So our definition of a “while” ended up being 5 amazing weeks on Pulah Weh in stunning north Sumatra.
I had a most memorable time working for a dive shop and the diving is some of the most amazing I have ever done!! The sites were all in pristine untouched reefs that were teaming with massive varieties of hard, soft corals, pelagic fish, leopard sharks and black,white tip reef sharks and everything in between. the sites was prone to decent running currents and rips which keep the faint hearted at bay (rob learnt the hard way). I think I did over 50 dives in my time there. I'm sure I'm going to be hard pressed to find better dive sites.
Our nights were generally filled with aimless wandering from friends restaurant to another friends restaurant till we were tired. While i'd work rob would spend the days meeting new people and giving massages, doing yoga and hanging at our fav hang out (mamas). This was a great time for us, our hardest choices of the day being what time to get out of bed, where to eat food, where to dive, where to eat more food, where to dive again, where to eat dinner and what time to go to bed. That is pretty much how our days were broken down. Then came a turning point for us..... Ramadan!!!! For those who are not Muslim or who are oblivious to the workings of this religion, Ramadan is the time when Muslims fast during daylight hours for a month. A few of you might be saying, ha that's easy! But this means that nothing can enter your mouth at all; no food, water, smoking, chewing gum or even kissing! Absolutely nothing!!! and because the area we were living is very strict with Muslim law, all our favourite places of food closed down! Only a few would open and often at very irregular hours throwing spanners into our busy and chaotic lives!!!We survived for a week and a bit, but by then we were hungry and decided to get out while we still had the ability to move, and before we became a part of the pulah weh furniture. So reluctantly we left, saying good bye to all our new friends and promising them all to come back one day.
Rob and I went back to Banda Aceh and stayed with a friend, spending a couple of days doing the whole tsunami tour thing. It was very surreal and a little daunting to see the damage through these peoples eyes. There are even a few boats that are still where the killer wave un-ceremoniously dumped them, maybe on a roof, maybe kilometres away. Everywhere are reminders, all tributes to human resilience and determination in the face of massive destruction on such an epic proportion.
After this we left our friends Udi and Lyndal in Banda and we jumped on an overnight bus to Bukit Lawang. It was a rather interesting 14 hour journey - the air-con was set at minus 23 degrees, and the bus driver forgot what the purpose of a brake was yet amazingly navigated extreme corners and turns at break neck speeds, all resulting is us getting next to no sleep. But some how every single Indonesian was fast asleep oblivious to the suicidal driver.
We arrived at our destination, Medan, at 9am the next morning alive but with a very high heart rate. We then jumped straight onto another local bus and proceeded to our next destination - Bukit Lawang and the jungles of Sumatra, another 4hours drive away. We had been previously warned about hunters on the buses. Hunters are people who start up friendly conversations, full of helpful information and a new-best friend charm, then they reveal that they too are a guide! Wow! What a coincidence! The problem is that these people are scammers who are only in it for the money and are renowned for using dirty, scheming and most definitely un-environmentally friendly tricks to get you to trek with them, sometimes even damaging the environment and its eco-system along the way. We arrived at our destination and were only hassled by 2 alleged “guides,” promising us we would see elephants and rhinos and all sorts of exotic things that haven't been seen in the area for over 50years! We found ourselves some fantastic accommodation with great views of the river and a lovely family of rats to share with. We got in contact with some genuine guides and rob and I decided to do a 2 day trek. So off we go trekking thru the jungle. I, deciding that shoes would lessen my experience, decided to go bare-foot. In the first hour we met a few orangutans and some long tail macaques. Later that day I met some lovely friendly leaches that only seemed to like me (because I have nice blood! (and bare legs....)) short-sighted rob miraculously spotted a group of White handed gibbons and we also saw some Thomas leaf tree monkeys. it was a great first day! Our camp site was just a plastic tarp over some sticks and we slept on the ground. I loved it. The food was amazing. Every meal was first class and it was all cooked over a fire with the very basics . The next day we hiked for a few more hours, sometimes on trails that were none existent, and through vegetation that was so thick you couldn't see someone 5m in front of you. We finished on the river, and we got to return back to the starting point in 3 truck tyres! It was great navigating rapids without any sort of control what so ever. The jungle was so intense in diversity and immense in density that we discovered, the river was the best way to view it.
Wet, tired and exhilarated, we returned to our room to find that some monkeys had had a party on our verandah (the rats probably invited them...)! Judging from the mess, we presume that one of the monkeys lost a game of cards and the rats got frustrated. Things got out of hand and there was a fight, (luckily the monkeys weren't drunk due to Ramadan.), with the cards being thrown everywhere and the bin being rummaged through (probably the midnight munchies).
A few days later we went tubing with a local friend, this time with a truck tyre each, and tackled the rapids, dodging fallen trees and people showering in the river for a few hours. It was awesome fun, (neither of us were tipped out!) a highlight, only to be beaten by the bus ride home. The bus was full so with no hesitation, the driver ordered us to the roof! It was a little scary at the beginning but very exhilarating!
Again we fell in love with the area, made some great friends and we were reluctant to move on. But Lyndal and Udi had caught up to us by then and so it was time to go!
I had a most memorable time working for a dive shop and the diving is some of the most amazing I have ever done!! The sites were all in pristine untouched reefs that were teaming with massive varieties of hard, soft corals, pelagic fish, leopard sharks and black,white tip reef sharks and everything in between. the sites was prone to decent running currents and rips which keep the faint hearted at bay (rob learnt the hard way). I think I did over 50 dives in my time there. I'm sure I'm going to be hard pressed to find better dive sites.
Our nights were generally filled with aimless wandering from friends restaurant to another friends restaurant till we were tired. While i'd work rob would spend the days meeting new people and giving massages, doing yoga and hanging at our fav hang out (mamas). This was a great time for us, our hardest choices of the day being what time to get out of bed, where to eat food, where to dive, where to eat more food, where to dive again, where to eat dinner and what time to go to bed. That is pretty much how our days were broken down. Then came a turning point for us..... Ramadan!!!! For those who are not Muslim or who are oblivious to the workings of this religion, Ramadan is the time when Muslims fast during daylight hours for a month. A few of you might be saying, ha that's easy! But this means that nothing can enter your mouth at all; no food, water, smoking, chewing gum or even kissing! Absolutely nothing!!! and because the area we were living is very strict with Muslim law, all our favourite places of food closed down! Only a few would open and often at very irregular hours throwing spanners into our busy and chaotic lives!!!We survived for a week and a bit, but by then we were hungry and decided to get out while we still had the ability to move, and before we became a part of the pulah weh furniture. So reluctantly we left, saying good bye to all our new friends and promising them all to come back one day.
Rob and I went back to Banda Aceh and stayed with a friend, spending a couple of days doing the whole tsunami tour thing. It was very surreal and a little daunting to see the damage through these peoples eyes. There are even a few boats that are still where the killer wave un-ceremoniously dumped them, maybe on a roof, maybe kilometres away. Everywhere are reminders, all tributes to human resilience and determination in the face of massive destruction on such an epic proportion.
After this we left our friends Udi and Lyndal in Banda and we jumped on an overnight bus to Bukit Lawang. It was a rather interesting 14 hour journey - the air-con was set at minus 23 degrees, and the bus driver forgot what the purpose of a brake was yet amazingly navigated extreme corners and turns at break neck speeds, all resulting is us getting next to no sleep. But some how every single Indonesian was fast asleep oblivious to the suicidal driver.
We arrived at our destination, Medan, at 9am the next morning alive but with a very high heart rate. We then jumped straight onto another local bus and proceeded to our next destination - Bukit Lawang and the jungles of Sumatra, another 4hours drive away. We had been previously warned about hunters on the buses. Hunters are people who start up friendly conversations, full of helpful information and a new-best friend charm, then they reveal that they too are a guide! Wow! What a coincidence! The problem is that these people are scammers who are only in it for the money and are renowned for using dirty, scheming and most definitely un-environmentally friendly tricks to get you to trek with them, sometimes even damaging the environment and its eco-system along the way. We arrived at our destination and were only hassled by 2 alleged “guides,” promising us we would see elephants and rhinos and all sorts of exotic things that haven't been seen in the area for over 50years! We found ourselves some fantastic accommodation with great views of the river and a lovely family of rats to share with. We got in contact with some genuine guides and rob and I decided to do a 2 day trek. So off we go trekking thru the jungle. I, deciding that shoes would lessen my experience, decided to go bare-foot. In the first hour we met a few orangutans and some long tail macaques. Later that day I met some lovely friendly leaches that only seemed to like me (because I have nice blood! (and bare legs....)) short-sighted rob miraculously spotted a group of White handed gibbons and we also saw some Thomas leaf tree monkeys. it was a great first day! Our camp site was just a plastic tarp over some sticks and we slept on the ground. I loved it. The food was amazing. Every meal was first class and it was all cooked over a fire with the very basics . The next day we hiked for a few more hours, sometimes on trails that were none existent, and through vegetation that was so thick you couldn't see someone 5m in front of you. We finished on the river, and we got to return back to the starting point in 3 truck tyres! It was great navigating rapids without any sort of control what so ever. The jungle was so intense in diversity and immense in density that we discovered, the river was the best way to view it.
Wet, tired and exhilarated, we returned to our room to find that some monkeys had had a party on our verandah (the rats probably invited them...)! Judging from the mess, we presume that one of the monkeys lost a game of cards and the rats got frustrated. Things got out of hand and there was a fight, (luckily the monkeys weren't drunk due to Ramadan.), with the cards being thrown everywhere and the bin being rummaged through (probably the midnight munchies).
A few days later we went tubing with a local friend, this time with a truck tyre each, and tackled the rapids, dodging fallen trees and people showering in the river for a few hours. It was awesome fun, (neither of us were tipped out!) a highlight, only to be beaten by the bus ride home. The bus was full so with no hesitation, the driver ordered us to the roof! It was a little scary at the beginning but very exhilarating!
Again we fell in love with the area, made some great friends and we were reluctant to move on. But Lyndal and Udi had caught up to us by then and so it was time to go!
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