Friday, March 27, 2009

Bukit Lawang

What’s a 3-hour car journey worth? A plenitude of views, Balinese-usque roads that wind all the way to pictureseque end point of sun, sand and surf? Sadly none of this is what you would expect from road trips emanating from Medan, based on what people who have hibernated here told me.



Still, hope springs eternal from the human breast, as my kindness in bringing my maid back to her hometown of Siantar harbours an undying wish to discover new spots to while away my Saturdays, erstwhile spent on inane shopping at the one-and-only worthy shopping mall in Medan, Sun Plaza. Or gazing wistfully at the planes which must have been home-bound for many a passenger. If only i could be one of those lucky ones.


But my stay in Medan will not be without its merits in retrospect if I am able to soak in all the rustic charms of Sumartra.. and that's the push to finally go Lawang after postponement after postponement. The journey was not as fraught with potholes as mercifully advised, with only one stretch deemed as particularly challenging. Which I have been anticipating 1 hr into the journey as the Bukit Lawang mountain range looms into view forming a raised horizon over farms, fields and plantations. A bird eye's view from the plane would be an umbrella of dark green rosettes of this useful and productive plant that is the boon of the economy and bane of conservationists....

The number of orang utans, postulated at numbers, did not loom into view, and Lawang seems to be a poorer cousin of Sabah's..... Only 1 lone orang utan appeared at the feeding platform, obviously unwilling to be weaned from the human touch...