Citiinn Palang Merah Medan

... a day,” the fisherman was saying. “Once, when I was young and starting out with my father, the fish were so plentiful they ran from the nets like silver coins. Nowadays the real money is in people. People always need to get somewhere,” he said.

The boy drew the fresh ocean air into his lungs. It helped to calm his heart, which trembled like a bird on its first flight from the nest. The boy had never been ...

... one of P*trick’s st*tements w*rr*nts *t le*st one, if not more, bec*use he re*lly does spe*k with th*t much enthusi*sm.

P*trick loves quizzes *nd const*ntly *sks for them. “Ple*se Miss! Ask me *bout current *ff*irs! History! Anything!!”

At first most of my questions were too e*sy for him. “Ok*y, ok*y, P*trick,” I s*id, se*rching for something th*t would re*lly stump him. So I *sked him *bout one of my f ...

... and some strange pear, avacado and brown sugar combo to wash it down with!! Took us about 10 minutes to get through the crowds and have peace to eat but I'm sure not complaining as it's not everyday you get to feel like royalty...people even asked us if we were from the 'monarch family'!!

The heavens opened and we rushed for cover with a group of local lads beside a local building which contained old type writers...a group of lads they sure were as once of them ...

... relieved as we were to reach the camp, we were somewhat dismayed to find that the accommodation was even more basic than Prison Camp 5 in Borneo. The campsite itself was in a beautiful spot, set in a clearing beside the river. The sleeping area for the six of us was basically a large sheet of thin plastic secured to some bamboo poles with a sheet of tarpaulin on the stony ground. Our beds were very thin mats that must have been slept on by hundreds of ...

... to heal it. She ground the herbs, uttering prayers, heart full as a spring. She mixed them with extracts of other berries, roots and leaves, thanking the forest for providing her with their essence. She placed the elixirs in bottles. Some she placed in moonlight, some in sunlight. These were her magic jamu. When her medicines were ready, she rolled a piece of banana leaf and placed it in the neck of each bottle as a stopper. Then she put all her bottles in the turquoise box of her ...

... sleeping in the jungle unprepared if we hadn't made it. I think the floods must have panicked them all as they seemed really worried. We made it over though and dripped all the way home to our lovely wooden hut, basic but nice and dry. We're very used to having squat toilets and bucket showers now!

The next day we started our trek through the jungle with Thomas our guide and 6 others from around the globe. It was really quite a hard trek, not sure if for the sticky heat or ...

... ze swiezych limonek i ananasowy tez.

Pod naszym bungalowem wieczorem zaczepil nas handlarz artysta oferujacy gadzety masci przeroznej. Wspominal, ze robi je sam, ale jakosc nie bardzo moglem mu uwierzyc, zwlascza ze sprzedawal tez koszulki :) Rozlozyl caly kram, pokazal co ma, podziekowalem mu grzecznie i zarazony ta wszechobecna uprzejmoscia pomoglem mu schowac graty do plecaka.

W nocy obudzil nas deszcz, padal na blaszany dach tak glosno, ze nie mozna bylo spac.

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Tuk Tuk,
25-02-2009.

As usual during my evenings here in Tuk Tuk I have moved over to Peter Nit Noi Chang`s guest house, not to hang out with Mister Fatso the presumed child molester but to have a cold Bintang together with Mama Cesca, his landlady.

There is usually no mistaking Peter`s bulky shape sitting outside the guest house enjoying the last warm rays of sun of the day, his long goatee hanging ...

... clientêle, maybe 40/50 backpack travellers in all of Tuk Tuk where once a full 1000 Europeans were crowding the sandy streets of this tranquil village. The locals have turned back to their former occupations, women tending the rice paddies and doing the household chores as is comon in the Northern Thai and Burmese societies the Batak originate from while their menfolk sit around and drink Bintang beer probably discussing their next visit to Parapat`s br*thel. Young local Batak ...

... here is priced in the thousands. At IDP17,000 to the pound, depending how well the pound is doing these days, changing £60 will make you a millionaire in Indonesia. So although I could count to ten I quickly needed to translate that into thousands. Accommodation here is basic, to say the least, but everything is very cheap. If I push my budget then £4 night is a the top ...