Welcome to the jungle part 1
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2004
1
39
50
Trip End
Nov 27, 2004
Bukit Lawang,
Sumatra,
Indonesia
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
2nd November 2004
The death-trap minivan weaves through the choking traffic of Medan as we leave for the arduous ride into the Gunung Leuser National Park. En route we stop and a lad gets in the bus and joins us. His name is Mustafa and it looks to me as if he has been appointed tour guide, by Susan. I start to ask myself why it is that we need a tour guide ? We stop and visit Susan's family village. Children run among us in a playful way hiding from the white man and trying to get him to chase them through the muddy tracks between their dwellings. I play along. The next bus through is bursting at the rusty seams with passengers and their bags. But this is Indonesia not Ilford - although these days it may be harder to tell the difference. So we don't stand patiently waiting for the next bus. We are instead ushered onto the roof. We cling on as the bus dips and rises and scrabbles its way uneasily along dirt tracks leading deeper into the national park. The night draws in around us and so too does the sound of jungle. It's pitch black and we have only the weak beams of the headlights guide us further in. Then the rain begins and it becomes quite slippery on the roof of the bus. We are somehow squeezed inside. Our little group is checked into a place of lodging but it's difficult to see exactly where we are, its so late at night. We are close by a fast flowing river which we crossed on a suspended rope bridge.
As we enjoy toast and jam for breakfast, some haggling begins over ' the cost ' of doing a 2 day trek including a night camping out in the jungle. Mustafa, the young chap who ( just by coincidence ) boarded our bus yesterday, begins quoting from a sort of menu that illustrates prices in several currencies. Now I must have been mistaken, because I felt I'd been invited here by those who live in the area. Just to have a good look around. Not only are we now going on a short expedition - but it seems to be me that's expected to pay for it.
We are sitting on the far side of the river with the jungle rising up to our left. Over the river is a wide floodplain with debris strewn about. This was the path taken by the raging torrent that pulverised this little village almost a year ago. The river, out of control, picked up entire stacks of tree trunks that had been chopped down , twisting them downstream like matchsticks. When such a log strikes a building it is like a hammer against an egg. Bukit Lawang was devastated, many died. And the proceeds from all this illegal logging ? I'm gradually starting to understand why I am here. Money is in desperately short supply.
Next ; Welcome to the jungle part 2
