Sumatra

Sumatra is a big rugged island. It straddles the equator with a mountain range that runs down its back. It is almost 2,000 km long and about the same area as France without the TGV. Hard core travelers might opt for a series of long bus rides and travel it end to end. We opted for the bite sizes north. We didn't think Medan lived up to its ugly reputation but we didn't linger either. Our first destination was Lake Toba.

We arrived at Lake Toba 30 years late. It was once firmly entrenched as part of the hippy trail but today's backpackers flock to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Lake Toba hotels and restaurants patiently wait for clientele; when Indonesia comes back into favor, they'll be ready. Toba is a lovely place with an almost temperate climate where pine trees, avocado trees and rice paddies co-exist. Cannibalism has gone out of fashion but the water buffaloes still wallow and the lake water is surprisingly clean, refreshing but not cold.

Lake Toba is the world's largest volcanic lake but it wasn't always so serene. It is the result of a mega colossal super volcanic eruption some 75,000 years ago, the biggest in 25 million years. It caused massive climate change and left 15cm layer of ash over the entire Indian sub-continent and 9 metres of ash on some parts of current day Malaysia. World wide human population plunged, leaving a few 10,000's people on the planet. It was a big one, spewing 30 times more ash than the last really big eruption of Tamboro, Sumba in 1815 that caused world wide famine. Indonesian volcanoes are not to be underestimated.

Berestagi was our next stop. Move over Queensland's Big Pineapple - Berestagi has a heart stopping Big Cabbage and a 5:00 am call to prayer that was the loudest we've heard so far. We read that the nearby Sibayak volcano is "the easiest volcano climb in Sumatra", so it had natural appeal to we lazy beach chickens. Apparently, it has been 200 years since the last eruption, though it has plenty of gas and steam vents (fumaroles). It was hard to get lost on the mountain; just follow the litter to the top of the crater wall.

A tortuous day's travel got us to Ketambe, in the middle of Gunung Leuser National Park. When a jungle rodent visited our bungalow on the first night and chewed through anything it could get its teeth into, including Sheila's underwear, we knew we were onto something special. We opted for an overnight hike, led by our guide Herman and his razor sharp machete. Within the first hour, we were straining our necks, watching a mother and baby orang-utan in the forest canopy. Is it a bird?, is it a plane?, no, it's an orange blob. If you want to see orang-utans close-up, see them in a zoo or rehabilitation centre. We saw plenty of monkeys, a smattering of leeches crawled on us, we cooled off in creeks and reached a superb hot springs in a totally natural setting. This rain forest was literally hot and steamy; we boiled up eggs the following morning next to our jungle jacuzzi.

Ketambe is in the middle of nowhere but two long hard travel days brought us north to Banda Aceh (pop. 200,000). The city was hard hit by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, killing over 60,000 people. The city has gone to hell and back - everyone has a story to tell. Our guesthouse owner ( Uncle Guesthouse) told us about the earthquake and then about the oncoming black wave. She managed to escape with her kids on a motorbike. Their home was obliterated. Harrowing stuff, but now the city has been largely rebuilt. The folks there are thankful for the enormous assistance provided by NGOs and the international community.

We spent the second half of our Sumatran sojourn on the island of Pulau Weh, a painless boat ride from Banda Aceh. We nabbed a $5 bungalow at Yulia's on the water at Iboih beach. The bungalow was on stilts, about 2 metres back from the high tide line. The floorboards creaked and the bungalow swayed with every step, the bed as hard but we slept a little better knowing that it had survived the tsunami while the adjacent restaurant was swept away. The owners described the event to us; the water emptied from shore, the fish were flapping on the sand and then a huge black wave raced towards the island. People headed for the high ground and only 3 people died on the entire island.

Pulau Weh is less of a beach place (the beaches are smallish) and more of a hammock, snorkeling and diving destination. We were very impressed by the marine life, particularly the fish numbers. It was a frustrating experience for Sheila - she'd had ear problems earlier in the year and after 3 dives she was grounded and had to stay out of the water. We are hoping that the treatment will enable her to enjoy the underwater world of the Moluccas next.

We retraced our steps back to Banda Aceh and then onto Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia.

FOR THE RECORD

2009 tent nights: one!

Deepest dive: 40 metres

Pulau Weh water temperature: 28C