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Indonesia – Sumatra – Bukit Lawang
Following our jungle adventure in Borneo we flew to Sumatra having a luxury 2 night stay in Medan, the capital city. From there our base has been the jungle village of Bukit Lawang. Great little rustic village in a great setting on the banks of a river. We have spent 2 days exploring the village and its surrounds, walking amongst rice fields, clambering through bat caves and learning how they make brown sugar, tempeh and tofu. We have had our fair share of rain and storms too but then we are in a rain forest! Tomorrow we embark on another adventure, a 3 day jungle trek and wildlife spotting in…
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Spiders, Snakes & Pink Dolphins: Four Days In The Amazon Jungle
Jim is telling us to be minimalistic in terms of what we take with us tonight, yet at the same time he’s giving us our strict instructions on the essentials which must form part of the minimalist pack: waterproof jacket, mosquito repellent, long trousers, decent walking shoes, sun lotion, waterproof cases for cameras and phones, and drinking water. And then there’s mosquito repellent and, if we still have room, some more mosquito repellent. This promises to be an interesting night. Once we’d made the decision to spend time in the Amazon jungle – which, to be honest, was one of our red lines when we had to redesign this Brazil…
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Lightning Strike
With our travel adventures for 2020 complete, and our plans for 2021 on hold until there’s more clarification around travel restrictions, we have nothing current to write about. We do, however, have a load of stories from past travels, which we hope may be interesting or amusing. Such as…. Kuala Tahan, Malaysia, September 2018. After several days in Kuala Lumpur, we’d headed northwards in our hire car towards the wilds of the jungle and settled in Kuala Tahan on the edge of the Taman Negara National Park. Here the jungle trekking, both guided and independent, had been fabulous, the humidity absolutely sapping, the wildlife spectacular. The food, however, was distinctly…
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Nongtao Part 4: The Jungle Trek
Night noises. You fall asleep to the sound of a thousand cicadas, and wake to dozens of cockerels. Now and again in the darkest hours, the village dogs bark and howl as one; maybe a wild animal has passed through the village and the dogs are on guard. As dawn approaches, our wooden hut creaks and groans as the temperature plummets. And then the national anthem booms out. The morning dew is heavy as we await our guide, these sweeps between day and night temperatures absolutely soak the ground each morning with both dew and mist. Still cold at dawn, the rising sun brings instant warmth and another mountain day…
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Potholes and Waterfalls: Koh Lanta By Road
The best and most commonly used way of getting around this island is by moped, but if like us you don’t ride then there are tuk tuks and backs of trucks, but it’s around 300-350 baht each way to cross the island, so hiring a small car for 24 hours at 1200 baht is a decent option. A grocery store near our home in Klong Nin has hire cars available; there’s no insurance forms to complete, you can’t pay by card (cash only), they don’t even check driving licences. They take no deposit, but instead hold my passport hostage until we return the car. Husband is slightly moody as he…
