"Your home is now behind you, the world...is ahead."
It's strange to think that one week I was in Austin peacefully enjoying the Blues on the Green music festival with my friends and 7 days later I found myself trekking in a Sumatran jungle, terrified of the wild, 300 pound orangutan less than 10 feet in front of me. I'll get to that in a minute though…
After about 36 hours of travel time, including flight delays and lay overs, I finally made it to the first country on my list, Indonesia. I chose South East Asia to travel to for a number of reasons but the main two were because it's more affordable and exotic in comparison to the US. My plan was to make a pit stop in Java at the over populated capital of Jakarta (28 million and counting) before continuing on. I caught a cab to my hotel and after sleeping uncomfortably on airplanes off and on for the last full day, the only thing I wanted to do was get some shut eye. So I proceeded to do so for next 10 hours.
The following day, I had booked a flight to Medan, another major city, this one located in the northern island of Sumatra. I was to meet up with my friend Marta, a like minded friend that's been traveling alone in the area for the last few months. The plan was to immediately leave Medan for Bukit Lawang, a small village surrounded by jungle to the North. After another delayed flight we eventually rendezvoused at the Medan airport. It'd been 7 years since we last saw each other and it was certainly a pleasure seeing a familiar face, especially so far away from home and after such a long period of time. It was also here that we met with the host of our soon-to-be guest house. His name was Duny. (At least that's the way I'd spell it.) “Hello, nice to meet me!” were his first words. He was quite the character and I'd later realize that with the amount of tourists he encounters, short witty comments were his only short hand. From here, we, along with another solo-traveler from France and Duny's friend would travel together to Bukit Lawang in a van, through Medan and it's suburbs for about 4 hours. It was this short trip that really woke me up to exactly where I was. Which might as well have been another world..
It's interesting to observe the difference between people's perception of danger. Namely, mine and the people of Indonesia. Sumatra is a place where driving on the opposite side of the road is completely accepted because it'll get you there faster. Yes, they at least give you the courtesy of honking their horn when coming around blind curves in the opposite lane. Seat-belts are worn only in certain cities and even then only temporarily to appease the police at the occasional check point. Whole families can be seen riding on a moped, infant children in hand or 8 years old carrying their younger siblings. 8 years olds dude. Students pile on top of buses when it's more practical than cramming in the interior. It's shocking at first and if it's your welcoming introduction, as it was mine, you'll find yourself gripping the seat, clenching your teeth and stomping the invisible brakes as people pass each other against oncoming traffic, narrowly missing one another. Given a week though, and this is already something I've learned to ignore, avert my eyes and just trust the drivers. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss and these are some of those times. As unbelievable as it seems, I've yet to see a single traffic accident, or act of road rage. Perhaps due to the fact that as a driver here, you have to be completely aware, respectful and more cautious of your surroundings and other drivers, not to mention the inevitable pot hole or stray animal, than you would if there were stricter traffic laws and fewer obstacles. Instead of believing no one will run a red light as most would at home, here you always have to assume someone will, not to mention red lights and traffic signs are a rarity to begin with. It's a very different way of life but an effective one nonetheless.
After a few hours we finally escaped the hustle and bustle of the city and into calm roads. The smell of clean air was palpable and refreshing compared to that of the polluted city. 20 miles or so away from the homestead was undeniably scenic and also appalling. Acres upon acres of deforestation was taking place to make way for profitable palm tree plantations. Palm trees, as far as the eye could see. Duny explained that the Indonesian govt, along with its Malaysian counterpart, were planting them to harvest the valuable oil they bore. The plantations give hundreds of thousands of people jobs and it was apparent, in light of the standards of living, that financial opportunity greatly overshadowed any environmental detriment. It was beautifully dismaying.
Another hour or so passed before we reached our destination. Bukit Lawang. It was dusk at this point and the lush jungle scenery would remain hidden till the morning but the sounds that escaped it made it difficult not to acknowledge. Following our registration and presentation of our cozy cabin room, Marta and I celebrated our long awaited arrival with a couple liters of Bintang beer in a nearby guest house and shortly after rested in preparation for the following day.
What I awoke to was something out of a Disney movie. Roosters crowed in unison while the charming morning song birds proudly marked the beginning of the day. The sound of the locals sweeping their porches would follow shortly after. It was a treat for the ears. Stepping out to the balcony, I was greeted with the morning rays of the sun as it highlighted the vivid flora of the jungle that surrounded the village above and below. Macaques monkeys jumped from trees to power lines, to rooftops, then back to trees again. It was a delight to the eyes. Let me make it very clear that as much as I tried to capture it all, pictures do it absolutely no justice.
Bukit Lawang is home to about 2000 genuinely caring people who like to refer to themselves as “Jungle People” as well as one of a few wildlife preserves, sheltering approximately 5000 wild Orangutans, also which, by its very definition means “People of the Jungle”. Knowing this, one can only hope to try to catch a glimpse of one of these rare and fascinating creatures. After breakfast and some relaxing we decided to head up the nearby river to find a good place to bask in its beauty. Next and nearby was one of BL's most popular attractions. A feeding platform for Orangutans. For a modest fee, you, 2 guides and other tourists can hike a mile or so into the jungle to a platform where the guides will begin to beck and call Orangutans. Usually offering fruit in exchange for their presence. After an hour of trying to persuade any nearby volunteers it was apparent that the recent fruiting season of the jungle made it less appealing for our Jungle brethren to come to the platform for something so widely available around them and in greater amounts. It was quite disappointing to head back without having captured any images of one on my camera but what can you do? Head back to the beautiful village, admire the landscape and end the night with a few beers with the locals? Yes. Yes, that's exactly what you can do. So we did.
I learned a lot about the people there that night. Above all, they were content. Content with what they had and the way things were. No one was actively competing against each other, stepping on toes to get a leg up. Working to be a village restaurant corporation or a famous social media star. It was relieving for me, particularly coming from a country that so deeply embeds entitlement into its people, that no one seemed to be attempting to be something they weren't.
It was decided, on the next day, that we would spend a few hours trekking in the jungle in hopes that we might see some of the animals that made this place so special. If nothing else, to trek in a Sumatran jungle. Guides are provided when you schedule your venture and at random it seemed. As luck would have it, ours ended up being a great one. “Tuyuk, my name.” he said. A young guy, probably 24 or 25, wearing a Dream Theater shirt of all things. Even though he had no idea who they were, “My band!” he stated when I asked, I took it as a good sign.
It starts off slow, around 9am, walking through the village around houses and huts. The villagers can be seen washing their clothes in their buckets or tending to their yards. Up steps lined with broken bamboo, steadily further and further into the rain forest. Half an hour later, it becomes obvious that the humidity level had substantially risen and the path is becoming less structured. Tuyuk points out a tree, below and against it, is a wooden cup full of white liquid that's collected from dripping off the bark. “Dis, rubber tree. Every morning, people come cut to collect rubber. Dey have special knife for bark. Tree import from Brazil.” It turns out this is another contributing factor of the deforestation that is so widespread. There are other acres and acres of Sumatran forest, I would later see, being replaced by these trees to make rubber. As we continue, the path becomes steeper and narrower and we have to hold on to vines to climb over fallen trees. We come across several types of monkey. Some friendly like the langur, some mischievous like the macaques, and some watching over their young. At this point these monkeys are a little common but still interesting to observe. “Look, gibbon!” Tuyuk says in his thick Indonesian accent. Up above, maybe 20 feet was a gibbon hanging around. At first peacefully, until another monkey decided to irritate it, at which point they began to fight and scream like you would imagine monkeys would. Apparently it was rare to see a gibbon at all, much less capture pictures of it in the position it was in. Lady Luck would shine her light on us again when another 15 minutes or so into the jungle, we heard branches and leaves shaking up above under the weight of a mother orangutan and her young. It's one thing to see something on TV or in books and another to see it in front of you with your own eyes. She was scrounging for fruit and her babies were swinging around close by. A group of other tourists walking by gathered around with us to finally see what we'd all been hoping for. I snapped a couple of pictures and after being fascinated with how the apes behaved in their natural environment , we agreed it was time to move on.
The jungle was incredibly humid, the path became steeper and mosquitoes were plentiful. By this point I was drenched and itchy all over. Then I noticed Tuyuk hadn't even broken a sweat and seemed un phased by it all. It was interesting to observe. After coming to a small stream our guide decided it was time to have a snack and take a few minutes to catch our breath. He brought with him a bundle of small bananas and a delicious fruit that quickly became a favorite of mine, rambutan. Which is derived from the Malay word for hair. which is what it seems to have lots of. After talking for a bit and replenishing our energy supply we continued upwards and onwards.
We were coming towards the end of our trek when we came across another guide and a couple of tourists. “Look!” Tuyuk yelled and pointed in the trees. It was a very large male orangutan nestled in the foliage maybe 25 feet away. I quickly shot a few pictures when it began to climb it's way towards us. Now, the previous female we saw was a good 20 feet above us, by the time I knew it this one was maybe 15 feet, eye level and moving in our direction. Tuyuk had mentioned how important it was to be cautious around them previously and told us to back up. We were on a narrow path and could only move either left or right but the ape seemed to be coming directly to the path on the right side. It was focused on the other guide and tourists for some reason and once we realized this Tuyuk moved backwards into the jungle to move around him and told us to do the same. When you understand that these animals have many times the amount of strength required to easily remove the limbs from your torso, you start to panic. I stealthily moved as subtle as possible around him while he watched me closely. My heart was racing. Once I safely made it around to Tuyuk and Marta I had to capture the moment. It ended up being the best shot I got. He quickly turned his attention to the other group that was quickly walking away, swung off of the branches and started running towards them. The other tourists, terrified, ran away as fast as they could. It only ran for a brief second before climbing back onto a tree and hanging in one spot again. Tuyuk did the same as a sign of peace or something. Or just for fun. One of the two. It was a stroke of luck to see a wild orangutan that large and so close. Also, extremely intimidating. The orangutan slowly climbed away while I watched in fascination and relief. We ended our hike with a walk out of the jungle and into the refreshing river. At first a brief swim followed by a relaxing tube float down river and back to our guest house. It was a perfect ending.
That night was our last in Bukit Lawang so we decided to spend it socializing. Duny and other locals were singing cover songs and playing games with tourists in our guest house restaurant. I owed him a couple beers after betting him that Argentina would win the World Cup. A price I paid that night, sure, but not without having a few of my own.
Next stop, Lake Toba....and food poisoning...