Galen & Rebecca Kennel’s Weblog

Valentines Day. It doesn’t appear to be a big deal here. Hallmark is missing out on a huge, untapped market in SE Asia.

We spend the last of our small rupiahs hiring one of the pesty touts to take us by motorcycle side-car a few blocks to catch the #64 minibus to the Pinang Baris bus station. It isn’t really far, but the sidewalks are full of obstacles, especially when you are dragging a suitcase, and the streets are crowded. Now we will have to pay our minibus fare with a 100,000 note. That’s like using a $20 bill to buy a 10 cent piece of candy.

We barely fit into the sidecar. Two suitcases, two backpacks, and two big people scrunched into a tiny space. We go south a few blocks, then make a u-turn around the meridian to go back the other way. This is where it gets interesting. The drivers making the u-turn slowly creep out into the oncoming lane – once there is a little break in the traffic, they creep out further until they force the oncoming traffic to slow down. Then they can make their turn. It’s bad enough doing it in a big bus, but you feel a little vulnerable when you are sitting precariously in an open side-car.

Fortunately, we don’t go far in this little contraption. The driver flags down the #64 mini bus and we load all our gear onto it and we are off for a 30-minute ride through Medan to the Pinang Baris bus station 10 km west of here.

Now we have to figure out how to pay the bus driver the 2,000 out of our 100,000 note. A friendly woman who is also going to the bus station offers to pay the driver for us. Then we search around at the bus station for a way to change our money. We buy two bottles of water and are then able to pay the woman and our bus fare to Bukit Lawang.

The bus to Bukit Lawang is almost full. Our luggage gets piled at the back of the bus and we claim seats on the 3-seat side of the bus, hoping that we won’t have to share it with anyone.

It takes about an hour to really get out of the city – Medan has a population of almost 3 million. By this time, the bus is full and we are sharing our side with a little woman. Our knees are smashed against the seat in front of us.

About an hour later and we are in to farmland – the miles and miles of oil palm. An hour later and we are starting to climb a bit. Now the road gets really bad in places and we meet lots of big trucks, hauling the palm oil kernels to the refinery. Not quite an hour later and we reach the bus station at Gotong Royong where we get down to go to Bukit Lawang.

On the bus, we met a young man who provides guiding service into the jungle. His sister runs a guesthouse along the river in Bukit Lawang, so he offers to take us there. We had wanted to stay at Nora’s Homestay, but no one else on the bus speaks English enough to understand us, so we go along with the guide, Asim. It is a 2 km motorcycle side-car ride to the village. This time we hire two and ride in comfort..

The Wisma Sibayak Hotel is across the river from the taxi park. The flood in 2003 washed out all the bridges across the river. This wooden, foot bridge was built by the owner of the hotel and ends directly at the front desk of the hotel. There are only two other bridges across the river – one that the government built that leads to nowhere across the widest point in the river, and one built by the owners of the Ecolodge, just down from our hotel.

Asim shows us a room on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the river. It is a large room with a bed, a table, and two plastic chairs. Private bathroom with western-style toilet and a shower. 30,000 rupiah. We learn later that they charge the local tourists that come from Medan 50,000, as they bring all their own food and don’t eat in the restaurant.

Amci and his wife Atik run the hotel for an owner who lives in Medan. When Amci learns that we are friends of Papa Denmark, he immediately calls him on his cell phone and tells him that his Canadian friends are here.

After settling in and having a bite to eat, we walk down the path by the river to Papa Denmark’s bungalow. Older people here are called “Papa” and “Mama”. Papa Denmark serves coffee to Papa and Mama Canada on the veranda overlooking his garden and the river in the jungle of Sumatra. Yes, it is very close to paradise.

Later, over dinner at our hotel, we watch the kids playing in the river. The current runs quite fast, but it is shallow with a few deeper areas along some large boulders. A perfect place for kids to play.

Photos of our trip to Bukit Lawang.