Goodbye my island paradise

So we finally left Tuk Tuk and Lake Toba, reluctantly it has to be said. Our 5pm bus journey is delayed by one hour and then there's people in our seats. Apparently the main office in Medan have double booked, but don't worry miss there's seats at the back. In my best prima Donna, memsahib is not happy way I let them know I won't be sitting by the toilets and whilst I understand it's not their fault, its up to them to resolve the issue and the bus won't be leaving until it is resolved. Anyhow it worked and at 6.15pm we're off.

The bus stinks of urine every time we go down a slight slope and there's loud music blasting out. Two petrol stops, feeding at 10.45pm, prayers at 5.00am, loud music at 5.30am (thankfully it's a Bollywood I know so I can sing-along-a-Bollywood with the best of them, then annoyingly 5km away from our destination they stop for breakfast. Nooooooo, we're nearly there. Anyways, me and Adi part good friends and seemingly no grudges are borne.

Two mini buses later we are in Buket Tinggi, checked in and showered at the Orchid Hotel. It's pouring outside and we question our decision to leave our drinking buddies and the lake behind. The KFC is currently providing some solace but it will be short lived. 

My left foot is very painful and swollen and I feel certain only Lake Toba can fix it......

The island within an island

Sumatra is the largest of the Indonesia islands that is completely Indonesian, I think Kalimantan may actually be the biggest but that is half Malaysian. It is also the sixth biggest island in the world and home to the largest lake in South East Asia, Danau Toba.

Our journey to Parapat, from where we take the ferry across to the Island of Samosir, is complicated involving 3 buses and a ferry, however the scenery really makes it worthwhile and the road is by and large tarmac.

The ferry takes us to Tuk Tuk which is essentially the resort area of the island, lots of accommodation and restaurants, catering well for western tourists. We choose Romlan, a German/Indonesian establishment, which offers a little chalet right on the lake for 110,000 rupiah (a whole £5.59) including hot water.

We manage to lose a week here, easily; cycling, motorbike, swimming, reading, walking and seriously relaxing. It is a beautiful place and it doesn't rain. The Island was traditionally the home place of the Batak people, migrant Burmese who settled here and are Christians. The traditional style houses with the saddle style roof are a sight to behold and they are very much still dwellings here. A motorbike ride takes us around the whole of the island (110 km), the scenery is stunning. Our first stop finds us in Tomok and attending our first Indonesian wedding, where we are warmly welcomed and invited to sit. From Tomok we climb the mountain, the road is largely unmade for the next 10km and its a little tricky but the view at the top is breathtaking. Our second Indonesian wedding has an English groom!

Lunch is a simple wooden restaurant that looks busy and serves the tastiest nasi goreng going. From here we head on to Pangaruran where Indonesian Idol auditions are underway, lots of wannabe pop stars perform to an enthusiastic crowd. So many cultural differences but so many similarities.

Our road trip takes around 8 hours to complete and we're saddle sore and weary but there's always cold Bintang to ease the pain.

In the middle of a volcanic eruption

Sounds dramatic hey, which it is but not really. We are in Berastagi to visit Indonesia's most climbed and easily accessible volcano, Gunung Sibayak. It is located very close to Gunung Sinabung. Until August 2010 Sinabung sat quietly, and was believed to have done so for 400 years, but then it erupted several times over a period of a few days, between 4th and 5th September it erupted over 100 times. It erupted again in 2013, and three times in 2014, it's last bout of activity has yet to cease. It erupts at least once daily. At 8.30am this morning it erupted sending an ash cloud into the sky with billowing steam clouds. The locals are a little worried as it was a big eruption. The wind is not blowing in this direction so we were saved the ash and small stones that fall following an eruption.

Our climb up to the crater of Sibayak starts with a bus from Berastagi to the entrance office some 5km from the crater, where we sign the book, people have died on this volcano in the past so they're cautious (see below)!! We are a group of four today, Fiona from Ripon and Caroline from Hong Kong complete our party. It's a very steep, although nicely shaded track up to 'base camp' where they are currently building toilets for the hoards of local tourists who visit on the weekends. From here we start to clamber over rocks and climb rough steps hewn in the mountainside.

There are several lively, sulphurous fumaroles dotted around the lunar like landscape. There is pumice here and obsidian, the shiny black volcanic glass formed when lava cools quickly. It's a dramatic landscape that reveals a shallow caldera in the crater. The caldera is covered in graffiti formed by rocks. A most unvolcanic like spectacle.

The clouds, along with the steam come and go with amazing speed, the valley never once revealing itself. On the way down we see a bronze back snake, very small, not poisonous and just warming itself in the sun. We take tea at the 'office' and assure the chap who serves us we had no problems, the official who signed us in is nowhere to be seen and our man doesn't tick us in in the book so not sure how that all works then.

It's cold in Berastagi and we decide it's time to go. The legend that is Lake Toba is calling.

In search of Orang utans

Following a flight to Medan, Sumatra, we head on unmade roads towards Bukit Lawang (gateway to the hill). A 2km walk from the bus station in the preceding village finds us in a deep valley with a fast flowing river running through. Bridges cross cross the river with some guest houses one side and others further along the valley on the other. It is a lush green valley with primary tropical rain forest on one side, this is the Gunung Leuser National Park, a UNESCO world heritage centre dedicated to the protection of Sumatran orang utans.

Orang utans are only found on Borneo and Sumatra. The Sumatran Orang utan's main predator is the Sumatran tiger, therefore they spend most of their time in the trees. They are critically endangered, it is believed that only around 7000 now exist on Sumatra. They are one of the most intelligent of the primates and so human in their facial expressions and how they care for their young. A most loving and caring of mothers. The males stay deep in the jungle and well hidden, only appearing for what the guides call 'boom boom' before disappearing again.

We trekked in the jungle for 6 hours with our guides Pen and Rain, who really looked after us on the climbs up and down and were amazing at spotting the animals. We had several sightings of orang utans, and were lucky enough to see 3 mothers with babies, thankfully one wasn't Mina, a notoriously aggressive orang and, sadly, not Jackie who is prone to taking a fancy to tourists and hugging them. We also saw long tailed macaques, Thomas' Leaf monkeys and gibbons. Lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering around, centipedes and the biggest ants you've ever seen. The last hour of our trek is done in torrential rain, making the paths and tree roots slippery, thank goodness for those old Tarzan vines to cling on to. We finish by tubing back down the river, the white water sections being quite exhilarating. I've never been so wet when not in the bath! A truly memorable day.

Just 2km from the village on the edge of the jungle is a cave where the bats roost during the day - known, obviously, as the Bat Cave. En route we meet two other couples and all join forces for a guide, getting a pretty good price to that advertised. Our guide is amazing, the British Caving and Potholing Association (if it exists) would have palpitations at the thought of people without equipment and largely wearing flipflops going anywhere near this cave. We saw big bats and little bats and scorpions and centipedes and black widow spiders and other poisonous spiders, all in virtual darkness with just our little torch lights. As we exited the cave system, a tropical rain storm commenced but we were enticed from our shelter by an orang utan, probably headed to the cave for shelter. By this time we were drenched so headed back to town for several beers and a musical interlude where Adrian was crowned number 1 African drum player. We all agreed that the cave was truly truly dangerous but... Such fun!

KL - my kind of town

I love Malaysia! I fell in love with it 5 years ago. To say I was slightly concerned that I'd bigged it up in my mind is an understatement. But, lo, here it is like a comfy pair of slippers. Plenty of planning and deliberation has gone into organising this leg of the trip however, changed flights and delays find us arriving at our hotel a little after 3am.

A debate about whether to revisit the Petronas Twin Towers results in us heading for Mendara (the KL Tower), the open deck is much higher than the sky bridge at Petronas. It is a wow as you step onto the open deck and see the city sprawling for miles and miles and miles and looking in miniature. There is a breeze up here (at 425 metres that's unsurprising) and the temperature is lovely. We pick out all the land marks we know, gasp at the amount of green spaces that we seemingly have never found and take the silly perspective shot the tower wants to sell you - spoilsports. A few floors down the observation deck gives a closer view on the skyscrapers around.

On Sunday morning the Nike We Run KL 21k 2015 race starts at 5.30am at the stadium across the highway from us. Around 6.30am the first returners enter the stadium to loud and enthusiastic motivation from the commentary pair, we decide to head over. It was a great spectacle, the pack were just at the 13k mark as we headed across the highway and we saw them return to the stadium a little later - one woman had run in flip flops!

The obligatory visit to shopping malls (note the plural) and Chinatown and our weekend in KL is sadly over and not a single fake item purchased. I, of course, have to visit my favourite Dr Fish pool in the central market. My feet are desperate and they love them. Did I mention I love KL!

Surabaya - The return leg

After Problemlinggo the return to Surabaya is comforting, like slipping on your slippers after a hard day.

Surabaya is a place of storms at the moment, often raining with thunder and lightening for hours. Storms like I've never experienced before, the lightening is constant and at times the thunder sounds like bombs going off.

We avail ourselves of the Majapahit Hotel's facilities, Adrian uses the pool and I luxuriate in the lounge with jasmine tea. You can get away with anything really, white face in a 5* hotel, naughty but very nice.

En route to the Grand City Plaza (6 floors of shopping heaven is promised) we pass, quite randomly, a submarine. It's open as an exhibit and its up periscope all the way. The Grand City Plaza is very grand and we make purchases - both in shops we'd find in the UK.

The free bus tour drives us round the many roads we've walked during our time in Surabaya. It passes a pleasant hour and a half and Adrian steals a gold bar at the Bank of Indonesia museum. It was, naturally, a fake but he was nevertheless very excitable.

So, we find ourselves somewhat nervously awaiting a flight to Kuala Lumpur for 3 days (it's a visa thing) whilst the storm rages outside.

Gunung Bromo

Probolinggo is our next destination, or Problemlingo as we rename it (almost affectionately). Our mission to look into the crater of the Bromo volcano and cross the sea of sand.

Six hotel rooms later (grime, leaking toilets, more grime, building sites, plague of Mosquitos and cockroaches) we settle on Hotel Ratna and a second floor £7.24 room including breakfast.

A minibus takes us to the bus station where bartering begins. There's only us on the minibus and its a stunning journey. As we climb the temperature drops and we start to see different crops to the usual rice. Lots of cabbages mainly. It's strange as vegetables are not a big feature here.

At the top, our first view of the Tengger Semeru National Park is jaw droppingly amazing. The caldera (plateau) happens when land collapses following a (or several) volcanic eruption(s) and the emptying of the magma chamber below which is no longer able to support the ground above. This particular caldera is ringed by 3 mighty smoking volcanoes with Bromo sited within. It is completely flat and covered in volcanic ash, an expansive grey sea. It is an amazing sight to behold. At the entrance to the park is a status board red, amber and green when translated mean watch out, standby and alert respectively.

The walk to the Bromo crater takes approximately 1 hour and it's a sudden steep climb, but so worth it. It is quiet at the top, the sunrise tourists all gone and its a great place to be alone with your thoughts. Sadly the usual Indonesian garbage is still ever present. I throw my posy in the crater as an offering to the gods to placate the volcano, hopefully it will work, at least until we leave town!!