Bukit Lawang to Brastagi

An early start to head for the orangutan rehabilitation center. Evidently many Indonesians took the young orangutans as pets-leaving them in an endangered species status. They’re now taking these domesticated orangutans and re-introducing them into the wild. So, at 8:00 and 3:00, they have a feeding in the mountains….free bananas, etc.

We walked about a mile to get to the river crossing- in a tiny dugout canoe.

Then, it was a fairly strenuous hike up slippery steps to get to the feeding station. There were a lot of young boys ready to offer their help- for a price. We decided that they probably throw buckets of water on the steps to make it very muddy and slippery to increase their price.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

The orangutan’s were amazing- huge and very comfortable with people. In fact, they were quite the ham in front of cameras.

After a bit, it was time to head down and fetch our luggage, grab a quick shower before heading on the bus to our night in the long house. Adrian, the guide, passed around a few photos of the “longhouse experience” (no showers, no toilets, communal living). After our two days in the wild, being dirty and sweaty, we made our own plans at lunch to bag the longhouse and simply stay in Brastagi, the hill top town.

The Brastagi Cottages were beautiful- little chalets, complete with hot water, a big bed, and CNN. The bus left with the group and we grabbed a “bemo” (a small van/taxi- you simply hop on and hop off when you want…for a mere 500 rupees…about 15 cents.) into town. We found a great little restaurant called “Raymond’s Steak House”. The staff was wonderful- teaching us a few words of Indonesian and serving great food. A bemo back to our room and a wonderful nights sleep.