Katembe
– Barastagi (day 1)
We rode to Takingon, which was 40kms, and
then unsuccessfully tired every ATM in town to some money, which was pretty
dull at the time. We then jumped on a
bus to Barastagi, what we didn’t realize that the driver of the bus had
aspirations of formula 1 and that his beaten up 1980s people mover was his
training vehicle. We got to Barastagi in
pretty good time.
At the time Barastagi felt like the high
point of civilisation. We had a few
beers and some nice BBQ chicken / fish with some fellow travellers. One traveler was born in 1990, which was a
tad worrying.
Barastagi – Bukit Lawang (day 2)
This was a rerun of the first day but
backward. We knew what to expect but also didn’t know how
hard it would be. I argued that it was
all downhill (well most of it).
We were wary but it turned out to be
great. We walked most of the way down
the very rocky parts and then rolled down the rest. It was quiet and very pleasant indeed. After we’d finished the descent we felt like
we’d discovered the road and a small part of Indonesia our ourselves.
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| A quiet road all to ourselves |
Once we hit the flats again it was
hot. At first we were moving along at a
serious 30km average but then the 50kms and heat got the better of us (well
me). We had to fall into numerous road
side stores for cool drinks, I seriously bonked and ate all the sugar I could
find then a pig-rooting goat jumped in front of me, Nancy then ran into the
back of me and skidded along the road. Luckily the entire village was there to help!
We made it to Bukit Lawang at 5 and were
tired and very happy to be finished. If
you ever stay in Bukit Lawang stay at Green Hill guest house. Andrea, the host,
will make the experience in an area plague by rogue guides so much more
enjoyable and interesting. http://www.greenhill-bukitlawang.com/. I’d also recommend walking up the river with a tube and floating down – very pleasant and you get
to see the same jungle that they trek through.
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| View from greenhill guesthouse |
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