Blog 49

Our 1st Indonesian destination didn't disappoint. A small kampung in the heart of the Sumatran rainforest complete with all the wildlife you could dream of. The first night we found ourselves in a guesthouse mid renovation so naturally at 6am the builders woke us and an hour previously the macaques stirred us as they played tig on the corrugated iron roof. Thinking back I guess monkeys weren't a bad way to be woken up.

We moved on to a home stay style guest house for the remaining couple of nights run by a big Indonesian mama who did the biggest and best fruit salad breakfast you can imagine.

The lure of the crystal clear river didn't take us long to go and explore. Dressed in a bikini and sarong (because anyone who saw us came for an ogle) we took shampoo and conditioner down to have the full on local experience. It was beaut! We never found out what the shower facilities at our place were like as that was our new wash routine, in fact even the local mokeys realised we were a spectacle as they came and had their wash with us!

We ummed and arghed about whether to pay for a trip in the jungle but we decided to haggle him down and fork out the £10 each for a half day. Later we realised our conversion was wrong and we actually only paid £7.50. Either price really was an absolute bargain! The animals we encountered were undeterred by the little group of us, in fact some of the long tailed macaques, Thomas leaf monkeys and orangutans even came closer out of interest. A truly special experience, although it got your heart racing when the beastly daddy orangutan came down the tree and started approaching and the guide started shouting "move move move"!

Another squashy, smokey, minibus ride out of Bukit Lawang and we arrived in Berastagi.

Love Jojo x