Welcome To The Jungle

Ages ago, I said in a post that I worried that Macchu Picchu and the Inca Trail would be the highlight of my trip, and it's a shame that that was the front-end of my travels. I needn't have bothered. The last two weeks in Sumatra, Indonesia has been the most pulse-pounding, exhilarating experience of my life. What an incredible, untamed part of the world. Our goal was Buckit Lawang, a tiny hamlet in the middle of the North Sumatran jungle that is home to an Orang-utan research and rehabilitation centre. We arrived after a total of 10 hours on boats and 13 hours on 'buses' (yes, the air-quotes are there for VERY good reason...). I pointed out to Denise (whose name, Denise Killackey, incidentally comes up on Word spell-check as 'Dense Cliche'!) in my travel-induced crankiness that I can see Orang-utans at Blackpool Zoo whenever I want and don't have to risk DVT for the priviledge. I also said that these f-ing primates better be ready with a full-on cabaret, complete with backing dancers and dry ice... Anyway, Buckit Lawang - stunningly beautiful. Wiped out in a flood in 2003, this tiny place right on the Bohorok River is just now blipping again on the visitor-radar. We stayed at an amazing place built into the jungle, two private balconies and - I kid you not - a back door that led out to our own private waterfall (which as it happen also fed the water for the cold shower and toilet). I spent many a happy hour recreating the 'Timotei' ads... From our balcony we regularly watched wild Orangs, Gibbons and Macaques swinging through the trees. At the research centre itself, Orangs that have been captured for the sickening pet-trade are rehabiltated into the wild, and come back for a feed of bananas and milk when they can't find food themselves in the jungle. In the time we were there, we had up-close and personal enocunters with so many of these amazing, lumbering creatures. At one point we walked through the jungle with Jackie and her eight month old baby, Darma, clinging to her. It was tear-inducing.

Went tubing down the river, which is one of the craziest things I've done. Flying through the jungle on a beat-up inner tube and surviving class three rapids that really should only be attempted in a raft... crazy, intense and an absolute scream. In all senses of the word. Wayne was hilarious. He never stopped screaming the whole time and at once point was dragged by the current into a herd of bathing Water Buffalo. I laughed until I couldn't breathe. Then the dozy mare went and broke his toe and as a result couldn't come on the two day jungle trek, so it was just me, Neice and Darma, our guide. An AWESOME two days. The trek got off to a shaky start - half an hour in we came across Mina, an Orang who has been so badly mistreated by humans in the past she is now quite aggressive. Darma told us she has bitten 50 visitors in the last two years. This struck us as quite funny... until Mina started to chase us. Seriously. Me and Denise, being chased through the jungle by a wild Orang-utan. It was hilarious and absolutely terrifying all at once. The rest of the trek was awesome. We were scaling 500 foot ridges with Darma quite literally cutting a sway for us through the rainforest. We camped under bamboo and tarpaulin and ate freshly cooked curry in the rain and drank brandy and smoked joints (sorry Mum! But you know what they say, when in Rome and all that... couldn't risk offending the locals by refusing the peace-pipe, could I?). Day two almost killed us, it was so strenuous. Then, just after taking a dip in a crystal clear stream, Denise got stung by a poisonous caterpillar and I got stung by a jungle wasp, within about ten seconds of each other...! You can only imagine the screaming...

We regrettably left Buckit Lawang and rode pillian on motorbikes to another hamlet called Tangkahan. If BL is remote, Tangkahan is on another planet. Middle of nowhere is NOT the phrase. Here we rode elephants through the jungle (I even rode on the neck of mine, steering him with my legs up and down steep jungle slopes) and then bathed with them in the river. Incredible. We visited natural hot springs and then thought it would be fun to catch the (unbelievably strong) current and float back down the river. This was a blast... until we were caught in a whirlpool. I went under and, being a strong swimmer, wasn't too worried. Until, that is, I made a break for the surface - and couldn't move. Panic swept through me as I struggled to reach the surface.. and couldn't. I was convinced I was going to drown, it was horrific. Somehow I managed to break free and emerged, shaking, coughing and spluttering. Wayne was in exactly the same situation behind me. It was the scariest moment of my life and even now when I think about it I shudder. No harm done, but still... It has crystalised some things for me and I have made some HUGE decisions over the past few days. No energy for that now, but I'll reveal all soon...

On to Kuala Lumpur in all its gleaming, teeming modernity. God, that place is PACKED with knicker-wetting shopping opportunities... A tearful farewell with Wayne marked the end of what has been an incredible month. Wayne/Monica/Beverly - I love you dearly and I'll never forget this experience; Gigi, gin, screaming, karaoke marathons, 'I'll KNOCK HER OUT!!!!!', feather boas, insects, Ruby, international glamour models, eating the bar tab (!), ping-pongs, singing 'Copacabana' on the bow of the boat at sunset, HRH Donna Summer, monkeys, elephants, shitty accomodation, Dolly Sisters, broken digits, 'Philip, do we own Thailand?', dancing to 'Hung Up', water buffalo... and most of all, laughing so hard I fear my stomach muscles may never recover. What a month, sister... Love you long time xx

So... three become two and now me and Denise are all set to conquer Borneo! There has been some talk today of hiring a car. Oh dear...