Going to the Indonesian island of Sumatra to see an orangutan rescue and rehabilitation center (so they can live in the wild) has long been on Joe's agenda of things we should do in Southeast Asia. It was an easy trip by ferry from Malaysia and we planned on just zipping over for a few days, going to the jungle to see the orangutans and heading back to Malaysia.
We did go to the jungle and saw many orangutans (mostly female, with their babies- so cute!) really, really close up (a little too close at times! they are huge animals! and will bite, if threatened). And we did stay in the amazing honeymoon suite (with a private top-floor, wraparound porch with views of the river, waterfall and jungle in all directions- for $35!) at the Jungle Inn in Bukit Lawang across from the national park where the orangutans live. It was all so fantastic! As we were settling up our hotel bill and leaving, I happened to look across the river to see an orangutan loping up the steps of the national park office, just to be chased off by the park ranger with a broom. Two minutes later, she was back. This happened several times and it was really fun to see man and our nearest animal relative interact like that.
Unfortunately, in order to get to the jungle in Bukit Lawang, we had to spend a night in the relatively dismal Indonesian city of Medan, before and after. Indonesia appears much poorer than other Southeast Asian countries we've visited. And Medan, the country's 3rd largest city, displays the characteristics of a crowded, polluted and difficult urban area. When we arrived back in Medan after the jungle, we had a really negative altercation with a hotel owner when we complained about the air-conditioner not working in our room and told him we wanted another room or we were going to leave. We yelled at him and he yelled at us, then he brandished a wrench at us and we took off, adrenaline pumping and feeling pretty down on Indonesia. Twelve hours later, at a much nicer hotel, I succumbed to a miserable and violent stomach illness- intestinal parasites! Giardia! I was incapacitated to the point of making us miss our ferry back to Malaysia, which meant getting stuck another night in Medan! One of the "best" parts about a visit to Medan is that there are mosques everywhere and there is a very loud, extensive call to prayer from these mosques 5 times a day- starting at 4:30 a.m.! It actually sounded like there was a loudspeaker right inside our room! Luckily, we got out of Medan this morning, and are now in Kuala Lumpur (the very comfortable and modernistic capital of Malaysia), holed up in a nice hotel, medicating and recovering until we head to Singapore on Friday.
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