Well, friends and family. This will likely be my last travel blog entry. At the end, I wanted to add the intinerary that Leigh Ann sent out a while ago for our trip to Tanzania. If you are at all interested in going there, this is a great list of restaurants, description of our safari, and cool places to be. And trust me, you should be interested in going there. If Africa scares you at all, Tanzania is an amazing place to start. Warm and welcoming people, not too hot or too cold, and amazing sights to see.
As for my recent travels, I believe I last wrote about the jungle trek in Bukit Lawang.
Erwin and I decided to take a brutal 10 hour bus ride to Lake Toba, and woefully missed our boat to Tuktuk, thus having to stay in a hotel that clearly never saw a foreigner before. Expensive by backpacker standards, no hot water as they claimed, no English spoken, and in the morning, we left the desk guy fighting with the restaurant lady because the sign says breakfast included in English, but the restaurant lady was apparently never made aware of this fact.
Tuktuk is a small peninsula on Samosir Island in the middle of Lake Toba, which sits in a collapsed volcanic crater. It is spectacular, but many of the trees have been taken away for lumber and paper. We stayed at Reggae guesthouse, and met a great German girl named Jana (said, Yana). The three of us rented motorbikes the next day and rode half way around Samosir Island. As I hadn't ridden in several years, my driving skills were lackluster at best. When the road mysteriously ended, Erwin broke, but his break light did not seem to like lighting up. So I panicked, used the front wheel break like you would on a bicycle, became airborne, took two giant steps towards a large shrub, flipped in the air, and landed squarely on my backpack. Miraculously I was neither bruised nor even scratched. The bike was a slightly different story. Some paint scratches and the gas pedal was bent. (The repair bill: $3 US. At first the owner asked for $2, but I said $3 would not break the bank. I was ecstatic.)
We stopped at a village where they used to punish criminals in this fashion (and they claim because of this punishment, there are now no more criminals in the whole area). The practice I am about to describe was halted in 1812 due to German and Dutch missionaries. Perhaps the one good thing missionaries have done in Asia.
1. You commit a crime, like murder or theft.
2. You are held in a pen for 7 days with no food or water.
3. You are judged by 10 kings in the area, who sit on stone chairs.
4. You are found guilty or innocent. One dissenting king will mean you are innocent. Guilt must be decided unanimously.
5. You are blindfolded.
6. You eat the last meal of your choosing, using only your mouth, because your hands are tied behind your back.
7. You lie down on a stone table on your back.
8. You are ritually beaten with a large carved wooden staff.
9. You are then cut several times with a knife all over your body.
10. The executioner sprinkles lemon juice, salt, chillies, and garlic on all your wounds. (Besides the obvious pain these food items cause, there is another reason for this culinary torture...)
11. Your head is cut off.
12. The villagers and kings each eat a piece of your flesh, seasoned to perfection, of course.
13. If anyone in the village refuses to eat, including children, their heads are cut off, too.
This is the legacy of the Batak culture in North Sumatra. Interestingly, I met a local on a bus later, and relayed this story. He claims this is all bullshit, and some local guides need to do some anthropological research. But damn, it makes a great story!
We ended our moped tour with a dip in sulfurous hotsprings that empty into the lake and also some pools the locals have built. With rain just beginning to cool off the air, the swim was delicious, and the smell noticeably better in the pools. An uneventful, though downpouring rain, ride back to the guesthouse.
Next day I spent swimming in the lake after diving off my balcony. Beautifully clear blue green water. And the perfectly cool temperature to be refreshing, but not goosebump inducing.
After I left the next morning for Pulau Nias (Nias Island), I spent 4 hours waiting for a broken bus replacement, nearly died in a windy, dark, and pockmarked and mudslide covered mountain road, missed my night boat, stayed in a crap hotel in a crap town called Sibolga, and finally boarded a swift boat to the island, after being swindled for $5 from a bus station attendant who I thought was giving me a free ride to the pier.
Then I met this family from New Zealand, former sheep herders, with their 19 year old son, and
a crazy friend of the mom's who has married a local Indonesian in Sumatra. At first they were great, sharing their nice new rented van for the 4 hour ride to the southern part of the island, Sorake Beach, where surfers the world over come for annual competitions. I soon learned they were racist towards their indigenous Maoris and the son liked to beat up gay men on the weekends for fun. He even married a woman who was 1/4 Maori, had a baby with her, and after she told him she was part Maori, he left her and the kid. Shocking. Plus, they bought 50 tshirts and 50 board shorts in Bali for about $3 each. They were trying to sell them to the poor locals in Sorake for $10 "to finance their vacation." This island has been rocked by earthquakes and roads and homes are still destroyed two years later. These people are POOR. And due to the damage, most tourists are staying away. So they are DESPERATE too. The beach is littered with debris and filled with sharp coral. I took a walk to a secluded area of beach, and that was the highlight, sitting by myself for the day, reading and listening to tunes. Nothing in the way of nightlife, besides the surfers getting the local young boys (surfer wannabes) drunk, cursing incessantly, and complaining about how no women are there.
I had definitely had it with Sumatra. I barely made it off the island because the airline did not take Visa, and there were no ATMs. Luckily, a college student loaned me $30 to buy my ticket, while I gave him my passport. We landed in Medan, Sumatra's capital, and I promptly went to an ATM for the money/passport exchange.
Ironically, my friend Ellie, whom I met in Borneo, was on the same plane to KL. We were in Sumatra exact same time, both following a recommendation from a British couple in Singapore Nick and Hazel. Of the four places they recommended, I visited three, and Ellie went to the fourth (Pulau Weh) and stayed there the whole time. She scuba dove and absolutely loved her time in Sumatra, so I shouldn't scare you off completely. We caught up on our adventures, landed in KL, and split again.
Had a lovely and relaxing time with Leigh Ann's friends Tony and Isaac in KL for two days. Tony is a PhD student with Leigh Ann at Tulane and her former landlord in Nawlins. Shopped the Central Market, got a haircut (my first in 3 months), and ate delicious Chinese and Italian food.
Flew to BKK, bus to Khon Kaen in the middle of the NE of Thailand, aka Esan. I spent a couple days with Tomas, former PCV, and his wife Amy (Warintorn), who was a Thai language teacher when Tomas and I were trainers for the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers. Tomas now teaches 2nd grade at a New Zealand bilingual school, and Amy raises her three kids, Book, Bank, and Ben (their youngest daughter at 15 months). It was all about staying home, ordering food from the car and having it brought to us (A is the Queen of Khon Kaen), watching movies, and catching up.
Then a 75 cent, 3 hour train ride to Nongkhai followed by a 30 minute bus to Phonphisai (same price), my old hometown when I was a PCV. I hung out with Pee Kag, my old tutor and close friend, Pee Mian, my old Thai coworker, and Yai Mai, my Thai grandmother. All were ecstatic to see me, as I was them. Of course, every minute was spent trying to feed me more food. At night, I also got to see some of my favorite teachers: Pee Jow, Pee Nong, Pee Poonsak, and Pee Guan. Deliciously spicy fish soup, Korean style, and little fish mixed with shrimp paste, lime, and pandan leaves grilled in banana leaf packets, and snail salad were the menu on Sunday night. Sap elee elaw gadaw gadea! That's Lao for really, really, really, really delicious. I slept at Yai Mai's house, which she claims made her cough go away, and hung out with her sister Lumyai and her the next morning for a 3 hour breakfast. To make up for not writing her for a while, I scrubbed the slippery moss off of her concrete driveway. Lumyai started helping and she slipped into the soapy mossy muck with her nice temple clothes. And again. And again. Funny, but oh she was a mess. Finished up with a long chat with Pee Kag and her husband Noy at their bookshop in Phonphisai. She kept complaining about running a bookstore in a country where no one reads. Plus everyone is broke with the economy. Nice combo, but they are still happier than being a teacher and principal like the used to be.
Now I am in BKK for my final day of shopping, perhaps a massage, and getting all the crap I have stored at the Peace Corps office.
Thanks everyone for reading the blog. Hope you've enjoyed it. Be on the lookout for Travelblog 2: Return of the Killer Blog.
Leigh Ann's Summary of our Trip to Tanzania‘The Boys’ Ensemble Summer Travels in ZnZ
30 June Jay & Brett arrive.
1 July Dinner & sunset at Kathryn’s. Jay’s bag arrives. ZIFF Film ‘El Otro Lado’
2 July Boys beach day at Magwapwani.
3 July Spice Tour (LAM & Rich work). Sunset drinks at 236 Hurumzi
4 July Diving at Kendwa with the most high strung dive guide in the universe.
5 July Mwamba Gardens, Bwejuu
6 July Mwamba Gardens, Bwejuu—bike ride
7 July LAM to Mwamba Gardens. Shooting Stars. Yellow weaver birds.
Divine dinner with vegetable curry, lobsters and Pinot Noir from America.
8 July Sunrise at Bwejuu. Afternoon, return to Stonetown.
9 July Rich & LAM work. Everyone met for lunch at Passing Show.
Emily’s birthday dinner at Hakuna Matata
Estrogen NOW (translation: Leigh Ann was in a testosterone deluge) Safari Tour 2007 (Hi Michelle!)
10 July Travel to Arusha. Dinner at Ethiopian restaurant.
Overnight at City Link Hotel.
11 July Drive to Ngorongoro. Olduvai Gorge. In 1976, Mary Leakey discovered 3
million year old footprints left in volcanic ash near here at Laetoli. (Tell that to the next fundamentalist who tells you the world is only 6,000 years old.) Incidentally, this is the closest we got to the Serengeti by the map.
Animal sightings: baboons, zebras, giraffes, Thompson’s gazelle, antelopes, dik dik, warthog, wildebeest
Overnight camping at Simba A Campsite in the park, under the stars with the African buffalo.
12 July Ngorongoro Crater floor.
Animals galore: Hippos, elephants, Thompson’s gazelle, warthogs, jackal, secretary bird (Kori bustard), ostrich, zebras, African buffalo, Greater flamingos, baboons, bushbuck, impala and those four crazy lions dining on a wildebeest while twenty plus hyenas tried to get a piece of the action.
After two p.m. when our time at the Crater expired, we drove to Mto wa Mbu. Unguided walk through the jungle near Lake Manyara where the buffalo and elephant roam.
Overnight camping under the Yellow Fever trees at Migunga Campsite, replete with hot water from a donkey boiler, vervet monkeys who moved in as soon as we packed up the tents and a cross-eyed cat named Bongo.
13 July Up and at ‘em in the morning bound for Tarangire National Park.
This park wowed us all with Boabab trees against a blue sky with frequent elephant parades reminding us indeed, ‘We are on safari. We are on safari.’
Animals sighted: Lilac-breasted roller, Fischer’s Lovebird, giraffes, zebras, waterbuck, dik dik, elephants, impala, warthogs, gazelle, camels [on the roadside outside the park]
Crazy drive that afternoon with hot Kilimanjaro beer, vodka shots and views of Kili.
Overnight camping at Colobus Campsite.
14 July Arusha National Park.
A whole new landscape with lush vegetation and tropical Tarzan jungle scenes. Giraffe sex-ed lesson from father to son. Other animals: red dyka, warthogs, baboons, black & white Colobus monkey [with jackets straight out of 70s Vegas], buffalo, zebras, and Crowned crane.
Guided walk with a ranger—who cocked the gun just once when the warthogs got a little rowdy.
Mount Meru is inside this park and our guided walk started up the route to its summit.
Overnight in Moshi, the gentler of the safari base camp towns.
Cost $600 USD per person, plus airfare to Arusha.
60,000 TSh per person for tip.
$6 USD per person for guided walk in Arusha National Park.
Adieu
15 July Early A.M. flight to Dar.
Mewenge Shopping for wooden carvings.
Jay & Rich depart for US of A.
Brett & LAM dinner at Slipway with Erin Smith.
Overnight at Jambo Inn.
16 July Walking and wandering through Dar.
PM: Brett to BKK. LAM to ZnZ.
Ahsanteni sana! Likizo nzuri sana!
Thank you very much. Vacation was excellent.
Swahili glossary
Mzungu: Whitey
Ahsante: Thanks
Tafadhali: Please
Jamba: Fart
‘The Jambo Gauntlet’: Running through a town where everyone says hello and wants you to do the same.
Mambo: Greetings. What’s up?
Poa: Cool.
Bomba: Fresh.
Kachizi kama ndizi: Cool like a banana
Habari za … What’s the news of…?
Nzuri: It’s all good.
Sawa. Sawa: OK
Tayari: Ready
Baridi: cold
Safari: talk
Twiga: giraffe
Tembo: elephant
Samba: lion
Kiboko: hippo
Punda milia: zebra
Nyani: baboon
Kima: monkey
Nyati: buffalo
Hyena: fisi
Dik dik: dik dik (with a name that good, why would any language change it?!)
Nyumbu: wildebeest
Pongo: bushbuck
Swala pala: impala
Ngiri: warthog
Mbega mweupe: black & white colobus monkey
Contacts
Miranda Bryant girl4peace@hotmail.com
Lisa Johnston
lsjohnston.global@gmail.comCarl Kendall carl.kendall@gmail.com
Erin Smith h
i_erin2@yahoo.comNadin Hadi nadinh@gmail.com
Emily Morris makhumalo@yahoo.com
[Diver] Dan Steuber danny.alaska@gmail.com
Khamisi & Daniella dmwamba1@yahoo.com
Julius Mlay [Safari Agent]—John (driver) & Arun (cook) kachira1@yahoo.com
Salma [Kiponda Hotel] samatours@zitec.org
As you can tell, any time I spend in Asia causes me to lose weight. I would say I lost 10 pounds this trip. I eat like mad, but the food seems to go right through me. I've never been sick while here, so I can't say what the cause is. I will be on a protein hunt when I get back. That's a famed Mehkong River sunset in Phonphisai, my old hometown.
That was the best smile I could muster while surrounded by people singing Thai karaoke. Some of my close teacher friends Poonsak, Mian, Nong, Me, Guan, and Mian's relatives.
This is how happy my Yai Mai (Grandma Flower) was to see me. Her sister Lumyai is on the left. 
Pee Kag and her husband Noy demanded I bend over because I am about twice Pee Kag's height. This is their bookshop. 
This is the nice orangutan, who did tricks in the trees after finding a yummy pineapple. 
I have never seen an animal 69 before, but here you have parrots at the KL bird park havin' a go. I promise, I do not seek these things out. They just seem to happen when I have my camera.
Yes, that's a damn big jungle tree. No, I did not climb it.
Kinda blurry because this was Mina, the mean ol' orangutan who has bitten, beaten, and scratched humans. She's a single mom. Give her some Valium, please.
Ben, Tomas and A's gorgeous daughter. Blame Tomas for the haircut.
Tomas and A in their Barbie Dreamhouse in Khon Kaen. Tomas is the best looking and fittest white guy married to a Thai woman. Ever. 