New Year and Bukit Lawang

Since our hotel in Lake Toba evicted us a few days prior to the New Year, we had to spend New Year’s Eve in Medan. I’m no fan of Medan, but they did put together a good New Year party. Our hotel was right beside the center of the action.

My New Year’s resolution this year is to not drink a single beer on Malaysian soil for the entire year. If I’m outside of Malaysia for a holiday, then it doesn’t count.

 Photos taken on Lyna's phone which has a 12mp camera. We just don't know how to use it to its full potential.

At the tail end of our holiday we were bored out of our skulls in Medan, so we decided to go to Bukit Lawang. It’s the place to go to see orangutans in the wild. I was kind reluctant to go because I don’t really like jungle trekking, but it ended up being one of the best things I’ve done in a long time.

Things to do in Bukit Lawang:

1. Trek

2. Tube down a pretty strong river.

3. Drink

Warning: Don’t let your wife or girlfriend go to Bukit Lawang alone as the tour guides are quite aggressive and lots of women fall in love with them.

Killing a few beers at the restaurant at our guest house. Our room cost a whopping $5 per night. It was ok for the price.

Our first trek was to the relatively nearby Bat Cave.

It was only a 20 minute walk to the cave, but the whole experience felt like a good workout to me. 

Beardo

 The Bat Cave is kind of a side trip people make when not looking for orangutans, but it's actually really cool. 

This is the moment where I decided I would not drink a beer on Malaysian soil in 2012. It was kind of a life changer.

Here I am deep in the Bat Cave pretending to be a Wizard of some sort. Believe it or not, there are actualy bats sleeping in the Bat Cave. Once I saw them, I kind of freaked out. I didn't know if they would bite me if I disturbed them. When one made a squeaky noise, I totally freaked out and ran back. Once I stopped, I had to search deep inside myself to overcome my fear and go to the end of the cave. It probably took a good ten minutes for me to summon the courage to go to the end of the cave. Interestingly, Lyna wasn't nearly as afraid as me.

Once we conquered the cave, we were psyched on going to see the orangutans the next day. Most pictures in this pst are of me because the pictures I take with the phone camera mostly suck. 

Later that night we encountered the biggest rainstorm either of us had ever experienced in our lives. It was a four hour torrential downpour.