arewethereyet

We almost missed our flight out of Australia due to the girls leaving using their Dutch passports. There was some confusion over the absence of visas and how we could have been living in Australia without them – we heard our names called and the words ‘will be offloaded’ – and within 30 seconds we had the issue resolved and rushed through the closing door.

After a 6 hour sleepover in Singapore, we boarded a Silk Air flight to Medan at 7.30am. Brilliant airline – can’t think of the last time we had a meal during a 1 hr flight. Our arrival in Medan was definitely another unique experience. The staff outnumbered passengers as we filed into the arrival ’shed’. We lined up to pay our US$10 pp for a 7 day tourist visa. Immigration happily chugging away on their cigarettes whilst we learnt our first Indonesian word ‘Terima Kasih’ (thankyou).

After picking up the bags we asked one of the many airport officials what the best way into the city was. Instead of guiding us to one of the many becak and taxis waiting outside, he rang his friend who soon arrived in another taxi to take us in. We let the Lonely Planet guide us to Hotel Zakia – behind the grand mosque. 130,000 IDR for a good room, toilet with bucket and scoop and many hours of Indonesian soap operas on offer. It was a good start – until the Ramadan prayer sessions began out of 4 loud speakers. As a special treat, we were enlightened by 2 x 1 hour sessions of prayer.

We felt inspired to visit the mosque and after being covered, walked in on a Muslim wedding. Kai was given permission to photograph the wedding and was also introduced to the bride and groom. After the girls and I left the space, we found ourselves surrounded by some women guests who wanted to squeeze Kaia and take numerous photos with the girls.

It was beginning of many ’squeeze and click’ sessions – a novelty for the girls on the 1st day – an annoyance by the 7th. It seems as though western children are rarely seen in Northern Sumatra. Whenever we stopped, the crowds gathered to stare or ’squeeze’ or practice their English. We saw very few other tourists in Medan and felt rather oversized as the Indonesians have such wee frames. Lulu is the same size an average 14 year old Indonesian girl and Kaia’s age was too hard to get their head around.

Again we let the Lonely Planet guide us to ‘Tip Top’ – a cafe that has been in existence since 1929. The oldest cafe in Indonesia. They are still using the woodfire oven that was installed in 1934. The meals ranged in price from $1 – $3.

The next day we took a Becak to the bus station to board one of the local buses bound for Bukit Lawang. The tourist office had told us it would cost 25,000 IDR ($2.50) each for the 3.5 hr journey (70 kms). The locals informed us it was 10,000 IDR. After mistaking the Islamic donation envelope for the fare collection we ended up handing over 15,000 IDR to Indonesia’s version of Elvis. Confusing start. The bus ride was a mixture of smoking, squeezing (Kaia – the whole way), bumping in/out and around major potholes and waiting for the driver to disappear and reappear at various points along the route. 10 mins before Bukit Lawang, a local struck up a conversation with us. We were being hooked and reeled in by a jungle guide going by the name of ‘Jusuf’.

He took us to the ‘Eco-Lodge’ and sat with us to ‘encourage’ us to take a 3 hr trek into the Gunung Leuser National Park to look for Orangutans. It was going to cost us $2 each to view them at the feeding platform vs US$100 for the trek. We had a think over dinner and agreed to set off at 1pm the next day. The next morning we visited the weekly market to find Lulu some shoes. A $5 purchase to cover her feet and we set off after lunch into the jungle.

We came across 5 Orangutans which the guides had coaxed down out of the trees to be fed bananas and pineapples. It wasn’t until after the trek that we read we shouldn’t have fed or touched them due to disease and their unpredictable natures. The guides seem to make up their own rules amongst the trees.

It was incredibly special as there are so few Orangutans left in the world. Due to the continued threat to their environment (illegal logging) and the limited breeding cycle of the females (3-4 children per lifetime – once every six years after the age of 10), their future is somewhat uncertain. It is incredibly sad as they are such intelligent, beautiful creatures.

The rest of our time in Bukit Lawang was spent in a different hotel (Wisma Bukit Lawang Indah), rafting down the river and hanging out with the locals. Lulu made friends with 3 local girls and Kaia made herself at home in the hotel kitchen and with 2 kids onsite. Most Indonesian children learn English at school so there wasn’t a major language barrier. I don’t think it would have mattered if there was. The town is beautiful – however, it is still recovering after flooding caused by natural dams bursting due to illegal logging leaving mountains bare of plant cover. 300 houses were swept away and around 170 people died. A big impact in a small village (1000 people).

It was hard to leave, but our short visa forced us back into the CHAOS of Medan for one more night before heading out. We found an amusement park on the 4th floor of the shopping centre opposite our hotel which the girls were stoked about. Lulu spent her time on the bumper cars and Lulu on the ‘Mery Go Around’. We were approached by a Chinese guy – John – who developed a product called ‘Agricola’ – a fertiliser that helped produce oversized crops. His formula was developed through God speaking to him. It turns out he is a Christian who uses his fertiliser to try and convert Muslims to Christianity. It is illegal for Christians to share their religion with Muslims in Sumatra. If they are caught, they face 20 years to life in prison because of the threat to Islam. However, it is no problem for a Muslim to approach a Christian – and so he waits for Muslims to approach him about the fertiliser. He will quite happily give it away for free if they convert.

Medan departure hall must be one of the shabbiest. Duty Free shops in a predominantly cash only society, customs officials more interested in Facebook and playing patience on their computers than checking passports. Maybe an increase of the AUS$7.50 departure fee would improve facilities. We almost had our first run in with the Indonesian legal system on departure as the ‘arrival officials’ had forgotten to stamp Kai’s passport. The ‘departure official’ couldn’t figure this one out – so pulled out his stamp and backdated an arrival date in Kai’s passport. No worries eh?!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Trip Diary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.