Java - and the hunt for Gas

Temple at Jambi

In thinking about Sumatra we don't generally think of old civilisations, but the temple complex at Jambi, constructed in the 10th - 13th centuries demonstrates that there were major conurbations 1000 years ago. The complex of dozens of brick built temples stretches for 7kms along the banks of a river. Each temple complex has a major central building which presumably housed a deity, with four smaller temples arranged round it all bounded by an enclosing rectangular wall. Bricks were used as in this flat part of east Sumatra there is little rock, but plenty of clay. the site is superbly maintained with cut grass and surfaced paths and is well used by locals for picnics and days out with open space to play games etc.

Leaving Sumatra for Java

East Sumatra has little else to detain the visitor so we headed south down the main road to spend a couple of days at Way Kambas National park, home to 200 wild Sumatran elephants and where they are seen relatively often as they invade the farmer's fields. This relatively small reserve is mainly secondary lowland forest with areas of swamp around several rivers. Taking an afternoon river cruise we saw many birds and a large crocodile, but sadly no elephant were at their grazing area.
After 8 fantastic weeks on Sumatra we were sad to leave and were bid farewell by a tremendous thunderstorm which followed us across the straits to Java.

Rock Pools at Krakal Beach

We had been aware that our supplies of LPG which are stored in a built in tank and which we use for cooking were running low so headed for Jakarta where their tuk tuks had been converted to run on gas. After asking at garages with no success a local man offered to escort us, and took us first to the tuk tuk filling station, but they use LNG, then to the LPG filling station, but they only fill bottles. It seems the only place to fill an auto tank with LPG is in Surabaya.

Wave Watching

The north of Java is relatively flat and very developed so we headed to the south coast where many sandy beaches are shown on the map. This area is so different with limestone mountains stretching down to the sea, with beautiful sandy coves. For four days we travelled along the road nearest the coast camping each night by one of the beaches, enjoying watching the waves crash against the rocky headlands and wandering over the rocky foreshores probing rock pools and finding various exotic creatures, sea slugs, sea snakes and many star fish. The south coast roads on Java are so much better then Sumatran roads and the infrastructure somewhat better, though maintenance of paths etc is not a high priority. Parts of the coast are very reminiscent of north Devon with narrow twisting roads to bays with glimpses of blue sea, the main difference is the vegetation, and temperature.

Pelang Beach

With gas our gas tank now registering 1% we have headed back to Surabaya to refill, before we head east along Java to Bali where we are planning to leave the van for a month while we return to the UK for our son's wedding.


Christmas Frigate Bird

well camouflaged Sea Slug



Venemous Blue Lipped Sea Krait (sea snake)

Starfish
 

Waterfall at Pelang beach

           

Back to the Southern Hemisphere

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.


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. 

Elephant bath time

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. 

Thomas Leaf Monkey

Palm Civet

Young Pig Tailed Macaque

To the Nothern Tip of Indonesia

Devastation caused by landslide

Leaving Medan we headed back to the mountains and followed the road up through the spine of the country towards Gunung Leuser National Park - a huge area of mountains covered in untouched rain forest. The road follows a beautiful river valley which has been cultivated with the jungle rising up on either side.

Masonry house destroyed by landslide

Approaching one village on the road we met first saw many heavy vehicles and military and police personnel. Entering the village, many people were sitting round in groups talking quietly, and then we saw why. For around 1km the hillside had been washed down through the village, destroying their timber houses, overwhelming bridges and blocking rivers. We had seen images on the TV news a couple of days previously which said 8 people were killed. A massive clean up operation was in progress with diggers, and rescue teams and emergency food stations. It is only when you see the effect directly that you can appreciate the scale and devastation caused to these relatively poor rural communities.

Female wild OrangUtan

Mother with baby OrangUtan

The main road through Gunung Leuser passes through some areas of prime forest, and we were fortunate to see a family of wild OrangUtans feeding on a tree right beside the road. We managed to camp by the river and again saw them feeding in the same tree the following morning along with a pair of the ridiculous Rhinoceros Hornbills.

Gunung Leuser National Park

Rhinoceros Hornbill 

Start of forest clearance

Deciding to cut through to the west coast we followed a minor road which climbed through the untouched forest to 1600m. Sections of the road are in a very poor state and we used the 4WD capability of the Landcruiser a couple of times to overcome very steep and muddy sections.
From the west coast this road is controversially being upgraded, widened and surfaced and it soon becomes clear that where there is easy access the forest is soon cleared for the timber and for agriculture. Poignantly just before we reached the start of the forest clearance we were privileged to spend 3/4 hour watching a family of wild gibbons feeding and displaying their acrobatic abilities in a tree by the road.

Beautiful coast of Aceh Province

White Handed Gibbon

Having reached Aceh Province we were now in the area devastated by the 2004 tsunami and the west coast has many new houses and a fantastic new road which sweeps along the coastal plain to Banda Aceh in the north. This beautiful coastline of palm lined sandy beaches and rocky headlands feels very undeveloped and tranquil. Without stopping to see Banda Aceh we caught the ferry to Pulau Weh where we applied for a visa extension and due to a weekend and public holiday had to stay for a week. A beautiful island containing the northern most point of Indonesia (kilometre 0) with coral gardens and excellent snorkelling just a few metres from the beach provided an ideal place to relax for a few days before we start our journey south.        

 





Most Northely point of Indonesia 

Pulau Weh Campsite

Sunset from Pulau Weh Campsite

Crossing the Equator and Driving inside Volcanoes

The Caldera and Lake Maninjau

Minang Palace

The north of Sumatra has had some of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. In the past week we have driven round the inside of two old caldera, Lake Maninjau near Bukit Tinggi which erupted around 55,000 years ago and left a caldera 30kms by 8kms, now filled with a lake. We spent the night on the rim, then drove down the 44 hairpin bends on the road into the caldera. Once it was a developing tourist destination, but when tourism declined they turned to fish farming, with numerous nets of farmed tilapia. A road runs round the lake under the rim where landslides are a hazard and emergency escape signs and paths have been created. Every possible area of the caldera edges is farmed, the shallower places for rice, and the steeper slopes for vegetables.

Into the Northern Hemisphere

Having explored further the Minang culture with a visit to a traditional village centred round the mosque, a long meeting house, and the kings palace, recently rebuilt after a fire caused by lightening destroyed it in 2007, we headed north to Lake Toba, crossing the equator en route. As we moved into the province of North Sumatra from Central Sumatra there was a sudden change, as all the villages now had one or more Christian churches, and hardly a mosque in sight. North Sumatra also appeared much poorer with the villages frequently comprising of many very small wooden houses, and the minor roads to the villages in a very poor condition, although much work is underway to improve them.

Sumatra Surili Mitered Leaf Monkey

We climbed steadily until the turn off to Lake Toba when we started to drop down a steep cliff with spectacular views into the caldera. Lake Toba is huge - 100kms long by 30kms wide - and was created by the explosion of a supervolcano around 70,000 years ago - believed to be the largest explosive eruption on earth in the last 25 million years. 2,800 cubic kilometres of rock were ejected with the ash from the eruption leaving significant deposits in Lake Malawi in Africa and up to 9m of ash in India! Global temperatures are believed to have dropped by between 3 and 5 degrees Celcius for several years. The centre of the caldera has now flooded creating a huge lake, but uplift of the centre of the caldera has created a large island within the lake. We spent a day driving round the island, passing through lots of villages where the traditional Batak houses dominate and are still a significant part of the community. The caldera seems to create its own weather with clouds hanging over and along the walls and rain storms sweeping across the lake. Waterfalls cascade down the rim walls, which rise 800m from the lake, fed by the regular rain storms. Unlike most of Sumatra the forest on the rim is mainly conifer and there is a lot of natural grassland surrounding the caldera.


Batak Village

Needing to renew our visas we have now dropped down into Medan to visit the immigration office, and we will try and get the wheel bearings greased / replaced as they are running hot, not surprising after the hammering they have taken on the broken tarmac roads here in Indonesia. Once all sorted we are heading to the northern tip at Banda Aceh.
 
     


Lake Toba



Brahminy Kite

120m waterfall into lake Toba

 

Volcanoes, Lakes and Gibbons

Concentration required when driving

Our morning view over Lake Kerinci

Another week in Sumatra and we have made a little progress north - it is such a large and fascinating island. We have now reached Padang where we have stayed for a couple of days while some essential work is being carried out on the Landcruiser. The bushes on the rear springs are in poor condition and a seal on the front steering is leaking, all due to the severity of the potholes in the roads.
Remarkably all the roads here are surfaced, many recently, providing an excellent driving surface, but then many sections are in terrible condition with large sharp edged potholes causing heavy jolts to the suspension. Bizarrely the worst roads tend to be the main roads which carry the heavy lorries. These both break up the surface and in turn make them very slow as they try to avoid the worst of the holes.


The Gong Stone

Driving the main roads is frustrating as it is slow and there are always motorcycles weaving in and out of the traffic - concentration is essential. The side roads are fantastic, but often not signposted, or on any of our maps so again we have tried pot luck with some beautiful scenery.
From Bangkalun we have moved some 500kms up the coast to Padang, but have taken in some beautiful mountains, with the benefit of cooler, but wetter, weather.


Kerinci Volcano dominating the tea plantations

We spent several days in the Kerinci valley, seeing more 3000 year old carved stones, and climbing another extinct volcano (Gunung Tujuh) to see the lake in the caldera. A steep climb up a muddy and root strewn path led to a beautiful lake surrounded by steep tree clad walls of the old crater. We managed to get down just as a thunderstorm broke. Gunung Kerinci is the highest volcano in S E Asia at 3,800m and dominates the area, with large tea plantations on its flanks.


Path up Gununh Tujuh

Gunung Tujuh Crater Lake

From Kerinci we headed north on the minor roads eventually moving into the Minang tribal area where their characteristic peaked houses are a key feature of the landscape. As we were wandering along the village looking at the houses a reporter for a local radio station stopped and interviewed us, then spent half an hour showing us around, including arranging for us to visit one of the traditional houses. We later discovered, when visiting the museum in Padang that the piece had been broadcast and our photo and story shared with staff at the museum. There seem to be very few western visitors to Sumatra - everywhere we go we are asked for photos and people want to talk to us - incredibly friendly and welcoming.

Traditional Minang House

Traditional Minang Street with rice drying

As we drove round the Lake Singkarak area on Sunday morning we were surrounded by motorbikes and pickup trucks packed with people and their dogs - all heading down one narrow road. There must have been hundreds and hundreds of dogs congregating, seemingly for one of their favourite past times of hunting wild boar. The area round the lake is beautiful, terraces of paddy fields amongst coconut palms, all backed by forest rising up the surrounding mountains. It is interesting that as the climate is constant all year round the rice is in every stage of growth, some paddies being ploughed, whilst nearby they are planting, and harvesting from other paddy fields. So good is the climate and so fertile the soil they get three harvests per year.
Parking up that night we were again privileged to have a troupe of Sumatran Surilli Mitred Leaf Monkeys cross near our van and then roost in some nearby trees for the night.
From here we plan to head to Bukit Tinggi and spend some time in the hills and lakes of this most traditional Indonesian cultural area before heading north to Lake Toba.

Rich decoration on traditional Minang house

Rice Paddies - notice rice at all stages,
from just planted to ripe for harvest

Rice Paddies

Sumatran Surilli  - Mitred leaf monkey settled for the night