Farewell Indonesia

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I have to apologise now for the spelling and gramatical errors that will no doubt be abundant in this email. I blame this entirely on the fact that none of you have sent me remotely intelectually stimulating emails and the fact that Shaun and my communication has whittled down to grunts and snorts, or the local dialect of 'Why you not heppy?', so please be patient!!

The last time I communicated, we were in Bukkitingi (west sumatra) and about to set off on a 2 day trek with our 2.4foot local guide 'Erik'. We were very excited on the morning when the rain from the last 13hours dissappeared and we set off down into the valley. Our extensively experienced guide (as he advertised himself, and this being the reason he could charge $4 more than everyone else), however forgot about the torrential rain from the previous day and was genuinely surprised when we got to the river we had to cross and found that it's banks had burst and that is had turned into a man eating mass of brown water. His extensive experience also told him to try and cross at the narrowest point where the water was deepest and the current strongest, so while the little man attempted this 4 times, Shaun and I stood on the bank drawing straws to see who had to fish him out from the bottom of the river. Eventually good sense prevailed and we hiked all the way back up the mountain to catch a bus accross the river and continue our hike from there.

Erik eventually earned his stripes by taking us through beautiful valleys with rice paddies right out of your coffee table picture book and showed us the local herbs and plants, including making us eat a disgusting local fruit which smells like rotting flesh and tastes pretty much the same. Quite frankly, licking out the inside of a morgue was more appealing, so while Shaun and I politely declined, our little guide wolfed down the entire fruit!
After catching a lift with some locals on their motorbikes (with no helmets) to make up for lost time, we came apon the most awesome sight: Lake Meningau at sunset! Some locals asked us if we had been attacked by leaches at all, so of course I proudly announced that we had skillfully avoided these creatures from hell, and at this point sent a personal invitation for Murphy to rear his ugly head and make me eat my words!!

The last hour down to the huts we were staying for the night was the worst as we were both exhausted. It was however at this time that I realised how much I am becoming like my mother! For it was not the sheer drop on one side of the slippery jungle path or the fact that leaches could be feasting on my blood that worried me, but rather the fact that I was getting mud all over my brand spanking new hiking boots and pants from Cape Union Mart and how I was possibly going to get it out!!
We eventually got to the hut and had to inspect our legs for leaches and to my disgust, I found 6 leaches feasting on my blood! I have to admit that at this point I screamed like a girl and Shaun had to remove and kill them for me. To make matters better, while I was practically bleeding to death from the puntures in my ankles, Erik decided to inform us that our shower was infact a stream 100m back into the leach infested jungle!! He was once again not popular!

We arrived at the lake safe and sound and I didn't die from my blood loss. We needed some rest so stayed there for 3 days and took a day to cycle around the lake. Niks, you would have been so proud! 70km and it had hills and everything!!

Next, we travelled for about 2 days to Lake Toba (one of the largest lakes in the world) on the local busses that insist on playing techno from the 80's at full blast right the way through the night! I am not joking when I say that at one stage they played a mix of Right Said Fred's "I'm too sexy for my shirt' with the Crazy Frog!!! I was near tears!! Not to mention the fact that the locals think the busses are the national smoking zones!!
Lake Toba was also amazing and we spent 5 days there just swimming and eating and walking (the things backpackers do to fill their days) and met another British couple (the Brits are seriously everywhere!!).

We travelled with them up to Banda Aceh and from there to a volcanic island called Palau Weh. Banda Aceh was a really sobering experience as we drove straight through the heart of the worst hit area to get to the ferry. Although many houses have been rebuilt, the coast still looks like a war zone with debris and shells of old houses everywhere. There is also a ship which came to rest on some houses 3km inland from the coast! What hits you the most is the earie silence as you drive through the coastal area, as though a memorial to the thousands of lives lost on that tragic day.

Palau Weh has been my best week of travelling so far! We stayed in a bungalow overlooking the coral reefs and Shaun and I had a daily fish spotting competition! As a result of the secludedness of the island and everyone's long stay, we soon formed our own disfunctional family which consisted of a crazy and hilariously-funny local woman who thought she was pregnant one morning and decided that I would be the auntie . . . (?), her wonderful Italian husband who's only words during our evening games of 'Shithead' would be, "Ooh La La!! That is not so good!", a crazy Anerican who thought he was hilarious, but wasn't, a Dutch surfer and the two Pomms we travelled with from Lake Toba! We spent our days scuba diving and saw some amazing sea life including a turtle and a pod of dolphins!

We are now back in Banda Aceh, awaiting our special 12 hour bus back to Medan, to make our crossing back into Malaysia from where we make our way up to Thailand!

I do have time to read everyone's emails to lease keep them coming! Maybe if you keep me busy reading, I won't send such long emails!! . . .

Hope you are all well all over the world!

Missing you all stax,

Lea/Jakesie