Sumatra, Sumatra... Welcome to the jungle.

Big plans & executed only a few of them. As usually I got a bit stuck in one place for much longer than originally planned. Okay, I had only hardly 3 weeks time totally but back in the old days I would have hurried through the whole island staying max 2 nights in one place. Luckily I'm not that person anymore.

Due some (not to be explained here) reasons my plan to go to Ketambe got changed and I ended up in Bukit Lawang instead. Had a lovely ride in a night bus sitting next to the smokers chamber and having people staring at me most of the journey. Luckily I had my sleeping inlet with me so I managed to hide for a few hours snooze during the night. The driver threw me out just a bit before Medan where I should change to a minibus towards the jungle. And as I'm cheap, I didnt wanna pay a rickshaw but were standing in the crossing looking puzzled and asking all the minibusses driving by if they might be heading to my direction. One driver could explain that the ones to Bukit Lawang actually don't pass that crossing and he took me to the right place for 20 cents. I like these prices! I was the last one in the minibus meaning I got the best seat in the car: in the back together with 3 men who were already nicely sweaty. Excatly what I needed while I was enjoying the fantastic view of palm oil plantations and factories. I could have cried. So yea, it was a long journey from Banda Aceh to Bukit Lawang but for sure worth it. 

The future of Sumatra?

I booked myself accidentally to the party lodge of the place and that's what I ended up doing most of the time. There were some fantastic characters staying in the same place so I always had company for what ever I wanted to do: trek in the jungle, get wasted by local tuak, go tubing down the river or play rummykub. I'm now officially addicted to that game. After 2 days practising I also finally started to beat the locals.

But I did a bit more than just partyparty, I went for a 2-day-one-night trekking tour in the Gunung Leuser National Park. We found 5-6 semi-wild Orang-Utans and lots of Thomas Leaf Monkeys. The trek was hot, moist & semi-tough 6 hours journey via small paths in the rainforest. Up, down, up, down etc.

I loved the campsite, just next to the river, very simple and also not too many people stayed there. The next day we hanged out by a water fall and finally came down the river in tubes back to the village. I kind of got into this tubing thing and went tubing 3 hours down the river again the following day with the guide I had in the jungle and 2 other friends. A good mix of people: a finn, a columbian, a canadian and a indonesian. Good laughs, great day! Followed by similar ones: hang out in the jungle by the river, read a book, play rummy, have a beer or two or three...

Beer o'clock?

FOOOOOOD!!!!

Once more I managed to leave the village for one night and went to Tangkahan for some quiet time. That's a sleepy relaxing place around 2 hours drive away from Bukit Lawang. In a really bad dirt road and you need a motorbike for the trip. I went there with the same jungle dude again and we did absolutely nothing. Just had a quiet day: jumping to the river, relaxing in a natural hot spring & sleeping in a hammock. A good one. 

Really, what do you actually need more than an amazingly beautiful rainforest with orang-utans, gibbons, tigers, rhinos & elephants (sure, you can't find the last 3 species), a clear river, cool people to hang out with, both local and other bules & great food. I do agree with the prices too: nasi goreng around 1 euro, room with bath 4 euro, big beer 2 euro, around 8 liter of tuak 4 euro, tube 70 cents. And I got free rides from the dudes of the guesthouse to many places. No wonder I got stuck. I really, REALLY liked it there.

But yes, time to move on again. Now I'm stuck in Medan for the last evening and tomorrow I'm flying  to Nepal via KL. Once again :) yayyyyy!!!!

And: Sumatra, I'll be back!

Finally in Sumatra

I took a night flight from Maldives to Kuala Lumpur, changed to the low cost terminal with a local bus and jumped to the next plane towards Sumara. Finally. I planned to come here already last year but as usually, changed my plans in the last minute and went somewhere else. But now I'm finally here. 

My first destination was Pulau Weh in the northest tip of Indonesia. Green, beautiful small(ish) island with excellent diving & cheap accommodation. What do you need more? Oh yea, cheap beer. Well, not existent in the strictest islam area of Indonesia. There were a few questhouses with beer but if you pay as much for 2 cans as for your accommodation, you don't really feel too thirsty. But priorities, priorities, and this time that was diving anyways.

My 6 e / night bungalow, the first one on the left of the big house by the water.  Loved it!

That's a view I'd like to have in Hakaniemi...

I had done the AOWD in Maldives so I didn't need to worry about which dives I can and cannot do. Not that it would have mattered in Pulau Weh anyways. I did 7 dives with Rubiah Tirta Divers at Iboih Beach. Some were really good, some a bit boring with bad visibility. Canyon was great, cool rock & coral formations, loads of fish etc. In total I saw 2 sharks, loads of lion fishes, a few stone fishes, an octopus and morays were basically everywhere. And also did my deepest dive so far, 47,7 meters. Nothing to see there. And can't complain about the price, I ended up paying 16 e per dive :)

On one day I drove around with a scooter with a dude who was also diving, we tried to find a volcano in the land and one under water. Didn't happen. Nice day nevertheless. All the other days were all about diving and one of the mornings got wasted with a small hang over. Yes, finnish ppl buy tax free vodka when they know alcohol isn't widely available. And when there's a german and a mexican around there's also soon an empty bottle.

After one week I felt like it's time to move on. The scooter dude was heading to the same direction so it looks like I don't have to sit in a bus alone. Not that that would happen anyways as the locals are quite nosy. But first a few days in a surf spot near Banda Aceh and the next plan probably on Monday is to head towards Ketambe. Or maybe Bukit Lawang. I'll see... Plans are made to be changed.

...And everybody still remembers Martti Ahtisaari here. Looks like he did a good job at the peace negotiations almost 10 years ago.