Sumatra Adventure - hanna masala!

...as they kept repeating in Aceh - no problem.
There is too little and too much to write, so instead I'd like to just upload pictures, but of course I've lost the computer chord... so you'll just have to imagine.

Medan, traffic everywhere, rickshaws, advertisements made out of flowers, dirty, busy, friendly people, curious people, me getting on the right bus is everyone's business, me eating and being comfortable on the 14 hour bus is also everyone's business, and not even my business to pay for.

Banda Aceh, what is this place, 4 in the morning, dark, bus station, the friendliest people ever, no paying here either, tsunami, huge boat 5 km from the water, ferry port, sun goes up over the sea and the sleeping city, moto drivers sipping their kopi aceh, the first call to prayer for the day can be heard all over, curious men.

Pulau Weh, Tom, scary moto ride on the winding roads, Iboih beach, goats everywhere, blocking the path running along the shore, enjoying the view like everyone else, locked up in the bungalow, hammock, endless rain, green vegetation everywhere, colourful fish, nemo fish, constant electricity black outs, walking barefoot around in the jungle, Japanese fort?, surrounded by huge spiders, chased away by mosquitoes, the never ending sound of the waves, the wind, the rain on the roof.

Banda Aceh again, hothothot, all women covered from top to toe, even wearing socks, sitting on the grave yard watching the sun go down over the graves with funny Dutch names, hearing stories about family members dieing in the tsunami, city rebuilt with a modern feel, no sidewalks, hotel room looks and smells like a dungeon, too hot to be anywhere else, no restaurants, cafe after cafe after cafe, kopi aceh, little cakes, My bread and ice cream, AC, savor.

Lampu'uk beach, white, neverending, empty beach, with the random group of cows here and there, palmtrees swaying, neverending days under the unforgiving sun, avocado and tomato salad, death if it weren't for the sea, the breeze and the shade, the sound of the waves and the crickets, and something else, a snoring monkey? rock climbing and bats emerging from the cave at sunset, moto ride through the fields and groups of palmtrees, water is salt, sky is blue, sun is strong, everything is white, white, white

Momong beach, sleeping in too small a tent, dragonflies surrounding us, suddenly gone, swallows surrounding us, fire on the beach, can of mushrooms for dinner, sunset the most beautiful so far, I say that every night, swimming in the warm water under a sky totally starlit, so many stars, so beautiful, too many stars, too beautiful, the moon so bright we don't need any light, no one else on the beach after the last fisherman walks back to Lampu'uk through the forrest, rocks, sand, green vegetation, beach surrounded by hills, let's just lie here and never get up

Banda Aceh, foodstore, internet, ATM, hothothot, friendly people, visiting homes.

Medan, bus station, 14 hour busride later.

Bukit Lawang, ride on the roof of a Lapi lapi (public bus, minivan) through palmtree plantations, walk along the river, live in Rainforest, little rain now and then, hammock facing the river, three days trek, Thomas monkey, Macaks, Orangutangs, wild male, Sandra, Minna, Suma, Jackie, all with babies, 96,4 % same genes as I have, Jackie smart, gets down from the trees and holds me hostage until the guide gives her fruit, a hug from an orangutang, the face inches from mine, her long fingers around my arm and neck, her baby hanging from her hair, indescribable, up and down and up and down, green, green and green, view over more hills covered in green, camp by the river, sleeping under raincover, and boy does it rain, thunder and lightning, right above us, lightning lighting up everything several times a minute, thunder making Tom jump, climbing up a waterfall till Erwin, our guide, thinks we've died, while the others are chased by a bear or a tiger, rafting back in three inner tube tractor wheels, feeling the stares, we weren't alone with the monkeys after all, jungle juice and hippie guides singing and playing guitar.

Medan, busstation, goodbye Tom, for now.

Dumai, 6 a clock in the morning, sun going up, ATM, tickets, motos everywhere, hello miss, hello miss, where am I, where should I go, visiting home and an English school, getting on ferry, friendliest people ever, falling asleep on the deck where they let me sneak up, waking up with a sunburnt face and feeling empty... goodbye Sumatra, I will be back.

//H

Sumatra confusion

A blog can only convey so much of 'reality'.
Reality on this trip being something completely different than reality back home, and the blog posts few, written fast, censored and only our perception of things, this travel blog conveys very, very little 'reality'. When you add to that the fact that you, as a reader, than interpret this bad depiction of reality that we try to convey, I think it's pretty clear for everyone that there will be misunderstandings.
The point of this blog has been to keep our folks at home updated on where in Asia we are, and maybe even give them a little insight in what it's like (that's where the bad conveying of reality steps in) as wells as being a great way for us to remember some of the things we've seen and done on this trip.
However, because of bad writing, limited time and space, unclear blog posts and the likes, but most of all because of the simple fact that we've just failed to give you the real picture of how things are, these misunderstandings have led to this blog being more of source of worry for the people back home, than fulfilling its actual purpose: keeping them calm.

So what can I write without making anyone worry?
That Sumatra and Malaysia are filled with some of the kindest people I've ever met? That I trust everyone I meet naively to one hundred percent and trust them with all my belongings? That I say yes to free moto rides and to visiting people's homes, even though we don't understand a word the other says? That I've had interesting conversations with the locals 4 in the morning as the only westerner arriving in a new city?

Or should I write about how I've spent the last days doing nothing but laying in the cabana and watching the rain pour down, thus not giving you anything to worry about?
Or how the minarets call to prayer at the weirdest times and  the high palm trees combined with the dark clouds never look as intense on the pictures I take as they do in reality?
Or how I finally did something on this rainy paradise island (that can't compete with Tioman in Malaysia) and swam to another island, snorkeled, and watched a bunch of Clown fish for a long time while my goggles slowly filled with salt water?
Or how wonderful it is when it for once isn't raining and you can lay on the dock at night, listen to the waves, watch the stars and see the whole world(which for the past days have consisted of the cabana, Pulau Weh, and the island infront of Pulau Weh) being lit up by lightning while everything else goes dark because there is yet another black out?
Or how Banda Aceh is the most muslim city in Indonesia, and was totally devastated by the Boxing day Tsunami... proof of this being the huge boat stranded high up on land?
Or how weird and fun it is to have met up with the American we met way back in Yangshuo?
Or how much I miss Ruut and Sophia?

I'm sorry for all the 'or's. And I'm not telling you that you don't have the right to worry. You do. But just not because of misunderstandings, not for things there is no reason to get upset or worried about. Can I blog without you misunderstanding at least some of it? No. Can I depict reality through my blogposts? Doubtful. There is too much, always way too much.
Therefor I've come to the conclusion, that perhaps this blog should have ended when Ruut flew home, 'our' journey was inevitably over by then, and she wrote such a good summary of the way we felt those last days, a blog post that should have been the last.

However, it wasn't the last. And this post is not 'last blogpost' -material. So I might let you know where I am and what's up in the vast island of Sumatra (or who knows where we'll go?) every know and then, but don't expect it to be often, don't expect it to be detailed and please don't expect it to be 'reality'.
Terima Kasih, Selamat Tinggal.