Even the caterpillars bite! (Mar. 2/09 - Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia)

We were bitten by ants, mosquitos, blood-sucking worms, and caterpillars - and then we woke up. It was a bit of a rough night (albeit a rare night with no rain!), as the ground was hard and the creepy jungle noises and crawly things were hard to ignore. So we got up with the sun and tried to stretch out the kinks while the guys made scrambled eggs for breakfast. Eventually we donned our packs and yesterday's stinky clothes and started back up the trail we came down yesterday before veering off onto a new slope. It was a steep, sweaty climb that was made even tougher by the extreme humidity and achy muscles from yesterday. We stopped for a breather at the top, and Tambrin disappeared into the forest and came back with a piece of bark he told us each to eat. Reluctantly, we did, and instantly regretted it, as it had a horribly foul taste that couldn't really be described as anything but toxic. For some reason, though, it was familiar... and then I remembered - antimalarial drugs! Sure enough, Tambrin confirmed that it was the bark of the quinine tree, which is the main ingredient in antimalarials. Yet another nondescript tree in the forest that has formidable properties!

We pressed on for another hour, catching glimpses of a Thomas Leaf Monkey in a tree far above and later, a beautiful hornbill - a huge bird with a massive yellow beak (like a toucan) whose loud call can be heard across the rainforest. After ascending one final hill that gave us a fabulous view out over the jungle canopy, we took a break and snacked on fresh passionfruit and pineapple before descending down to the river. Waiting for us on the riverbank was a guy from the village and four giant inner tubes that we would ride back to Bukit Lawang. Our bags were stuffed into heavy plastic bags and secured to the chain of inner tubes that were lashed together with ropes. We piled in, a guide at the front and one at the back with poles to steer, and pushed off into the clear green water. The tube train bobbed through the rapids, over rocks, between logs, and around corners, soaking us with chilly water each time we hit a bump. It was such a fun ride, and the passing scenery was spectacular. Thick rainforest cloaked the hills right down to the water line, and we even spotted a toucan flying overhead. It only took an hour to make it back to civilization, where we first recognized the rehab center by the big female orangutan squatting on the riverbank, sharing an involuntary picnic with two European girls, who looked a little concerned as the ape was helping herself to things out of their backpack and attempting to eat them! Not so smart on their part, we thought, but amusing to watch nonetheless!

After a shower and history's largest batch of laundry, we found a seat overlooking the river and ordered a beer and a fruit salad, which turned out to be a massive platter of fruit, containing half a pineapple, two huge chunks of watermelon, six bananas, seven passionfruit, and five oranges! It came decorated with a pile of tropical flowers and was definitely worthy of a photo. As we sat, resting our tired legs, two orangutans appeared out of the trees and wandered along the riverbank, and a bunch of monkeys took care of some "intimate business" (over and over again) next to the water. The daily torrential rains, thunder, lightening, and accompanying power outage came with nightfall, so we called it a night since we'd have to be up early for our trip down to Danau Toba tomorrow.

Side note: We thought it was noteworthy to mention that today we had our first bathroom casualty, as the tiles on either side of the standard Asian "squatty potty" were extremely slippery since the roof leaked so much that it soaked the floor, resulting in a "loss of footing", so to speak, as I basically fell off the toilet and almost broke my ankle.