Singapore to Medan, Indonesia

5:30 am…Singapore to Medan, Indonesia. It was a major Muslim holiday today, so everything was closed. We got to the hotel early, checked in, met Adrian, the guide for our Sumatra adventure, and got a bite to eat across the street at the Friend restaurant. The food was great- gado gado- a veggie dish with a spicy peanut sauce. Lunch was 52000 rhupies. The exchange rate was crazy- 8500 to the dollar. After lunch, it was time to play catch up on the journal and on our sleep. Then we took a ‘beca machine” (rickshaw with a motorcycle) to the TipTop Restaurant for a beer and watched the street scene.

Dinner at the Friend restaurant across the street from the hotel. We broke all our rules about eating meat (and had some wonderful spicy chicken). It looks like we might be paying for breaking this rule….stomachs were a little queasy tonight.