MONKEYS!

Took the long arduous journey from Banda Aceh to Medan (15 hrs overnight). And from there, transfered to another bus to goto Bukit Lawang (3 hrs). Again a hellish ride. 3 hrs, dusty broken roads, no AC, and constant stopping along the way. But i think it was all worth it!

Hiding in the trees

Why Bukit Lawang? Why not? Hahhaa. No, it used to be a famous tourist destination before a flash flood ripped through in 2003. Why is it that i like to goto these natural disaster places? Its not by choice mind you. But it was a definite presence when i arrived there.

Anyways, this place is famous for its national park which has Orangutans! I think i paid a little too much (60 USD for 1/2 day hike, but thats normally split b/t 4 ppl so it is quite cheap) but i do not regret it at all. It was well worth it, in every way.

Right after i arrived, i checked into a very nice place (still cheap though) a guy on the bus recommended. He went with me to find his friend which was also an excellent guide and we went off into the jungle. It didn't take long. After about 10 min of hiking (i was sweating at this point, its the jungle after all!) we found our first orangutans! We found another group of tourists in the jungle and joined up with them because they had seen/heard one close by.

I think she wants to give us the finger! Or maybe the shocker?

So we follow this group (the guides know each other of course) down a steep hill (one of the tourists couldn't make it). Up in the tree, far far out of view, was a big hairy orange thing! I was not impressed. We spent the next 5-10 min looking at this far away ball of fur and i began to wonder if i had spend my money wisely. But, that thought soon left my mind as the Orangutan started to climb down the tree! She was being convinced to come down by one of the guides holding out some banannas! Not something that i was pleased with but they never gave them one. She never came close enough neways.

Wait, who's that up there?

And of course, to my plesant surprise, it was not one, but two orangutans! A mom and a baby! How lucky was that?

Baby as well?!?!

I know the vids/pics seem exciting, but please keep in mind, Orangutans are very, very lazy creatures and actually spend most of their time just sitting there. I'm glad there was a baby as there was so much more action.

After finally getting bored of them, my guide and i hiked on and stopped for lunch on a log just off the trail. We sat and talked for a while (which is why i like him so much) about family, life in indonesia, and the monkeys. Then out of the blue, a white handed gibbon crashed around in the distance! We quickly packed our stuff and walked down the log to get a better view. Out in the distance, was a tiny female gibbon, also with a baby! But, this time, they took off overhead and i really didn't' get a good view of them. So no pics of them. Its unfortunate, the Orangutans are so slow, but the Gibbons are so fast. They need to share some of that energy/laziness so that they are more photogenic. They hung out above us for a little bit, just long enough to take a dump and piss right beside us but out of view.

Hot shower!

Then, as an added bonus, out popped another female Orangutan. She stopped right out in front of us and chilled in her tree. She pretty much just stared at us while we stared at her. I didn't get a pic b/c i was more interested in seeing the Gibbons. But either way, she looked exactly the same as the other one. I guess i'm not that much of a naturalist. Once i've seen one, i want to see somethign else. Although, i never get tired of looking at the same stuff underwater!

Throughout the rest of the hike (the hardest part actually!), we heard Gibbons in the distance but there were no more sightings. That was ok with me though. I was quite happy to have seen 3 of them. I was more excited about the rapid shooting i was about to do in a tube! But this did end up being quite a disappointment. Nevertheless, it was good entertainment. We met up with another guide, and the 3 of us plopped into 3 tubes tied together (how boring! i wanted to go solo! hahah). I sat in the middle to enjoy the ride and they steered the way. The water level was quite low so the rapids were pretty weak. But of course if i was on my own it would have been quite a thrill. But 3 tubes are just too stable for any real rocking.

I just wish i had known that i was going to be sitting there, i would have brought my waterproof case and more importantly, my sandals for the walk back! Regardless, it was a good time and i went back to my room tired but quite happy.

Nice little waterfall

After a quick nap and dinner, i ventured back out into town. Again with my guide, but this time, to goto a wedding! How cool is that? One of his friends was getting married and he asked me to come along! I asked if it was ok or not, and he replied, 'its a village wedding, the more the better!' I was so thrilled to get the chance to see an Indonesian (Java) wedding!

Wedding time

Anyways, we arrived and things were not all that exciting. There were some ppl singing, the bride and groom were sitting around, and lots of ppl were eating. We grabbed some food and sat down. I asked is it going to be like this all night? 'Pretty much', he told me. I sat there for about 45 min just watching and absorbing. But after that much time, i pretty much absorbed all that i could and went back to my room. Some ppl asked me to stay, but i couldn't take it nemore. All it was was ppl singing (karaoke style). It was interesting to note that the songs were not all traditional Java songs. Some were Kota i believe (of course i can't tell). All i know is that some songs had a cow bell ringing in it (uh, i think it needs just a little more cowbell...)

-bk