhausting work but going down was quite treacherous at times as the slopes were steep and slippery, often without any discernible path. Even though we didn't venture that far from Bukit Lawang, we really felt like we were in the thick of the jungle and miles from any civilisation. As we continued our walk we saw some macaques and Thomas Leaf monkeys, which are only found on Sumatra. The highlight, though, was seeing a mother black gibbon and her baby, who we stood and watched for about half an hour as he clambered around in the trees. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful waterfall, where our guide produced delicious bundles of nasi goreng wrapped up in banana leaves. Unfortunately the waterfall was swarming with bees so we didn't linger too long. After a bit more hiking we reached a river, which we had to cross to get to our camp. The water was high and the current strong and we had to wade waist-deep over slippery stones. Needless to say we got very wet, but it was a welcome relief from the heat of the day. Once safely across we walked a short way to the next river crossing. Our guides decided that the currents here were too strong to walk so we crossed on giant rubber rings made out of inflated inner tubes, that were thrown over to us by one of the guides, who then pulled us across on a rope. It was certainly a fun way to travel. Our camp consisted of a bamboo shelter covered with tarpaulins on a flat clearing right alongside the river. It was basic but kept us all dry when the rain came. We had a swim in the river and then spent some time reading our books and drinking tea, listening to the sounds of the jungle and the rushing of the river. There were about 6 Indonesians at the camp, including our guide, Udin, his 17-year-old son, Malu and another guide called Joseph, as well as various cooks and helpers. Somehow they managed to produce a feast for dinner of rice and three different curry dishes, seemingly all cooked on the one fire. After dinner we had a fun evening playing cards with the guides and Joseph taught us some card and matchstick tricks, before settling down on our roll mats for the night. The ground under the mats was hard and we were only given one thin blanket, but luckily the American couple we met yesterday had advised us of this so we came prepared with extra blankets and had a somewhat more comfortable nights sleep.

Udin preparing our fruit salad

Black gibbon

Sheltering from the rain in our camp

Day 160 - 12th May

We were woken up early by monkeys scampering over the roof of the shelter. We had a tasty breakfast of banana pancakes and tea sitting by the river. We played a few more card games with Udin and Joseph and were lucky enough to be joined by a huge monitor lizard, who came to sun himself on a nearby rock. We spent the rest of the morning relaxing at the camp, reading our books and enjoying being in such a beautiful setting. At around ten we were given a second breakfast of noodles, which was tasty if not exactly needed. Once we had packed up the tent we crossed back over the river on the rubber ring and then took a short walk to a deserted jungle hotel. Here we spent some time swimming in the river while the guides prepared our raft for the journey down river back to Bukit Lawang. The rafts consist of five inner tubes tied together, with two people in each and the bags tied on at various points. Luckily all of our possessions were safely wrapped in plastic bags – we were about to get soaked! One of the young guides sat at the front of the raft, with the rest of us all piled in the middle, and we pushed off into the river. The water was fast-flowing, with strong currents and a near-continuous stream of rapids as it passed over the rocks. Some parts of the river were wide and gentle but others were gushing with whitewater and we got well and truly wet as we raced down-stream with our driver pushing us off the rocks with a wooden pole. It was so much fun, rushing along in our makeshift raft, all screeching and laughing as the we splashed through the rapids, waving at local children as we went. All too soon we found ourselves back in Bukit Lawang, where it was time to say goodbye to our fellow trekkers and guides. We went back to our guesthouse, where we got cleaned up with a refreshing cold shower, followed by one of Auntie's tasty lunches. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the garden or reading our books in our. The usually predictable rain confused us this evening by not coming at all, despite the thunder and lightening show. After a lovely dinner we settled into our comfy bed for the night to catch up on sleep.

Our camp

Joseph, one of the guides

Crossing the river

Monitor lizard