Bukit Lawang: An Introduction

I just got back to Jakarta after spending a week with Colleen and Steve (their last in Indonesia, boo!) on Sumatra in the small town of Bukit Lawang.  The name "Bukit Lawang" translates to "doorway to the hills," which is accurate, as the town is the jumping off point for folks like us keen to see the Sumatran orangutans in Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser (Mt. Leuser National Park). 

After a few hours of driving through the unfortunate palm oil plantations that dominate the landscape between North Sumatra's main city, Medan, and Bukit Lawang, we arrived at the guesthouse we had booked, Indra Valley Inn. Since it was Saturday night, the town's weekly party (consisting of all of the 20-somethings in town, a handful of backpackers, a live band, many beers and a couple of joints) was bumping in the restaurant just below our rooms, so we joined in:

 

The next morning we got to see the river that we could hear rushing nearby the previous night.  Also, while we ate breakfast we watched people marching up the town's main drag carrying big rubber tubes that they would later ride down the river:

Our hammock hang out area:

Apparently Bukit Lawang is a local hotspot on the weekends, with lots of Indonesian tourists day tripping from Medan and surrounding villages to picnic by the river and tube/swim/play in the cold, refreshingly clean river water:

Taking photos with us was also a favorite activity of the local tourists... I think we probably took photos with over 50 people after this couple broke the ice:

Since Bukit Lawang is in a valley between 2 big hills, there are lots of pretty waterfalls:

Here is the craziness that was going on downstream... looked like people were having fun!:

In general, though, I would say that we really liked Bukit Lawang... the people there were quite possibly the nicest and genuinely friendliest people I have met in a while.  They loved to hang out and chat, play board games, sing...  good stuff.  We were particularly fond of our trekking guides, Jakka and Simon:

More on them and our trek, coming soon!

Bali: Tanah Lot and Paparazzi

After our brief sojourn in Seminyak, we were off to hit up some more sights on Bali.  First on the list was Pura Tanah Lot. Since I had been there last fall, I knew the ladies would enjoy it, so we braved the heat of the day and checked it out.  

So. Worth. It.

Tanah Lot is one of Bali's 7 venerated sea temples- a "directional" temple, as they call them- perched on a rock just off shore, separated from the main land by tidal pools on one side and crashing waves on the other.

 

Meghan braves the rushing tides to see what's on the other side:

What's on the other side: 

The ladies pose for a photo with the temple in the background.

:

Little did they know that the paparazzi were gearing up to capture their every move.  They were like stars. Liz and Meghan- they're just like us!!!

Remember when I wrote about us getting our photos taken with some Indonesian aunties at Monas?  Yeah, well it was quadruple that at Tanah Lot...

I thought Meghan had a lot of sister before, but this is getting ridiculous:

Look at how proud Liz's new mom is of her! She's practically beaming.  Liz's new little brother looks a little worried, though.  Perhaps he caught wind of that story about Liz, her other little brother Ben and the glass patio door?:

Everyone wanted a photo or 5 with Meghan.  These two ladies went in for seconds!

I am so happy I captured this moment below... the guy in the plaid sarong hangs out at Tanah Lot and, for those folks who don't have a camera, he will take your photo and then print it out for you on the spot using the printer in his bag there.  These people were so excited to see Meghan that they needed the instant gratification photo of them cuddling up to her!  Priceless.

Liz made some new man-friends.  I think it was because she touched the lucky Buddha's hand back at Borobudur.  Incidentally, they told her they were from Thailand and giggled.  They were not from Thailand.

Phew... after all that excitement, we kept walking to see some of the other cliffside temples nearby and to snag a bird's eye photo of Tanah Lot:

After all that walking around in the searing sun (with which we were perhaps too familiar after the previous day's beach activities), we were parched and decided to stop for nature's sports drink, coconut water.

The coconuts were literally bigger than our heads.  But so delicious.

Also, while sippin' on coconut water, we had the pleasure of meeting one more group of photo seekers (not pictured).  This was a group of 3 or 4 men in their late twenties, super excited for a photo op snuggling next to my blonde friends.  I tried to speak to them in Bahasa Indonesia, but they didn't seem to understand me and all I could get from them was "Kalimantan" (which is the southern, Indonesian part of the island of Borneo and one of Indonesia's least visited provinces).   I'm fairly sure they didn't speak Bahasa Indonesia (the national language of Indonesia) and perhaps only spoke their local language...  pretty interesting!  I haven't knowingly encountered that here yet, but it makes sense considering how rural and isolated most parts of Kalimantan are!