We started our trip to Indonesia on Friday with an early morning flight to Medan in Sumatra. We were met at the airport by our guide and driver.
The first thing we noticed about Sumatra was the traffic - the roads were crazy - even though there were lanes on the road people didn't seem to use them. People just drove wherever they wanted. They also use their horns a lot more than in the UK. It seemed like you just looked for a space, tooted your horn and moved into it.
After a driving city tour around Medan we took a 4 hour drive to Tangkahan a small village in Gunung Leuser National Park. This was where we were staying for our first night.
The room was quite a change from the nice room in Singapore that we'd become used to over the last few nights. It was a Bamboo Lodge in the jungle, to reach it we had to cross the river on a small raft. There wasn't any electricity in the rooms after about 8 o'clock at night. There was a bar which looked out over the river so we spent the evening having a drink watching the jungle and all the strange insects and lizards that were drawn to the lights in the bar.
That evening there was a huge storm which kept me awake for most of the night. It had some of the loudest thunder we'd ever heard, the thin roof probably didn't help to keep the sound out much.
Saturday morning was one of the highlights of the honeymoon - seeing elephants.
We took an early morning trek to Tangkahan Elephant Station, where they have a group of elephants which they use to patrol the jungle to try to stop illegal logging and hunting. Local school children also visit the elephants to learn about conservation and how important the jungles are.
We were visiting the elephants to give them a wash then go on a ride through the jungle. We walked with the elephants down to the river and the mahouts moved them into the river. While we were waiting the by the river the mahouts bought one of a baby elephant down to the river for a wash. As the river was quite fast flowing, because of the storm the night before, the baby elephant was tied to a tree next to the river so it wouldn't get washed away. As soon as the baby elephant went into the water, all the other elephants crowded around it to ensure it was safe.
We were then given some scrubbing brushes and went for a paddle next to the elephants. We gave them a good scrubbing on one side, then the elephants turned over and we could scrub the other. When both sides were done, they stood up and lifted each foot in turn for us to clean their feet and toes.
After the elephants were clean, they came out of the river and we fed them bananas and sugar cane. They seemed to prefer the banana so would hold the sugar cane in their trunks and eat the banana first, then eat the sugar cane once the banana had run out.
Rather than walking back to the hotel, we took an elephant ride through the jungle and river. It was quite surprising how steep some of the slopes were that the elephants could easily climb up.
The afternoon was spent driving to Bukit Lawang a slightly bigger village also on the edge of Gunung Leuser National Park. We stopped to look at some oil-palm, rubber and cocoa plantations on the way.
We stayed in an Ecolodge in Bukit Lawang, this was less basic than the room in Tangkahan, but it did have an interesting bathroom. The bathroom was a separate room with a tin roof. There was a small garden at one end of the room, with a hole in the roof to let the rain in to water the garden. Amusingly, there was an umbrella by the door to the bathroom so you could stay dry if you needed the loo when it was raining.
Sunday was another highlight of the holiday - seeing orangutans
The day started with an early breakfast where we met our guide for the day. He knew the jungle in the area well and knew the best places to find the orangutans. He was also in contact with other guides so they could share the locations when orangutans were spotted.
Even before we'd left the hotel, there were a few Thomas Leaf monkeys looking for food in the bins around the hotel.
We then set off on a trek into the jungle, following our guide. Not far into the jungle, there were some more Thomas Leaf monkeys in the trees fairly near the ground, we stopped to take some photos and the guide gave us some fruit to give them to eat.
After almost an hour of walking into the jungle, we found some orangutans, there was a mother with her baby. They spent most of the time high in the trees with the baby holding on to the mother. A few times the baby would go off on it's own for a climb but the mother was always close just in case it fell.
We then started our trek back out of the jungle, part way back we found another orangutan, this one was a teenage male. It would come down from the trees in order to get some fruit the guide was giving it. It would even come down and take food off the top of your head! We also saw some Macaque monkeys as we made our way out of the jungle.
After seeing the orangutans, we continued our tour, leaving Bukit Lawang and headed to Berastagi. That night we stayed in the Grand Mutiara Hotel. This was a proper hotel compared to the rooms on the first two nights.
We travelled to Lake Toba on Monday, making a few stops on the way.
The first stop was at St. Francis of Assisi's Church, a catholic church built in the traditional Batak Karo architecture.
We then went to visit a nearby village where people still lived in traditional style houses. These were wooden houses with thatched roofs. They were built on stilts so that there is room underneath them to house animals such as goats and chickens. Our guide told us that he lived in this kind of house until very recently.
We then continued our drive and visited the
Sipisopiso waterfall, this is formed where an underground river comes out of the side of a mountain and falls into the lake below. The waterfall is 120 meters high and is the highest waterfall in Indonesia.
After leaving the waterfall we visited Rumah Bolon, a former royal palace in Pematang Purba, before continuing to Lake Toba. The palace was like a large version of the traditional houses we'd seen earlier in the day. The long house was home to the Batak king and his 12 wives, all living in separate living areas within the house. The palace was built in 1624 and used by 14 different kings until the Batak Kingdom was integrated into Indonesia in 1947.
We then continued to Lake Toba, catching a ferry to Samosir a small island in the middle of the lake. We were staying two nights at Lake Toba, and stayed at Toba Village Inn. There was a slight mix up with rooms as we were supposed to stay at Toba Cottages, but only the second night had been booked there so we stayed at Toba Village Inn for both nights instead. The room had a nice view over the lake, and we could watch local fishermen going out in small boats to catch fish.
Tuesday was our last full day in Sumatra, we went to visit the Huta Bolon Simanindo Batak Museum, this features a fully restored traditional house which was previously the home of a Batak king and his 14 wives. There is a daily demonstration of traditional Batak dancing and music.
The dance is an example of a ceremony where the women dance hoping the men propose to them. The ceremony also features a buffalo tied to a tree in the middle, traditional the buffalo would have been slaughtered.
We then went to see King Siallagan's Stone Chair which is an old stone table surrounded by stone chairs. This was where the king would sit with his advisors and discuss village matters, it also acted as their court.
We spent our second night at Toba Village Inn on Tuesday.
Wednesday was spent catching the ferry back across the lake to the mainland and then driving back to Medan airport for our flight back to Singapore