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| Fishing Boat on roof of House - Banda Aceh |
Pulau Weh provided a fantastic break from travelling, but after a week we
were back on the main Island of Sumatra. We spent a day visiting the
extraordinary sights, one a fishing boat which was stranded on top of a
house, and is now a memorial, and a 20,000 ton generator ship which was washed
1.5kms inland. The tsunami museum in Banda Aceh displays some graphic
photographs and a video of the tsunami showing how fast and devastating the
flood was after the damage already caused by the earthquake. The city has
now been rebuilt into an attractive clean modern city.
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| 20,000 ton ship washed 1.5kms inland by the tsunami |
Aceh Province in the north of Sumatra is a semi autonomous state run on
Sharia Law, but is tolerant of non-muslim tourists and even hosts a number of
churches.
North Sumatra, the next province south is mainly Christian, with lots
of churches and few mosques. Further south again the communities are mainly
muslim, with huge numbers of mosques being built, and almost every village with
a road chicane where people wave large fishing nets at you to collect for
the mosque building.
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| Elephant bath time |
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| Feeding 18 month old elephant |
Our return route has followed the mountains along the western side of
Sumatra giving us the opportunity to see some more of the wildlife, including
Thomas' Leaf Monkeys. Near Medan we visited an elephant rescue centre, set up by locals who were concerned by the conditions of working elephants, and also by the encroachment of palm oil plantations on the Forest reserve. They take
ex working Asian elephants and provide them with a more friendly environment,
also using them to patrol parts of the adjacent forest to deter poaching and
timber felling. The elephants live as a herd and you can join them for
their morning wash in the river, armed with a scrubbing brush and bananas. The
herd has three very playful babies aged between 8 and 18 months.
Having re-crossed the equator to the southern hemisphere we called at a
small reserve near Bukittinggi where they protect Rafflesia plants (the worlds biggest flower) and were
fortunate that one flower had opened that morning. Our guide took us through
the beautiful village and after an hour including a scramble up a muddy
path we came across the Rafflesia Arnoldii bloom which grows as a parasite
on the roots of a creeper. This particular bloom was around 60cms across
so only a relatively small specimen of flowers which can reach over 1m in diameter. In the village we had a reviving cup
of Lauwak Coffee from a small coffee producer who has set up a home based
business using coffee beans retrieved from Civet droppings collected from the
jungle by 100 local farmers. She cleans, roasts and grinds the beans in her
house and has set up a small café where you can try the coffee. She also sells
100g packets for around £12!
After another night by the ocean with a fantastic sunset, we tried a
night drive through Kerinci National Park and did see a palm civet, though no
tigers or leopards. and have now crossed to Jambi to visit the hindu temple
complex.
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| Thomas Leaf Monkey |
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| Palm Civet |
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| Young Pig Tailed Macaque |
Having re-crossed the equator to the southern hemisphere we called at a
small reserve near Bukittinggi where they protect Rafflesia plants (the worlds biggest flower) and were
fortunate that one flower had opened that morning. Our guide took us through
the beautiful village and after an hour including a scramble up a muddy
path we came across the Rafflesia Arnoldii bloom which grows as a parasite
on the roots of a creeper. This particular bloom was around 60cms across
so only a relatively small specimen of flowers which can reach over 1m in diameter. In the village we had a reviving cup
of Lauwak Coffee from a small coffee producer who has set up a home based
business using coffee beans retrieved from Civet droppings collected from the
jungle by 100 local farmers. She cleans, roasts and grinds the beans in her
house and has set up a small café where you can try the coffee. She also sells
100g packets for around £12!
After another night by the ocean with a fantastic sunset, we tried a
night drive through Kerinci National Park and did see a palm civet, though no
tigers or leopards. and have now crossed to Jambi to visit the hindu temple
complex. 
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