we booked flights via garuda indonesia. we were all set by march, and then garuda decided they won't fly singapore-medan direct anymore. we were reassigned to a flight that stops over jakarta. we weren't pleased because the direct flight would have been just over an hour, and now we have to spend a few hours in layover before we arrive in medan. and then weeks later, they changed our flight back from medan-SG to have a layover in jakarta too! aaargghhh! luckily mine was a redemption flight and i could cancel it without fees, and i was able to get a redemption via silk air for just 15,000 krisflyer miles. garuda paid for siti's new silk air tickets.
it was around 9am when we got out of the airport to meet our driver. he told us it would be a 4-hour drive to get to bukit lawang. more, if there's traffic. and there was traffic. and occasionally we'd drive past unpaved roads which sucked when you have to pee. we arrived at the ecolodge past 1pm to meet lilix, the tour manager for bukit lawang tours & trekking. he explained everything while we were waiting for our room to be ready.
our jungle adventure started the next morning. when we got to the reception, our guides sandi and zanet were already waiting for us. 2 more ladies were joining us for this trek. girl power!
as we walked past our immediate surroundings, sandi explained that we were in a rubber plantation. the bark of the trees are scraped to let the sap flow, and a coconut husk on the ground collects the sap. for our first water break, we remembered to take a photo of us in uniforms, before we sweat on it!
when we got past the plantation, and into the 'arya' area of the jungle (and apparently we were not in gunung leuser yet) sandi and zanet started making orangutan 'calls' - mimicking the sound they make. not long after, we spotted ratna and her baby. sandi said we were the lucky ones - first to see orangutans that day.
since we weren't far from the town at this point, the guides have good network reception and have announced that apes have been spotted. in no time, all the tourists flocked to our spot! some are doing just day treks (3 hours), some are camping like us, all elated by the first sighting.
we pressed on, and walked past some trekkers who are having a break and enjoying some fruits. "how come they get fed?", siti demanded 😮 i can't blame her though, trekking is exhausting and makes you hungry. it was a cue for sandi to find us a good spot and feed us fruits too.
after the break, we spotted another orangutan and shortly after that, another guide informed sandi that mina and her offsprings are nearby. we approached with caution, but it was a bit daunting, knowing about her history and what she's capable of. the rangers had to feed her constantly to make sure she doesn't do anything silly to us civilians.
we continued on until sandi found a clearing and announced "welcome to jungle restoran!" it was finally time for lunch. we had a simple meal in brown paper, eaten with just a spoon. after lunch i saw a few giant birds fly past and sandi said those were horn bills. we also saw a baboon up close and a couple of gibbons high up on the trees. no more orangutans were seen post lunch. before 5pm we reached our campsite for the day. we were so stoked! the sound of the river rapids was so soothing after an exhausting day of hike.
our camp area was quite secluded. guests of other tour companies are camping about 100m away from us, as seen from the photo above. we were quite happy about the privacy (or maybe this was an after thought, once we've seen what our camp site for day 2 was like). the water was very cold, and a lot of huge, flat rocks were on the surface, making it so nice to just lie down and enjoy the natural spa. bliss! when it got dark, the place turned into nothing short of magical. there were lots of fireflies!
the next morning, while having our breakfast, we saw a troop of monkeys invade the river for some playtime before they traveled further up the banks. it was quite amusing, though all of us were feeling sluggish because we didn't sleep well the previous night no matter how tired we were. i suppose we're not pros when it comes to jungle sleeping just yet.
then it was time to leave for second day of trekking. we wanted to take a different route so sandi told us we'd walk through the river first before hiking up. getting through the river was definitely no walk in the park. we had to be really careful because we're walking on rocks and if anybody slips then it's definitely going to be a bad time. we thread for maybe half an hour, until we came into an intersection where the river splits into two directions, and there is a large pool of water where we saw people were swimming. 'we stop here,' sandi said, 'and then we trek up'.
there was no visible path to hike up to, and then we realized it was going to be a wild vertical climb right next to where we sat to rest. sh*t just got real. 😫
by the time we stopped for a break, i was sweating profusely that it was dripping from my chin. yuck! luckily we have enough water and our usual fruit platter for replenishment.
sandi asked if we're ready to go up, up, up and down. and he wasn't kidding. while going up was pretty hard on the legs, going down was equally challenging. it was mostly muddy and slippery, so our legs have to be tense and steps very calculated so we won't slip down and possibly knock someone else out haha.
it was only around 2 when we spotted our first orangutan mom-and-baby for the day: jaky and her baby. unlike mina, jaky was more prim-and-proper. she was not demanding at all haha. we quietly admired them swinging all over until we had to move on.
our camp site was further down the river bank from where we descended. on one hand that's great, because we are somehow away from the big crowd. on the other, we are downstream from these groups. siti was so worried that those guys are going to pee and the water coming our way will be contaminated lol
we were told that they would sell beer. so when we went to take a dip into that cold water, all 4 of us shared 2 beers. we didn't drink more though, because each beer is $6. besides, after an exhausting day drinking lots of (warm) beers didn't seem too appealing.
there were no fireflies in the evening. but since it was our final night, and no more treks were planned the next day, we had more fun that night. we played all sorts of funny guys, like that crazy danish game where we pretend to be roosters. sandi brought out more card tricks and all sorts of magic with his fast hands. it must be almost 11 when we retired to our tents.
the next day, i was the first to wake up again. but this time it was a bit later, at past 8. we all had better sleep than the night prior. today was just going to be breakfast and chill, then head back via tubing. sandi said that normally guests stay there to relax until after lunch before heading back, but we were going back early because the danish girls had to travel back to medan in the afternoon for an early flight the next day.
and finally we're off! i don't have a waterproof camera so i couldn't capture all the fun as we floated downstream and back into ecolodge. here are a few photos snapped before that.
we had the rest of the afternoon free so we opted to do a village tour to see bukit lawang. we saw rice fields, cocoa trees, women chopping betel nuts and visited a rice and tofu factory. we finished off with fried bananas and young coconut. after an early night, we had to leave before 4am to travel back to the airport and fly back to singapore.
it was such a great first experience to sleep in the jungle! it was tough, but definitely empowering to know that i could do it. so maybe, more jungle adventures to come.
if you want an awesome experience like this, check out more at www.junglesumatra.com / www.bukitlawangguide.com. you can also directly contact lilix via +6281364108007 to plan your trip: he could also arrange for airport transfers, accommodation and other tours. ask for sandi and zanet if you want to have amazing guides!
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