Joey and I had signed up for a tour that would take us to Bromo, then to Ijen, and then to the ferry where we would head over to Bali. Getting to these places can be tough on public buses. I think it would require a lot of patience and time. At this point, these are two things we have little of. Even if a ticket to do all three things through a tour company is a bit more expensive, atleast the tour takes care of the 2 nights accommodation and breakfast.
The first day of the tour sucked. We left Yogyakarta at 9 and didn’t reach Bromo until 8pm. 11 hours on a bus is no fun! I guess we did meet a number of interesting people on the mini bus though! By the time we arrived at our hotel (which wasn’t the one Joey and I wanted to go to, but whatever) we were exhausted. I was unimpressed with the cold weather, and most importantly, the shitty menu that our “hotel” had. Honestly, anything but fried rice/noodles would be amazing. Indonesians do not deviate from their daily foods consisting of nasi campur (rice, fish and veg), nasi goreng (fried rice)and ayam soto (chicken soup). Most restaurants only serve these things, and if they do serve western food, you probably don’t want it. I think Joey and I have officially given up hopes on getting a decent western meal. Although, we have had some good pizza.
We got to bed by about 9:30 and set our alarms for 4am. Ouch. I was not looking forward to waking up that early. The group of us in the mini bus had managed to gang together and rent a jeep so we didn’t have to do the 3 hour trek to the look-out point. It was a bit more expensive to get the jeep, but I don’t like strenuous exercise any time before 12pm. In our group of people there was a really cool Spanish girl named Atina, two British girls, and a very annoying American guy. This guy just loved to hear himself talk about anything and everything, but especially he liked to talk about himself. I struggled to hold a conversation with him because of his constant interruptions. I felt bad for the girl who had to sit with him for the 12 hours the previous day.
Well he was back at it at 4:30am and was chatting away, mostly to himself. Most of us had not had coffee yet, so none of us were quite interested. The jeep ride was fairly uneventful. Joey was let down that it was a Toyota. Both of us were especially let down that we didn’t go off-roading, and because the guy driving didn’t really know what he was doing. When we got to the top of the lookout point to get our sunrise glimpse of Bromo there were tons and tons of people up there. We managed to find a place with less people and took a bunch of really awesome photos.
Our group was then herded back to the jeep where we drove to the foot of Bromo, where we would climb (actually, walk up a staircase) to the top of the crater. There was about a bazillion local men with little horses who were offering dirt cheap prices to ride the 500metres to the base, but honestly after 12 hours on a bus the day before, I felt I could use some of the exercise. One thing that really bothers me about these countries is that there is no control over people and making money. One guy a long time ago thought of an idea to use his horse to shuttle lazy tourists 500metres to Bromo, next thing you know literally 200 men with their horses come and try to do the same thing. They ask incredibly reasonable prices. There are just far too many of them, and I hardly doubt that any of them are making a good living by doing this. This is just one example of a business idea being taken on by everyone and their neighbour.
We got to the top of the volcano which was pretty neat. There was a big sulphurous cloud coming from the middle, but other than that there wasn't much volcanic activity. The view was gorgeous though. You could see all the jungle(whats left of it)rice fields and agricultural land for miles. We stayed up there for a bit but had to be down in order to get our mini bus so we could head on to Ijen.
Joey and I were the only ones in our group who were going to Ijen; the rest were heading on to Bali. Some Canadian friends we met in Sumatra had highly recommended Ijen for it's natural beauty and lack of crowds. It's also surrounded by beautiful coffee plantations.
That night we met our guide named Amos in the minibus as we drove to Ijen. The ride was slow going because the roads were so washed out. We started talking and Amos seemed really friendly. He was only 19 but seemed to already possess the skills to be a good guide. He liked his job because he got to practice English and meet people from all over the world. When we go to the hotel Joey and I went into the hotspring fed whirlpool. It wasn't exactly hot but it was nice anyways.
The next morning was an early one. Annoyingly so, it didn't have to be. Our door got knocked on at 4am so we could be up and ready to leave at 4:30 to catch sunrise. Joey and I get ready quickly and wait outside for what seems like forever. 5:15 rolls around and we still haven't left. Amos finally lets us know that we are waiting for another couple. Joey told him to go wake them up because we were going to miss sunrise. What we didn't know was that it was a muslim couple who were at the mosque for prayer. Amos apologized profusely for them being at prayer. What he didn't know was that we were pissed because if he knew we were giving them a ride to the base of Ijen and they had prayer at 5am, then why the hell were we woken up at 4? Sleep is a very valuable thing to Joey and I, especially because we had been up at 3:30am the night before!
We totally understand if someone is Muslim and needs to prayer. We have nothing but respect for them, but when you sign up for a sunrise tour, pray later! Don't make everyone else (It was only me and Joey, but still) wait. What annoyed me even more was that when we got to the base of the crater, they didn't even start climbing right away. I was very disappointed.
The walk up to Ijen was too strenuous for that early in the morning. I was hungry because the crap breakfast(who in their right mind thinks that chocolate sprinkles between two white pieces of bread constitutes as breakfast, seriously are you trying to give me diabetes?!) that our hotel provided didn't fill me up in the slightest. The scenery was beautiful and could have been even more beautiful if there hadn't been garbage absolutely everywhere. In parks like this you pay upwards of $3 for "park conservation" but they can't even pick up the garbage. The combination of lack of sleep and nutrition made me more sensitive to the garbage. I feel in Canada and other nations we spend a lot of time, effort and money to preserve our nature and lesson our carbon footprint. Then you come to these countries and they just throw garbage wherever they can. Such little compassion for nature sent me into tears. Our guide was so weirded out that I was crying. I told him everything was so beautiful here, but it's sad that their is so little control over waste dumping.
When we got to the top of the crater the walk up steep hills was worth it. In the middle of the crater was a huge steaming lake. You could see near the shore of the lake the sulphur miners who get the sulphur from the ground and haul it down the mountain. It looks like an incredibly tough job!
On our way back down Joey and I started asking Amos questions. I was quite surprised to see his views on things. He had said some contreversial things such as Muslims being superior to Christians because Christians don't prayer 5 times a day like Muslims do, and that he called African American people the N word several times, and to add insult to injury he said that all of them are mean and very violent. I don't blame Amos for having these views. He comes from a very religious family, and like other Indonesians, thinks that Westerners (black or white) behave exactly like the do on tv or the movies. How can you blame them if it's their only glimpse into our world? Most of them will never come to our countries.
After the walk and the talk I was mentally and physically exhausted. I was glad to be heading to Bali that day where Joey and I could get some rest! We said our goodbyes to Amos and headed on our way to Aussie wonderland of Bali.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
I like your tattoo sir.. want to see my batik?
After we got back from our trek that night both of us were pooped! It wasn’t even a strenuous hike, we were just out of shape and not used to sweating that much. Joey and I wanted to get a good night’s sleep before our early morning bus ride to Medan to catch our flight. That night the people in the room above us for incredibly inconsiderate and loud! Stomping around, laughing loudly and talking/yelling. This started at 11pm when we had just fallen asleep. It went on until about 1:30am. We finally got some decent sleep but were woken up at 4am to the guy upstairs getting ready for work/prayer (I’m not sure). Joey had repeatedly banged on the roof and told them to shut up. At this point, I don’t think it’s impolite.
Our alarm went off at 5am and we dragged ourselves out of bed. We had quite a hike to the bus station and we wanted to be out of Bukit Lawang on the 7am bus. Eventually we found our way to the bus station and pretty much left on the bus as soon as we got there. This is not a common occurrence in Indonesia. Generally the buses wait until the bus is packed, regardless if it was supposed to leave an hour ago. In exchange for a timely bus, we were surrounded by screaming children and techno on the speakers. None of us was going to get the sleep we were depending on! That’s transport for you in Indonesia!
When we finally made it to the airport we found out that our reservations for our flight were cancelled. We couldn’t buy tickets on Batavia’s website because they don’t accept any credit cards that aren’t Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean. Joey got one of the girls at our hotel in Danau Toba to make our reservation because the people at the call centre had horrendous English. Despite our tickets being cancelled, we were able to book another ticket anyway. It actually worked out to be better because the tickets were cheaper than originally quoted on the phone.
Around the airport there were lots of warungs (Indonesian word for restaurant/foodstall). Both Joey and I had not had breakfast so we were starving. We chose one place that had an English menu, but unfortunately no one spoke English. We were surprised considering we were at an airport. I ordered nasi goreng (fried rice) but it never came because apparently the server didn’t know I ordered? Now emanciated, we walked to another warung, where no one else spoke English again. I took out our guidebook and attempted to order water and fried rice without meat. I was laughed at. At this point I burst into tears because I was so tired and hungry; I really just didn’t feel like being laughed at. The server probably had no idea what was going on. I felt bad for the guy, but honestly if someone is trying to speak your language don’t laugh at them! It doesn’t make them want to try even if it wasn’t malicious laughter!
Our flight was rather uneventful. We got to Yogykarta just in time to see the sunset. It was just as hot in Yogya as it was in Medan. We went to the common backpacker area and a guy helped us find a place (either because he got commission or because he wanted us to look at his paintings after). I get that Yogykarta is very cultural, but the locals really ruin it by constantly asking to show you their batik or to take you to their friend's batik store. It's even funnier when they try to convince you it's easy to pack around a huge canvas painting when you're backpacking for another 2 months!
The next day we walked around our area of town, but didn't really care to see much because we were in trip planning mode. We needed to know when we would be arriving in Sipadan (an amazing diving place that is heavily protected and only 100 people are allowed to dive a day so things get booked up fast), and also where we wanting to spend the rest of our time in Indonesia. We knew we didn't want to go to Borobodur which is a buddhist temple just outside the temple. Trust me, we've seen enough buddhist temples for a life time. I'm still not even convinced if you say it is as spectacular as Angkor Wat (which I'm sure it isn't). So we only stayed in Yogykarta one full day and two nights.
We booked a 3 day tour that took us to Gunung Bromo (a volcano) and Ijen (a crater filled with a hotspring lake) and then to the ferries where we would go on our way to Bali. It was quite cheap because we mentioned that our friends had told us about it. Only 500,000. We know a lot of other people paid quite a bit more!
Our alarm went off at 5am and we dragged ourselves out of bed. We had quite a hike to the bus station and we wanted to be out of Bukit Lawang on the 7am bus. Eventually we found our way to the bus station and pretty much left on the bus as soon as we got there. This is not a common occurrence in Indonesia. Generally the buses wait until the bus is packed, regardless if it was supposed to leave an hour ago. In exchange for a timely bus, we were surrounded by screaming children and techno on the speakers. None of us was going to get the sleep we were depending on! That’s transport for you in Indonesia!
When we finally made it to the airport we found out that our reservations for our flight were cancelled. We couldn’t buy tickets on Batavia’s website because they don’t accept any credit cards that aren’t Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean. Joey got one of the girls at our hotel in Danau Toba to make our reservation because the people at the call centre had horrendous English. Despite our tickets being cancelled, we were able to book another ticket anyway. It actually worked out to be better because the tickets were cheaper than originally quoted on the phone.
Around the airport there were lots of warungs (Indonesian word for restaurant/foodstall). Both Joey and I had not had breakfast so we were starving. We chose one place that had an English menu, but unfortunately no one spoke English. We were surprised considering we were at an airport. I ordered nasi goreng (fried rice) but it never came because apparently the server didn’t know I ordered? Now emanciated, we walked to another warung, where no one else spoke English again. I took out our guidebook and attempted to order water and fried rice without meat. I was laughed at. At this point I burst into tears because I was so tired and hungry; I really just didn’t feel like being laughed at. The server probably had no idea what was going on. I felt bad for the guy, but honestly if someone is trying to speak your language don’t laugh at them! It doesn’t make them want to try even if it wasn’t malicious laughter!
Our flight was rather uneventful. We got to Yogykarta just in time to see the sunset. It was just as hot in Yogya as it was in Medan. We went to the common backpacker area and a guy helped us find a place (either because he got commission or because he wanted us to look at his paintings after). I get that Yogykarta is very cultural, but the locals really ruin it by constantly asking to show you their batik or to take you to their friend's batik store. It's even funnier when they try to convince you it's easy to pack around a huge canvas painting when you're backpacking for another 2 months!
The next day we walked around our area of town, but didn't really care to see much because we were in trip planning mode. We needed to know when we would be arriving in Sipadan (an amazing diving place that is heavily protected and only 100 people are allowed to dive a day so things get booked up fast), and also where we wanting to spend the rest of our time in Indonesia. We knew we didn't want to go to Borobodur which is a buddhist temple just outside the temple. Trust me, we've seen enough buddhist temples for a life time. I'm still not even convinced if you say it is as spectacular as Angkor Wat (which I'm sure it isn't). So we only stayed in Yogykarta one full day and two nights.
We booked a 3 day tour that took us to Gunung Bromo (a volcano) and Ijen (a crater filled with a hotspring lake) and then to the ferries where we would go on our way to Bali. It was quite cheap because we mentioned that our friends had told us about it. Only 500,000. We know a lot of other people paid quite a bit more!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monkeys Everywhere!
One thing you have to do when you are in Sumatra is check out the orangutans of Bukit Lawang. We took the public bus to Bukit Lawang from Medan and were immediately pounced on by 3 guides. There are over 150 guides for this one small village and there is usually only 20 tourists at a time so competition is fierce! It was rather unfortunate that the guides have to follow a set price for treks because the price was ridiculous. It was something like 25 euros (Almost $55CDN) for each person to do a full day trek. This is probably the highest we have paid for something like this. Oh well, Joey and I really wanted to see our ginger haired friends of the jungle!
We set out early in the morning and the humidity was very high. We were sweating our skin off by the time we even got to the jungle's edge. The thing about humidity is that your sweat never goes away. I could tell this would be a long, but very exciting day. Our guides for the day were Eddie and Erwin. We also had a german and an austrailian couple on the trek. About 20 minutes in to the hike our group ran into our first orangutans. It was a female named Sassa and her male friend, who was absolutely massive. Most of the orangutans at this park have been part of the pet trade and are now in rehabilitation. Unfortunately being a pet or having so much contact with humans has made these monkeys reliant on people for food which causes them to become aggressive. After Sassa saw that we did not have any bananas for her she started to charge us. It was quite scary. What was the most upsetting about the situation was that our guides kept on going back and asking us if we wanted to take more pictures. We had already alienated Sassa and her mate enough. A few of us were getting upset especially when another treking group came by to take pictures.
They asked us one more time if we wanted to take more pictures and I pretty much said LETS LEAVE THEM ALONE. You pay high regulated prices for "licensed guides" but you can tell that the welfare of the animals in this rehabilitation forest isn't really respected. I was getting quite annoyed that we had bugged this monkey for more than 20 minutes and had put her life and our lives in danger. Really responsible guys. It certainly didn't set the mood for the rest of the trek. Especially for the Australian girl, Hannah, who had been attacked by wild monkeys in Vietnam. She was trying to overcome her fear, but being chased by a 40kg orangutan wasn't helping her any!
After our group got away from the madness it was a nice peaceful trek through the forest. We were lucky to see some cheeky monkeys, a group of macaques, one lone brown gibbon and 10 other orangutans. At one point we were taking a break on a log, when an orangutan named Jackie (who had a tiny tiny baby on her back) came over to Joey and sat on his lap and put her arm around him. She sat on his lap for a good 5 minutes. Joey started to feel a bit uneasy because this is a wild animal and she could kill him with her very strong hands or jaw. Luckily she was a gentle monkey and was just attracted to the kind nature of Joey.
Joey and I were really happy to have seen all those monkeys that day. Although our guides could have been better, the money was worth it to see these amazing creatures being protected in a forest where they can keep on being monkeys instead of pets.
We set out early in the morning and the humidity was very high. We were sweating our skin off by the time we even got to the jungle's edge. The thing about humidity is that your sweat never goes away. I could tell this would be a long, but very exciting day. Our guides for the day were Eddie and Erwin. We also had a german and an austrailian couple on the trek. About 20 minutes in to the hike our group ran into our first orangutans. It was a female named Sassa and her male friend, who was absolutely massive. Most of the orangutans at this park have been part of the pet trade and are now in rehabilitation. Unfortunately being a pet or having so much contact with humans has made these monkeys reliant on people for food which causes them to become aggressive. After Sassa saw that we did not have any bananas for her she started to charge us. It was quite scary. What was the most upsetting about the situation was that our guides kept on going back and asking us if we wanted to take more pictures. We had already alienated Sassa and her mate enough. A few of us were getting upset especially when another treking group came by to take pictures.
They asked us one more time if we wanted to take more pictures and I pretty much said LETS LEAVE THEM ALONE. You pay high regulated prices for "licensed guides" but you can tell that the welfare of the animals in this rehabilitation forest isn't really respected. I was getting quite annoyed that we had bugged this monkey for more than 20 minutes and had put her life and our lives in danger. Really responsible guys. It certainly didn't set the mood for the rest of the trek. Especially for the Australian girl, Hannah, who had been attacked by wild monkeys in Vietnam. She was trying to overcome her fear, but being chased by a 40kg orangutan wasn't helping her any!
After our group got away from the madness it was a nice peaceful trek through the forest. We were lucky to see some cheeky monkeys, a group of macaques, one lone brown gibbon and 10 other orangutans. At one point we were taking a break on a log, when an orangutan named Jackie (who had a tiny tiny baby on her back) came over to Joey and sat on his lap and put her arm around him. She sat on his lap for a good 5 minutes. Joey started to feel a bit uneasy because this is a wild animal and she could kill him with her very strong hands or jaw. Luckily she was a gentle monkey and was just attracted to the kind nature of Joey.
Joey and I were really happy to have seen all those monkeys that day. Although our guides could have been better, the money was worth it to see these amazing creatures being protected in a forest where they can keep on being monkeys instead of pets.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Down to Danau Toba
The night before Joey and I left for Danau Toba we met some locals at the mall who asked us to join them for beer at the park later on. They were our age and seemed really nice so we decided to go. When we got there the park was full of kids who were bmxing on the half pipes and lots of bystanders were either eating or drinking and watching the kids for entertainment. It was actually a lot of fun. The locals we met up with also had really good english so we could pretty much carry on a conversation without having misunderstandings. It was awesome to converse with young people our age from Indonesia. They were pretty much just like us. It's weird to think that despite coming from completely different worlds, how similar we are.
The next morning we woke up bright and early for our minivan ride to Danau Toba. It was one cramped ride. I think the cheap public bus option could possibly have been more comfortable. Our driver was absolutely an insane driver. Constantly speeding up and slamming on breaks. Passing dangerously. I was so sick. Both Joey and I have gotten used to crazy driving and rarely get car sick, but this guy was nuts. We were certainly glad to arrive at the ferry in Patapan.
The lake was absolutely stunning. So big and vast. It felt like being back home on the lake. I love the smell of lake water and the engine fumes from boats. Brings back good memories of my Papa's Rum Runner on Harrison lake. It was a change from being on a boat in the ocean. The ride wasn't so windy and bumpy! I could relax. On the boat ride there we met a Malaysian couple named CJ and Matthew. We were planning to stay at the same place so we just started talking. They seemed really cool so we planned on renting motorbikes the next day and exploring the island of Samosir.
That night we joined up with our new found friends for some dinner. Matthew and CJ were doing as the locals do and enjoying a magical mushroom omelette. Joey and I decided to pass. By the way, magic mushrooms are completely legal in Indonesia because it is apart of so many indigenous people's culture. Next thing we know Matthew is in La La land and cannot stop laughing. Meanwhile CJ has a headache and doesn't feel anything. I imagine that it was just as fun to watch Matthew as it would have been on mushrooms. It made for an interesting night! I'm sure CJ had a great time trying to take Matthew back to the room that night.
The next morning, Matthew was back to his normal self and we were all ready to set out on an adventure around the island. We stopped to enjoy the scenery and take some pics. Matthew and Joey got to talk about cameras a lot. CJ and I got to pretend we were interested a lot. Haha. The scenery was amazing. Lush green rice fields on the beach and rolling hills in the distance. Such a great place to spend the day.
We headed to the "Batak Museum" which turned out to be pretty lame, but had a toilet so that was cool. We had been told about the hotsprings at the other end of the island that were apparently quite nice. When we got there there was garbage floating in the water and big pipes that redirected the hot water to some pools at this one really dirty looking place. We took one look at the pools and decided it was better not to. There was a lake right there anyways. There had been a really nice beach we had seen along the way that had bright blue water and thats where the four of us decided to go. The water was quite nice. Not too cold, but refreshing!
After our swim we thought it would be a good idea to check out a lake on top of the mountain that apparently changed colours at different times of the year. We headed up a treacherous road where Joey and I nearly bailed off our motorbike a couple of times due to slipperyness and huge potholes. Finally we made it and the scenery paid off. The lake was just a normal lake colour but the rice fields and water buffalo grazing in the pastures was still very beautiful!
The next day we said good bye to our new found Malaysian friends. We spent most of our morning planning out our trip which was quite frustrating. In Indonesia you can only purchase plane tickets online if you have an Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean credit card. If you don't have one of these you must brave the english barrier and give the airline a call. It was horrible. It was like calling a call centre in India. I had to spell everything out using the Police Alphabet. Skype also didn't make matters better when it decided to end my call! Joey convinced one of the women that worked at the hotel to help us out. We found out we had to go to the airline's store to pay, or pay on the day we left at the airport.
Later on I took a cooking class with a lady named Hetty. I had a great time learning how to make traditional batak indonesian food. Especially because I chose vegetarian options. Hetty was a really great teacher. She was also very friendly and great to talk to. Joey worked while I played in the kitchen but he joined me for dinner later on. During dinner we met an American couple named Meaghan and Matt. They were really friendly so we invited them to try some of my creations. We invited them to play some cards later on that night.
Meaghan and Matt met us at our hotel to play cards (they were staying there too) and we had a great time just talking and playing rummy. During all of this there was a massive thunder and lightening storm. It was so cool to see the whole sky light up every time lightening struck.
The next morning Joey and I were up bright and early to start our journey to Berastagi. We had to be quite creative to get there by public bus because there is no direct public bus between the two places. We had to transfer a lot and try to get over language barriers. After about 7 hours of traveling we were finally in Berastagi. We had heard so much of this place, but were quite disappointed at what we saw. It just looked like another junky, dirty Indonesian town.
Joey ran into Ali and Rachel who were some Canadian girls from Victoria that we met in Medan. We were trying to plan a trek with them, but Joey and I ended up opting out of the trek and left the next day to Bukit Lawang because we wanted to see monkeys!
Joey and I really enjoyed Danau Toba because it wasn't too hot and it was just so relaxing.
The next morning we woke up bright and early for our minivan ride to Danau Toba. It was one cramped ride. I think the cheap public bus option could possibly have been more comfortable. Our driver was absolutely an insane driver. Constantly speeding up and slamming on breaks. Passing dangerously. I was so sick. Both Joey and I have gotten used to crazy driving and rarely get car sick, but this guy was nuts. We were certainly glad to arrive at the ferry in Patapan.
The lake was absolutely stunning. So big and vast. It felt like being back home on the lake. I love the smell of lake water and the engine fumes from boats. Brings back good memories of my Papa's Rum Runner on Harrison lake. It was a change from being on a boat in the ocean. The ride wasn't so windy and bumpy! I could relax. On the boat ride there we met a Malaysian couple named CJ and Matthew. We were planning to stay at the same place so we just started talking. They seemed really cool so we planned on renting motorbikes the next day and exploring the island of Samosir.
That night we joined up with our new found friends for some dinner. Matthew and CJ were doing as the locals do and enjoying a magical mushroom omelette. Joey and I decided to pass. By the way, magic mushrooms are completely legal in Indonesia because it is apart of so many indigenous people's culture. Next thing we know Matthew is in La La land and cannot stop laughing. Meanwhile CJ has a headache and doesn't feel anything. I imagine that it was just as fun to watch Matthew as it would have been on mushrooms. It made for an interesting night! I'm sure CJ had a great time trying to take Matthew back to the room that night.
The next morning, Matthew was back to his normal self and we were all ready to set out on an adventure around the island. We stopped to enjoy the scenery and take some pics. Matthew and Joey got to talk about cameras a lot. CJ and I got to pretend we were interested a lot. Haha. The scenery was amazing. Lush green rice fields on the beach and rolling hills in the distance. Such a great place to spend the day.
We headed to the "Batak Museum" which turned out to be pretty lame, but had a toilet so that was cool. We had been told about the hotsprings at the other end of the island that were apparently quite nice. When we got there there was garbage floating in the water and big pipes that redirected the hot water to some pools at this one really dirty looking place. We took one look at the pools and decided it was better not to. There was a lake right there anyways. There had been a really nice beach we had seen along the way that had bright blue water and thats where the four of us decided to go. The water was quite nice. Not too cold, but refreshing!
After our swim we thought it would be a good idea to check out a lake on top of the mountain that apparently changed colours at different times of the year. We headed up a treacherous road where Joey and I nearly bailed off our motorbike a couple of times due to slipperyness and huge potholes. Finally we made it and the scenery paid off. The lake was just a normal lake colour but the rice fields and water buffalo grazing in the pastures was still very beautiful!
The next day we said good bye to our new found Malaysian friends. We spent most of our morning planning out our trip which was quite frustrating. In Indonesia you can only purchase plane tickets online if you have an Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean credit card. If you don't have one of these you must brave the english barrier and give the airline a call. It was horrible. It was like calling a call centre in India. I had to spell everything out using the Police Alphabet. Skype also didn't make matters better when it decided to end my call! Joey convinced one of the women that worked at the hotel to help us out. We found out we had to go to the airline's store to pay, or pay on the day we left at the airport.
Later on I took a cooking class with a lady named Hetty. I had a great time learning how to make traditional batak indonesian food. Especially because I chose vegetarian options. Hetty was a really great teacher. She was also very friendly and great to talk to. Joey worked while I played in the kitchen but he joined me for dinner later on. During dinner we met an American couple named Meaghan and Matt. They were really friendly so we invited them to try some of my creations. We invited them to play some cards later on that night.
Meaghan and Matt met us at our hotel to play cards (they were staying there too) and we had a great time just talking and playing rummy. During all of this there was a massive thunder and lightening storm. It was so cool to see the whole sky light up every time lightening struck.
The next morning Joey and I were up bright and early to start our journey to Berastagi. We had to be quite creative to get there by public bus because there is no direct public bus between the two places. We had to transfer a lot and try to get over language barriers. After about 7 hours of traveling we were finally in Berastagi. We had heard so much of this place, but were quite disappointed at what we saw. It just looked like another junky, dirty Indonesian town.
Joey ran into Ali and Rachel who were some Canadian girls from Victoria that we met in Medan. We were trying to plan a trek with them, but Joey and I ended up opting out of the trek and left the next day to Bukit Lawang because we wanted to see monkeys!
Joey and I really enjoyed Danau Toba because it wasn't too hot and it was just so relaxing.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sweet Sumatra
After having a not so welcoming first couple of hours in Sumatra, we are warming up to Medan. Despite it being such a city infested by rats and covered in garbage, the people are amazingly nice. A lot of them just want to practice English so they will talk to you about anything. Joey and I are still skeptical when talking to locals in these countries because there have been so many times when the person talking to you just wanted money, and actually didn't care to talk. Here you can tell most of them, if not all are genuine, which is awesome.
Yesterday we decided to go to Hotel Sumatera which turned out to be a nightmare. The room was gross, and their idea of a shower was a bucket with water. Plus the staff was just not friendly at all. We decided to move to a place called Pondok Angel which is a bit better and the staff are a lot nicer. Last night we stayed up having beers with some of the staff and their friends, as well as with 2 Canadian girls (One is from Victoria and we have mutual friends), and 2 Aussie guys. It was nice to have a group of people together talking and drinking beers. This is probably my favourite part of traveling.
That night we went back to our hotel room and had the absolute worst sleep ever. We were right by a karaoke bar and the sound from traffic on the road was horrendous. We had to keep the windows open because our fan barely worked and it was so so so hot. We made many mosquitoes happy last night. Looking at my arms today, I guess I was tasty. Just when traffic had calmed down and the karaoke bar closed the Mosque down the road blared their call to prayer music as they could. Absolutely brutal!
Today has been quite uneventful. We moved to Pondok Angel, and slept most of the afternoon to catch up on much needed sleep. When we walked around the town we met lots of locals wanting to practice their English. They love to ask questions. What would maybe seem invasive back home is totally normal for them. Both of us certainly don't mind being asked every question under the sun because it really is nice to see a piece of life the locals lead.
Tomorrow we are heading of to Danau Toba which is the biggest freshwater lake in South East Asia. Apparently it is beautiful and very relaxing. Both of us can't wait.
Yesterday we decided to go to Hotel Sumatera which turned out to be a nightmare. The room was gross, and their idea of a shower was a bucket with water. Plus the staff was just not friendly at all. We decided to move to a place called Pondok Angel which is a bit better and the staff are a lot nicer. Last night we stayed up having beers with some of the staff and their friends, as well as with 2 Canadian girls (One is from Victoria and we have mutual friends), and 2 Aussie guys. It was nice to have a group of people together talking and drinking beers. This is probably my favourite part of traveling.
That night we went back to our hotel room and had the absolute worst sleep ever. We were right by a karaoke bar and the sound from traffic on the road was horrendous. We had to keep the windows open because our fan barely worked and it was so so so hot. We made many mosquitoes happy last night. Looking at my arms today, I guess I was tasty. Just when traffic had calmed down and the karaoke bar closed the Mosque down the road blared their call to prayer music as they could. Absolutely brutal!
Today has been quite uneventful. We moved to Pondok Angel, and slept most of the afternoon to catch up on much needed sleep. When we walked around the town we met lots of locals wanting to practice their English. They love to ask questions. What would maybe seem invasive back home is totally normal for them. Both of us certainly don't mind being asked every question under the sun because it really is nice to see a piece of life the locals lead.
Tomorrow we are heading of to Danau Toba which is the biggest freshwater lake in South East Asia. Apparently it is beautiful and very relaxing. Both of us can't wait.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bad luck
So we started the day off with some bad luck. Apparently we are idiots and booked our flight for Thursday, not Tuesday. So we ended up having to buy a ticket today because we didn't want to spend another minute in Snorin' Singapore.
After a mad dash to our gate, we boarded the plane, and now we're here in Medan. Unfortunately Joey's luggage did not arrive, and neither did the raincover for my backpack. Crappy thing is that their English is very limited, so we don't know what the hell is happening with his bag. We're stuck in Medan, when we really wanted to go to Berastagi. Hopefully everything works out.
After a mad dash to our gate, we boarded the plane, and now we're here in Medan. Unfortunately Joey's luggage did not arrive, and neither did the raincover for my backpack. Crappy thing is that their English is very limited, so we don't know what the hell is happening with his bag. We're stuck in Medan, when we really wanted to go to Berastagi. Hopefully everything works out.
Spend Spend Spend Singapore
Joey and I were expecting accomodation in Singapore to be ridiculously expensive so we used our trusty couchsurfing.org account and set up a couch surfing date with a guy named Ren. Getting to the MTR station where we were going to meet him was easy peasy. Transportation in Singapore is something you could in a coma. It's that easy.
Our host, Ren, took us to his place where we dropped off our bags. After we got a bit settled he took us to a couple of local hangout spots in Singapore. It was a Saturday night after all. We decided to hang out total backpacker style. Go to the corner store and buy your beer there and then find somewhere nice to drink. There were tons of young Singaporeans and backpackers in the Clarke Quay party zone. Many were dressed to the nines and the smell of expensive perfume hung in the air. I was content wearing my grubby lululemon's and a tiger beer in hand, while sitting on a bridge. Joey and I like to keep it classy. People watching was fun enough for us anyways.
We walked around the club area and saw quite a few interesting bars. There was one that was hospital themed where the seating area looked like a waiting room and some of the chairs were wheelchairs. The coolest thing was that your drink could come in an IV with it's very own stand. Absolute pure genius. There was also a Burger King bar. If I liked Burger King that would have impressed me. There were lots of other bars, but most of them were just your typical fancy pants ones.
The next day, all three of us checked out Little India. We walked around and took in the sights of beautiful saree's, fresh vegetable and fruits stand, and the scents of curries and incense wafted in the air. Joey and I were craving Indian food. (Not unusual for us) so we went to a vegetarian restaurant for some thali's. For those of you who don't know what a thali is, it's either bread, rice (biryani) or both, with tons of curries, sauces, and chutneys. It's an array of delicious things. They are very filling, and some places also do unlimited refills. Its a cheap way to get ridiculously stuffed.
Later that day, Ren had to go to work, so Joey and I braved Orchard street. We (well, really it was me) had to exercise self control not to buy all the cool things for sale in the many malls on this road. We searched far and wide for the Lonely Planet Indonesia guide but came home with nothing.
Later that night we met up with Ren again and a few of his friends to check out the Mosaic music festival. Ren wanted to see the Philippino band that was playing. I don't know what it is about Singaporeans but they are absolutely the worst audience for music festivals, especially hiphop or any music you can dance to. First off, everyone was sitting. No one was dancing. In a sea of over 200 people, there was maybe 5 people nodding their heads or moving slightly. Another 100 were watching the show through their camera as they took video. The others sat in silence. Joey and I couldn't believe it, so we tried to compensate for their meekness with hooting and hollering. You could tell the artists on stage were quite frustrated with their comatose audience. I felt embarrassed for Singaporeans. This was a very bad representation of their coolness/liveliness. After that luke warm experience, we headed home because we were all tired.
Joey and I had to wake up early to continue our quest for the Indonesia book. Our day was quite uneventful. It involved the MTR and a bazillion malls. Finally we found our book and it was about time to meet Ren for dinner. We met him at city hall and walked to an outdoor market with every food you could possibly imagine. It was awesome. We were really thankful to be with someone who knew a little about the city. Ren is from Manila and only moved to Singapore a couple of months ago. We enjoyed seeing the inside scoop of Singapore despite there not being much. Overall both of us found Singapore to be a very boring city because we didn't have money to buy monetary goods. We were glad to be leaving this morning to somewhere more adventurous. Like Sumatra.
Our host, Ren, took us to his place where we dropped off our bags. After we got a bit settled he took us to a couple of local hangout spots in Singapore. It was a Saturday night after all. We decided to hang out total backpacker style. Go to the corner store and buy your beer there and then find somewhere nice to drink. There were tons of young Singaporeans and backpackers in the Clarke Quay party zone. Many were dressed to the nines and the smell of expensive perfume hung in the air. I was content wearing my grubby lululemon's and a tiger beer in hand, while sitting on a bridge. Joey and I like to keep it classy. People watching was fun enough for us anyways.
We walked around the club area and saw quite a few interesting bars. There was one that was hospital themed where the seating area looked like a waiting room and some of the chairs were wheelchairs. The coolest thing was that your drink could come in an IV with it's very own stand. Absolute pure genius. There was also a Burger King bar. If I liked Burger King that would have impressed me. There were lots of other bars, but most of them were just your typical fancy pants ones.
The next day, all three of us checked out Little India. We walked around and took in the sights of beautiful saree's, fresh vegetable and fruits stand, and the scents of curries and incense wafted in the air. Joey and I were craving Indian food. (Not unusual for us) so we went to a vegetarian restaurant for some thali's. For those of you who don't know what a thali is, it's either bread, rice (biryani) or both, with tons of curries, sauces, and chutneys. It's an array of delicious things. They are very filling, and some places also do unlimited refills. Its a cheap way to get ridiculously stuffed.
Later that day, Ren had to go to work, so Joey and I braved Orchard street. We (well, really it was me) had to exercise self control not to buy all the cool things for sale in the many malls on this road. We searched far and wide for the Lonely Planet Indonesia guide but came home with nothing.
Later that night we met up with Ren again and a few of his friends to check out the Mosaic music festival. Ren wanted to see the Philippino band that was playing. I don't know what it is about Singaporeans but they are absolutely the worst audience for music festivals, especially hiphop or any music you can dance to. First off, everyone was sitting. No one was dancing. In a sea of over 200 people, there was maybe 5 people nodding their heads or moving slightly. Another 100 were watching the show through their camera as they took video. The others sat in silence. Joey and I couldn't believe it, so we tried to compensate for their meekness with hooting and hollering. You could tell the artists on stage were quite frustrated with their comatose audience. I felt embarrassed for Singaporeans. This was a very bad representation of their coolness/liveliness. After that luke warm experience, we headed home because we were all tired.
Joey and I had to wake up early to continue our quest for the Indonesia book. Our day was quite uneventful. It involved the MTR and a bazillion malls. Finally we found our book and it was about time to meet Ren for dinner. We met him at city hall and walked to an outdoor market with every food you could possibly imagine. It was awesome. We were really thankful to be with someone who knew a little about the city. Ren is from Manila and only moved to Singapore a couple of months ago. We enjoyed seeing the inside scoop of Singapore despite there not being much. Overall both of us found Singapore to be a very boring city because we didn't have money to buy monetary goods. We were glad to be leaving this morning to somewhere more adventurous. Like Sumatra.
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