Sad to Go

View from my balcony, Ibouh Beach, Pulau Weh island Indonesia.




Greetings rat-racers from beautiful Pulau Weh Indonesia. My time is quickly running out and I will be rejoining your ranks soon, but for now I am still living well and having a very nice time. I write today from my bungalow's lovely balcony. There are tropical fish darting about in the extremely clear coral waters beneath me visible through cracks in my floor boards. Directly across from me lies Rubiah island and to my right or the North lies the broad expanse of the Indian Ocean. Further out beyond my vision lies the Andaman islands. Geologically speaking Pulau Weh is like the southern-most island in the Andaman chain or the most north and west Indonesian island of consequence. The beaches here are small, white and sandy but not what I would call fantastic. I was hoping to find surf somewhere along the island's southwest coast but I have been roundly informed there is none. Despite these very minor disappointments Pulau Weh has been far from a disappointment. The snorkeling here is out of this world. As I already mentioned I can see coral and tropical fish by looking just over the rail of my balcony, the coral reef starts immediately at water's edge! In case anyone is unfamiliar with coral reef ecology that is a fairly remarkable thing especially in a touristed environment. Normally you have to make a good swim out from shore or take a boat ride to find an decent coral or spot much in the way of fish or wildlife, but not in Pulau Weh. In just over a half hour or so of snorkeling in front of my bungalow I saw more species of fish and marine life than I could keep track of. Powder Surgeon fish, Moorish Idols, and Trigger fish were everywhere. Sweet lips, giant red Big-Eyes, Bat fish, Toad Fish, Lion fish or Fire Fish just all seemed especially abundant as well. I saw two sea turtles in the water just around my bungalow too. I have been beside myself with grief that I can't take my D-90 underwater to photograph this amazing world. There's no disposable underwater cameras to be found on this island either.

As good as the snorkeling is on Pulau Weh the diving here is reputed to be much better and it ranks among the top dive locations in the world. Clear deep water, fast currents, big and abundant sea creatures, coral canyons, walls, overhangs and arches all contribute to Pulau Weh's world-class status. I wasn't really planning on taking dive lessons when I came here but when my plans for one last visit to India before coming home proved too complicated to manage I found myself with a small glut of time in a country notorious for slow, uncomfortable, difficult travel. I figured why not stay in Pulau Weh a few more days and take advantage of what its known for? I am pleased to announce that I am now a PADI certified open water diver.

Once again I am absolutely sick I don't have any pictures of any of the amazing things I saw underwater but you'll just have to take my word; it was really cool.

I wish I could say I am excited to come home, but I'm not. I am pretty sad to be finishing my travels. I'm certainly not expecting sympathy from anyone, I know I've had a really good run, just stating the facts for the record. Either way it doesn't matter. My money is gone and my leave is up so it's back to work and back to the U.S. of A. for me. I've got my airline tickets purchased for my return trip home. Banda Aceh, Kulua Lumpur, Tokyo, then from Tokyo, New York, RDU via Continental. Its going to be like a 48 hour nonstop journey or more with all of my connects and sits. The 7:30am to 5:00pm sit in Tokoyo is going to be a real killer after an economy class red-eye from KL. I depart Banda Aceh Monday the 22nd at 12:35p local time and finish in RDU around 9pm or so on the 23rd. (24hour leap backwards in time on eastbound trans-pacific flights, international dateline) I leave Pulau Weh tomorrow via the ferry for Banda Ache where I will have one last two and a half day fling at a Sumatran surf beach known as Lohk Nga. Lhok Nga is basically the southwest suburbs of Banda Ache and was the ground zero of the 2004 Boxing day tsunami. The 9.4 earthquake that devastated Banda Ache was just a mile or two directly offshore from Lhok Nga. Lhok Nga was completely flattened then it was wiped off the map by the tsunami. The wave that hit Lhok Nga was over 20 meters high (66 feet) and traveled 8 kilometers inland. It sounds pretty morbid I know, but apparently the place is quite busy and cheerful on weekends now (despite the lack of accommodations) The surf is supposed to still be good and the breaks are mostly frequented by locals now. Hopefully I can take this trip out with a couple of good days surfing. Nothing puts me in better spirits.

See you Americanos back stateside...

Over and out,

JDD RC



Ibouh beach in the foreground, Rubiah island in the background. (Distant background still part of Pulua Weh)



Can you spot the tropical fish in this photo? (Moorish Idol as seen from my balcony)



Onboard the big dive boat my Dive Instructor Thierry gives instruction to his two Dive Master students, Nano and Elsa.



Monster Gecko mama that lived in my bungalow with her three babies. This giant Gecko had giant poos which it was fond of dropping down into my hammock while I was attempting to relax or sleep. For reference sake that board is a 2"x4".



This photo is from Banda Aceh. Can you guess what kind of factory is at the end of this dead end road?



Answer: That ain't no factory. It's a really freaking big boat that was deposited 5 kilometers inland by the tsunami. This neighborhood is nowhere close to the water. The picture shows the boat's stern in reference to a small house which was almost squashed by it.



Yulia's pier, Pulau Weh (my accommodation) looking North out towards the Indian Ocean.




END.

Monkeys, Monkeys Everywhere!!!

Coming to you live from the Jungle, I write tonight covered in sweat from Bukit Lawang, deep inside the heart of the steamy exotic Sumatran rain forest.

Since leaving Penang Malaysia my luck has improved considerably. Upon arriving in Medan Indonesia I had the good fortune to run into an American couple who were also bound for Bukit Lawang and the three of us shared a minivan ride saving me the cost of hiring one myself or even worse getting stuck for the night in Medan. I managed to find a great room for myself in Bukit Lawang complete with a great view and spitting distance from the Bahorok river. Yesterday while napping in a hammock on my balcony I awoke to see an orangutan on the opposite river bank staring at me! Orangutans are the main attraction here in Bukit Lawang as since 1972 the village has played host to an orangutan rehabiltation center whose aim is to help formerly captive Orangutans acclimatize to the wild or help orangutans relocated from endangered habitats adapt to their new environment.

My midday nap was brought on my a strenuous two day trek into the Gunung Leuser national park with the intent of seeing orangutans and the other exciting life the jungle had to offer. The trek was exhausting but a real success, I saw so many orangutans I lost count. (I think it was about twelve) I even feed one a banana from my hand! Everything was real up close and personal. I saw three little baby Bogeys, Thomas Leaf monkeys, Black Gibbons, all manner of other more common monkeys, a giant Rhinoceros Hornbill (!), all kinds of crazy insects and tons of monitor lizards. Can you believe it? Our guide said in 15 years of leading treks he had never seen as many monkeys in one day as we did. We shattered his old personal record. Looks like the Beastmaster has still got his touch.


My view overlooking the rainforest and the Baharok river



Friendly locals




Indonesian high school kids memorized by the blue-eyed American girl Erin.



What's that? Up there, a plane, a bird, a giant squirrel?


Holy Crap! It's an orangutan and her little baby!



And she's coming down the tree...


To get some food from the ranger feeding station!




Wild Orangs and other Critters From Leuser Natl. Forest:



Deep inside the steamy Sumatran Jungle....



Thomas Leaf Monkey. Lit'l feller kinda looks like Stripe from Gremlins huh?



Black Gibbon



Our Jungle trek guides were fearless.


OK, perhaps brainless is the word I'm looking for. At times it was like watching video submissions for Indonesian "Jackass" or "Wildboys".






This guy looks tough but he was a real sweety. He took a banana right from my hand.





This sweet faced orangutan named Suma protects trekers from the evil and psychotic orangutan Mena, whom we did encounter on our trek, three times. Once Suma came to our rescue, another time we ran, and the third time Mena was placated with bananas. Fortunately no blood was shed, on my trek anyway.



This guy was full-on 100% wild Orang. He threw sticks at us when we surprised him in a clearing beside a pleasant little stream. He warmed up to our presence after a while and for some reason he was my favorite.






A not so shy Monitor Lizard. The campsite was crawling with these guys. They like the chicken bones left over from campers' dinner.



End of the line for the two-day trek, Bahorok river. Tube ride home from here.



END.

Ketchup Post

Hello? Still there?

Well if you are you must be a really loyal reader or perhaps a really bored one with too much time to kill inside of an office cubicle, but either way thanks for tuning in. Its been over a month since my last post and my eyes have seen much. After Vang Vien I traveled to India to spend the holidays with the lady in Bhuj. (Capitol of Kutch, Gujarat State) Things slowed down and I lingered for perhaps a bit longer than I should have but it's hard for a road weary traveler to tear himself away from the woman he loves. Since my time in Bhuj bad internet, no internet, two bouts of food poisoning and good old fashioned laziness have conspired to prevent me from making another post. Tonight I write from a back-packer bar in Georgetown, Penang Island Malaysia under harried conditions. I will post as much as I can but this may be my last post before returning stateside. I'm in a race to the finish now with less than a month to go and in one day's time I am set to depart Penang for Sumatra to begin the last leg of my journey. I'm not expecting to find much in the way of internet connectivity there so yes, this may be it until the end of February, but then again maybe not.

After Bhuj I traveled by plane to Bombay then by train to Gokarna where I made my way to the lovely hipped-out Paradise Beach. After Gokarna and paradise beach I traveled by multiple buses and trains to Hampi (awesome place) and after Hampi I hightailed it to Chennai/Madras where I jumped on a flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. A few nights in Kuala Lumpur(a few more than I intended, food poisoning again) and then a bus to my present location, Georgetown/Penang. The perfect jumping off point for Sumatra.

I've seen and done way too much since my last post to even begin sharing amusing little travel anecdotes or my thoughts and musings from each place so I'm going to skip all of that tonight and get straight to some photos with hopefully enlightening captions.



Stray Bhuj streetcow does his best pet dog imitation, which is apt because the cows in India are treated like pampered pet dogs. (Sadly, the dogs are treated more or less like vermin)



Typical Indian street scene. Cows, donkeys, goats, etc (you fill in the four legged farm animal) congregate on the busiest street or intersection in town to eat, sleep, spar, copulate etc. These guys were partial to the tiny median on Bus Station road in Bhuj.



The brand new and spectacular Swami Nueryan (Please forgive the spelling) Temple on opening night, Bhuj.



VJ or Mondvi Palace, still owned and occasionally occupied by the Raj of Kutch!



One of the ??? (I don't know what the name of this architectural structure is) on top of VJ palace.



Camels all dressed up to ride beach goers around at Mondvi beach.



Now here's something you don't see much anymore. Hand made wooden merchant ships under construction in Mondvi Harbor. These two were two of the smaller ones. I read an article in the India Times while in Bombay a few days after I took this photo which described how the wooden ship building buisness in Mondvi was booming after years of decline. They are turning out close to 500 ships a year now for a mostly Arab merchant clientel. They are most cost efficient than trucks or rail for large heavy cargo and these old fashioned wooden beauties are far cheaper than their steel counterparts.



Low tide with some larger wooden ships under construction in the background.



Sunset over Bhuj as seen from hilltop temple on the outskirts of town.



Akila practices her Hindi while haggling with a camel cart driver over the price of our ride back to Bhuj.



Sunrise over the unique shoreline of "Om" beach



The backpacker/hippie enclave of paradise beach as seen from the sea. Super heavy duty "shanti shanti".



70 ruppees just doesn't buy as much as it used to.



The main and extant temple complex at Hampi as seen from across the river. Hampi had a landscape that was as unique and gorgeous as i have ever seen. It was like the set from the Flintstones mixed with History 101 illustrations from the dawn of recorded time depicting the five ancient river valley civilizations. Lots of big piles of dry, dessert-like monochrome rocks with interesting positioning, juxtaposed with extremely lush tropical greenery and water.






















Holymen as real as the Gunslingers at Ghost Town.



Real Cobra



Remember how I was saying cows where the dogs of India and dogs were the rats? Well look at this guy helping Mom clean up the cookie batter.



Hangout spot by the back-packer swimming hole of Sanjaypur reservoir complete with dare-devil jump-off rock. It may not look that high but it is. Its a long way down to the water from where everyone is sitting and it is a much longer way down from the top of the stack of rocks.






Monkey X-ing !



Tricked out and garlanded-up tractor jamming some sweet Hindi tunes and doing a little bit of mud-bogging! Eat your heart out Louisiana!


Don't know what it is about my sunglasses but they are like kiddy cat-nip. These three treated me to a full-on Bollywood song and dance routine they thought went well with my glasses. Lao kids watch your back, the Indians want another shot at the title.



A small herd of donkeys showing they can block traffic with the best of beasts. Compared to cows these guys were a prison riot. In 15 minutes I witnessed two fights and two acts of public copulation as well as other miscellaneous acts of donkey mischief.



Monkey sentinels keep watch from their stoney perches high atop the Hauman temple Hampi.



Hauman's emissaries on earth were not shy about receiving his offerings.







A crowd gathers on the rocks at the Hauman temple to watch the sunset.




Camping in Hampi ! My friend Ivan puts on a light show for the entertainment of the campers.



Laura and Ivan breaking down the campsite and leaving no-trace the morning after.



Kulua Lumpur. The iconic Petronas Towers. Formerly the "Highest Skyscraper in the World".



Black Burka clad women crossing the street in the busy, ultra-modern, very western, very consumer Bukit Bintang shopping district. A strange but very common sight.



END