Before I delve into where we are and how and why we are here, let me tell you that I had a stupendous post nearly finished yesterday, then the WiFi died and it went away…
So this post will be far less funny, but still will tell the same story… And will end with the same scene.
Two days ago, we left the breezes of Lake Toba for the rainforest at Bukit Lawang. At our guesthouse in Tuk-Tuk (Lake Toba), the other guests said ten days was too long for Bukit Lawang. And after five minutes into our twenty minute walk to our treetop bungalow, we knew we were idiots to leave Lake Toba and everyone at Romlan Guesthouse was right. There was no breeze, no rain. Just humidity.
The staff at the guesthouse in Bukit Lawang were wonderful, and the glass of lemon iced tea we drank while we spoke with our guide was by far the best glass of sweet iced tea I’ve had in my life. But when we walked to our treetop bungalow, we knew the mistake of leaving Lake Toba was immense. The bed was about 4’6″ long, and six inches of that was lost to the draping mosquito net. As my mom would say, it was so small you had to go outside to change your mind.
So we went down to the restaurant and changed our mind. We decided rather than ten days of living as sweaty, humidity-soaked piles of malaria-fearing skin, we’d stay a couple days in Bukit Lawang: see the orangutans at feeding time, do our day trek, and then take off. No biggie.
That night, Ryan woke me from the stupor-like meditative state one strives to achieve in the armpit of hell and said he was having a panic attack about staying any length of time there. (He doesn’t have my innate ability to just fall asleep anywhere; and he has since told me that he has never been more jealous of that ability as he was that night.) So I told him that we could leave in the morning.
Anxiety relieved, we packed what little we had unpacked and were out of our room before seven yesterday morning. And by 7:15, we had arranged a taxi back to the airport, bought tickets to Kuala Lumpur, and were excited about air-conditioning, a proper bed with sheets, and comfy pillows.
Last night, we checked into the Colonial Wing of the Hotel Majestic–extending our stay from four to fourteen days. And we are not leaving the hotel today.
But our short time in Bukit Lawang (while orangutan-less) wasn’t without its tiny bit of wildlife. Soon after we shut our door at the bungalow, a large insect flew into it. And in one of the few moments of shut-eye Ryan had, a pair of monkeys got into a fight on our roof.
But the best moment was while we were eating our scrambled eggs before catching the taxi: Ryan had mistakenly ordered more toast than he needed, and my eggs came with toast, so we had a plate of toast sitting in front of us. Distracted with our re-planning, a Thomas macaque jumped onto our table and snatched a slice. Indignant and offended, Ryan reprimanded the monkey properly, No, monkey. The monkey looked at Ryan, incredulously. THEN the macaque reached for the jam and pulled it toward the pole it planned to use for its escape. It stopped, looked at us, looked at the jam. Us. Jam. Pole. Then he decided to just stuff his fingers into the jam and abscond with the toast.
I was entertained repeating Ryan’s scolding anytime I could. It was hilarious and brings a smile to his face each time I say it.
No, monkey.
That’s it from the islands for now. We’re sequestered for the next 45 minutes, then we’re off to enjoy snacks in the library.
love,
ril