Indonesia - Bukit Lawang

Right, this time i'm keeping it short. I promise.

I'll try to anyway but it could be difficult as our trip to the jungles of Bukit Lawang was right up there with our favourite experiences of the travels so far. That said it was amazingly serene, with a dearth of anything constituting night life and most evenings were spent eating out whilst locals snoozed in the back or watched unintelligible soap operas. The drama was intense at times, transcending the language barrier and leaving us gripped.

Loga's 45 minutes with a friend - Ep. 2 by Loga (Mind On Fire) on Mixcloud

For those of you eager to know what was on our iPods for the journey there I shall put you out of your misery. This time around I shared Natalie's and listened to everything from Nick Drake to Joanna Newsom, as well as one of my own mixes (above) because that is the kind of super cool guy I am. A brief and welcome interlude was when a busking band ran on the bus at one stop to run through a quick tune.

Sumatra Bus Band by LogaMcr

I do find it interesting how much our music choices change and adapt to our surroundings. Sumatra was more folky and organic sounding after the more electronic and industrial soundtrack to Japan. Then again I can be pretty dull and your probably not in the least interested so i'll tell you more about the jungle trek to see Orangutans which originally brought us to Bukit Lawang. (Below is one of the 4 bridges that crossed the river from our guesthouse to the town)

The night before we set off we were told by a fellow trekker that there was a wedding party going on in the town so we headed out to see how they celebrated. Much to our amazement the festivities consisted of a troupe of unconvincing lady boys playing with snakes, singing, dancing and dry humping a demon that had emerged from the crowds whilst an unimpressed man at a keyboard veered between 80s horror movie music and Euro Dance. All this from the Muslim country that had suggested Natalie covered her shoulders as to not offend anyone. Nothing like lady boys and monsters to keep all generations pleased. Good Clean Family Fun.

After a crack of dawn brekkie we packed our bags and got ready to go all Bear Grylls. Our guide Thomas was a proper joker and as well as showing us the secrets of the jungle such as the rubber tree, clove leaf and the sap that made incense he also kept us entertained with stories and recipes for herbal remedies to spice up your love life. According to him, if you mix together pure honey, the yolk of a duck's egg and Guiness "You will be taking off and NEVER landing".

I was pretty happy he was keeping it lighthearted and feeding me regularly as at times the 2 day trek got pretty rigorous. I really enjoyed getting stuck in though and seeing Orangutans in one of only two of their wild habitats left was pretty special. Unfortunately you don't always get that close and our camera is by no means at a professional level but we got a couple of decent snaps nonetheless.

The next day we passed up on a further 2 hour trek after Thomas said it was unlikely that we would see anything. Instead we joined the stragglers from another group and dossed about in a waterfall for a bit before rafting back. Hard work I know.

Our stay was coming to an end and as well as washing our clothes in the river (strangely satisfying) we spent time with the local kids by the river. Me doing my best Tarzan impression on a vine and Nat introducing them to the world of paste ups.

 

Oh and we found some more big things to continue the " Big things we have found in different countries that we have visited so far and then taken photos of" string of the blog.

The call to prayer was an almost ever present during our stay in Sumatra and on the last day I recorded this one at Bukit Lawang's Mosque.

Bukit Lawang Call To Prayer by LogaMcr