North Sumatra trek prep

Day 23 - February 2

We had breakfast this morning at the JW Marriott. There sure were a lot of choices. If we would have had some of everything we would have been at breakfast until they closed. But the breakfast was very good. Afterward we stopped at the concierge desk to see what there was to do. Actually I had asked them about a drive to a waterfall not too far from the city. They told us how to get there, what it would cost, and that we should have a pleasant time scrambling through the jungle. They did recommend that we get a local guide once we got there. After talking about that they asked why we don’t go see the orangutans. That did it. My main reason for coming to Medan was to do exactly that. They arranged the trip for us. And we were off.

So we rode up to for three hours plus a little bit to Bukit Lawang. The roads were crappy but we did get there. We will be staying at the Ecolodge for the next two nights and then going back to the Marriott in Medan. So far on our trip we have seen macaque monkeys, some kind of tree frog. a couple of small lizards (two different kind), a green and yellow snake in a tree, mosquitoes, flies, and feral cats. We crossed to the hotel on a suspension bridge walkway over a river that we will tube on tomorrow afternoon. Bonnie is apprehensive about this, I hope it goes well.

Had dinner Indonesian style, fried rice and other things. Bonnie’s included satay chicken, mine had fried chicken and an egg. The food was good and contrary to the complaints of some on trip advisor it wasn’t that expensive. It is really humid tonight though and I’m sure it’s going to be a bear sleeping. But it’s a king bed and it has a mosquito net so we should only be bothered by a finite number of insects. The jungle around us sounds quite neat. There are lots of insects chirping and frogs croaking. The of course there is the river tumbling over the rocks. We can always sleep at the Marriott when we get back there.

It’s getting close to time to turn in so will call it a night. Breakfast is at 6:30 in the morning and we start our trek at 7:30.
 

First day in Sumatra

Day 22 - February 1

It’s been a quiet morning so far. Had breakfast which was quite good. Came back to the room and got things more or less put together. Waiting on a few things to charge up before we check out. Need to be at the airport for a 1:50 flight to Medan. We will be there for a little more than 3 days before we return to Jakarta. Will check out here at about 11:30.

The Grand Istana Rama Hotel here has one great asset and that’s it’s location to the beach on the south side of Bali. The beach is right across the road. As I said earlier the beach could be fantastic if the people that make a living of the beach would clean it up some. The hotel room is quite large and the bath looks to have been redone recently. The room was clean and comfortable. The only real criticism I have is that it is quite dark. The dark wood furniture absorbs all the light in the room. The bed could use some work but it was satisfactory. The pillows are nice, there were 6. Does not compare with the place we stayed in last week but it was worth the money.

Maya met us when we checked out and thanked us for our stay and gave us a couple of parting gifts. She has been really nice to us during our stay in Bali even if we didn’t stay the whole time at her hotel. The taxi fare to the airport was about 70,000 rupiah. Traffic was light so it didn’t take long. Went through security right as we entered and then again after we got checked in. We are in the back of the plan but we have a window and an aisle seat so can’t complain too much.

If you are flying in SE Asia but sure to check the website of the airline you are flying else you may not get the cheapest fair. Hipmunk, Expedia, and one other did not give the cheapest fair. If you get your tickets there and have to change there will probably be no charge. But if you know what you will be doing get the cheap one. I basically got two tickets for the price of one by purchasing on the Garuda Indonesia website.

We had a snack at House of Beans by the departure gate. Bonnie wanted sweet potato chips so we got those. I would rather have had regular, oh well. They did have been though so I got a Bintang. Will have to find out if Scott wants be to bring a bottle back for him to paint, or maybe a picture.

Plane leaves in about an hour and a half. One stop along the way. Will be in Medan, Sumatra about 5:30. The  JW Marriott is supposed to have a shuttle. Guess I will call when we get there.
At the airport in Bali Garuda Airlines tracked us down. We were sitting in the area by gate 1C, which was on our boarding pass, but they changed gates to 2. So we weren’t there. We were not the last ones on the plane but it was close. The flight was uneventful. I like those kind. Got to the airport and call the Marriott to find out about the shuttle. They said we had to schedule it ahead of time. So there was not shuttle. Took a taxi to the hotel. The room is pretty posh. We went down to the lounge for our welcome drink. It was apple juice. I ordered a bourbon on the rock and Bonnie had some peppermint tea. We also ordered some spring rolls. All of that was nice.

The nicest thing though was a combo with drummer, piano player, guitar, and singer started up shortly after we got there. They were pretty good. Played and sung a lot of mellow oldies. Had a great time listening. When their first set was done we left thanking them for their music.

Off to bed for now. Will figure everything out in the morning.