The ferry to Sumatra left about 2 hours late which was a good introduction to "Sumatra time" where everything is late. Robbie and myself met a few other travelers on the ferry and we all sat together talking at the front. After 4 hours of boring films we had all(6 of us)agreed to avoid Medan and get a minibus straight to Bukit Lawang.
It took ages to get through the rough and intimidating port of Belawan and passport control. As soon as we drove out in the minibus I was glad not to be stopping in Medan as it was most dirty,loud and overcrowded city I had ever seen. One in the bus commented it was as bad as the city's in India.
After stopping for dinner and a bank it was a 3 hour ride to Bukit Lawang (only about 60 miles). The roads couldn't have been any worse because you couldn't call them a road if they were. Massive potholes on twisty and hilly roads looking like the track going through my local woods. There was not much traffic but the trafic there was were massive lorries from all the mines and plantations. There was also obvious previous landslides that we had to drive around.
On arrival we had to go over several large bridges in the dark into what seemed the middle of nowhere. I wanted a days rest but as everyone was signing up for a jungle trek the next day I had to join in.
Our group of 3 (myself, Robbie and a bloke from Holland) set off at about 8am with 2 local guides. It was very tough going over some steep sometimes near vertical slopes. Some parts were very muddy if it had rained it would have been a waste of time.
The good news was that we got one of the best Orang-utan sightings (about 10.....some very close up). Others had gone on 4 day treks and seen none at all. I asked our guide about Tigers but he has only seen one in the last 5 years. Saw loads of other monkeys and a few other strange creatures. Had blood pouring out my ankle from a leech which are very common here. Didn't see any snakes which can only be a good thing.
The other 2 I was with were really hardcore travellers who's passport stamps included central America, Russia, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan and Iran !!!!!!!
Didn't feel like doing a lot for the rest of the day........Had a few beers at night with a few Irish lads who were leaving the next day.
Glad we only did a one day trek to be honest, the thought of spending several days in the jungle dripping wet and only seeing the same as what we seen did not appeal.
The last full day we had a fairly free and easy rest. Went round Bukit Lawang village the locals were pleased to see us. This could have a lot to do with the fact tourism went downhill after 300 people were killed in flash floods a few years earlier. It's what you would expect from a village in Indonesia people with goats, women washing clothes in a river,no public phones, no Internet and power cuts are common. It was also too hot to do anything apart from dry your washing. As it cooled down myself and Robbie (the one from Lichtenstein) went to a nearby bat cave. My torch was not good enough for a cave plus it was wet and slippery from the rain so gave up after about 20 minutes. Got soaked again on the way back. It did nothing but rain for the rest of the evening.
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