In the morning Ibu persuaded the guys to let us dry our socks by the fire since everything was damp, we thought we might embarrass our guides if we asked to put our bras there too. The socks smelled of smoke when we finally got them back on. The bras may have been soggy but at least … Continue reading Sumatra – Gunung Leuser National Park Day 2.
Tag: Sumatra
Sumatra – Gunung Leuser National Park
Having dosed up Ibu with travel sickness tablets, telling her they were strong and would make her sleepy we set off in a taxi to Bukit Lawang, a six hour drive. To describe the drive Tajana commented that "before, erratic was just a word and now it's an experience!" It wasn't comfortable. I think the … Continue reading Sumatra – Gunung Leuser National Park
Sumatra – Samosir – All Creatures
I want to mention the animals we encountered I'll start with the domestic ones. There are dogs everywhere here. Ibu's dog Jack was by far the healthiest we saw and that's because he is given an insecticidal bath regularly. The other dog at the house is Beagle and he's really old and an alpha male. … Continue reading Sumatra – Samosir – All Creatures
Sumatra – Day Out
We had a day out to visit the other side of the island. Hery hired a driver for us and Efrida, Tatjana and I set off. We visited another Batak living history village, and tried the local coffee (thick and black) which was surprisingly mild. Views of the lake from here were wonderful. I don't … Continue reading Sumatra – Day Out
Sumatra – A Wedding, A Baby Shower and A Funeral
This is a long post. First, I aught to mention going to Church on Sunday. This is still a relevant practice here. So we went with our host family. The preparation for this event was a little challenging as between Tatjana and I we would probably make a scarecrow proud, Tatjana has one pair of … Continue reading Sumatra – A Wedding, A Baby Shower and A Funeral
Sumatra – Pea Farmhouse
I'm churning these out, right now because such a lots has been going on, more is about to happen. I don't want to forget it. We headed to Pea Farmhouse as Hery needed some help with his guests and Ibu was going there to cook. We peeled the garlic and the smallest onions I've ever … Continue reading Sumatra – Pea Farmhouse
Sumatra – Corn and Litter
We volunteered to help bring in the corn (maize) because Ibu was worried about more damage by boar and she asked if we were serious about helping? Of course we were. Anyway the next day with Ibu and a neighbour (related in some fashion I think) we went to pick corn. We were shown what … Continue reading Sumatra – Corn and Litter
Sumatra – Batak Houses
Many people in Samosir live like Efrida (I've been spelling her name wrong) to a greater or lesser degree. Very few will get to experience the rest of the world, Efrida went to Bali and worked as a teacher in a primary school there ( just wait to see her with children later), which probably … Continue reading Sumatra – Batak Houses
Sumatra – Samosir
So what does our day look like? At first I felt really uncomfortable, Ibu and her family feeding us and sharing their home is no small thing. We wanted to do some work to help out but, I think we seemed rather useless and Ibu kept saying we'll talk about it later when we offered … Continue reading Sumatra – Samosir
Sumatra – Lake Toba
I didn't know what to expect, I hadn't researched Sumatra and this was such a spur of the moment thing. At the Airport I took out just over 1000000 Indonesian Rupees and thought this will be the only time in my life I will be a millionaire! It's worth about £50 Hahahaha! Tatjana had lived … Continue reading Sumatra – Lake Toba
The Travelling Bee 