From Broome to Bukit Lawang..
Finally the day arrived, to hop on the planes. On Sunday the 27th we took the first plane from Broome to Perth then from Perth to Singapore, from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and the last flight from Kuala Lumpur to Medan (Sumatra)
4 flights later and a night without sleep we finally arrived in Medan with the feeling of a massive hangover (without drinking any alcohol) But we were not there yet...There was another 3 hours car ride to go. Luckily my friend Leigh picked us up and could tell us what to do, because there was no chance we could think any common sense at all at this stage.
After 3 hours of a bumpy interesting ride.. with a lot of traffic under way, motorbikes with 3,4 or 5 family members on it, or big mattresses or what ever they could fit on a motorbike, and you would think they drive carefully, but they drive around on full speed.. I would say slightly different than in Ozz. But the scenery became more beautiful after each corner and we couldn’t wait to arrive... So we could book into the accommodation and have a few hours sleep.. It is a great hut in Ecolodge with nice views over the river. Instead of waking up with finches in the backyard now we have to do it with monkeys. ;-)
After a drink and a feed with Leigh and her friends we were pretty much ready for a full night sleep.
The next day everything looked so much better and we could finally enjoy Bukit Lawang the best. (The people in Bukit Lawang live in, at and from the river.) In the morning we went for a walk to the 'kindertehuis' an orphanage which is built 2 years ago after the great floods (in 2003 if I am right). It is a lovely place and they live from donations so if you have a spare coin check out the website;
http://www.kindertehuisbukitlawang.nl/index.php?section=12&page=58
After the walk and a good look around we were ready for a refreshing dip in the river, fresh but very nice. After that some good lunch at the orphanage. In the afternoon it was time to see the Orang-outangs in the rehabilitation-centre. This was a bit of a show, we all had to walk into the jungle to a platform where the semi wild Orang-outangs get a feed. It took a while before a mum and a baby rocked up. It was a nice view, which got a bit spoiled by all the people who where there. Anyway after this it was time to grab a beer or two three... which is about 3 dollars for a king brown.(big bottle of beer) Life is great!
The food is great the beer is cold and pretty much we eat and drink together for about 15 dollars each meal... James got excited and asked for more and more chilli it can't be hot enough for him...but the day after, his arse did not agree...
Like I said before we staid at an Ecolodge and they have there own organic farm out of town. We were quite curious to have a look and together with Mim (one of our new friends) we jumped on the back of a motorbike and drove down to the farm. It was great to see how the organic farm in Indonesia works, a lovely lady (who spoke poor English) showed us around. Beautiful, and we finished off with a fresh coconut jummm. In the afternoon we got treated with a real tropical rain (I almost had to put a jumper on. Loving it!
The next day we got up early, after brekkie we went to a place near the Orang-outang centre for a lucky dip to see Orang-outangs in the wild.. (the view of the little restaurant was over the jungle) after the best jungle tea ever and an orange juice we were fortunate to see an orang-outang playing around. It was a great way to start the day. After all the good food and drinks we could do with a bit of exercise, and they told us after the orphanage there are some rubber trees and then a really nice spot to have a dip/bath in the river.. We gave it a shot and walked down the way as they told us. But it was all a bit tricky because there where quite a few side tracks..just before we got lost we met a rubber plantation farmer (whom did not speak a word of English) and he guided us the right way.. how good is body language... And we finally arrived after a walk of about 5 km and it was worth it!
All in all we enjoyed Bukit Lawang alot, but on Friday morning it was time to head back to the city Medan to go to the wedding of my friend. What a horrible city.. the pollution hit you in the throat and head, its like smoking ten packs of cigarettes in one go. We were very pleased we could hide In a really nice hotel with comfy bed and air-con. Saturday was the wedding day, it was really interesting to see a Australian-Indonesian wedding,although we did not understand much of the ceremony because it was all spoken in Bahasa (Indonesian Language) After the official part it was time to have a great feed and drinks and a bit of a dance..
Sunday was a lazy day including packing our bags for the next leg of our adventure. Tomorrow early on the plane, off to Kuala Lumpur for one night and then across the great ocean to Los Angeles...
So far so good!
