The biggest volcanic lake

Medan would become our hub. We took a local bus from there to lake Toba, central Sumatra. Local buses in Indonesia is a new experience. They are cheap as chips but so small. The chairs are half the size as we have it in Europe, they squeeze as many people in as possible and hardly no one smokes. The lake itself is actually a super volcano creator filled with water. In the middle of it is an island called Samosir. We checked for a place to stay at a village called Tuktuk. We found an awesome spot, next to the water front that rents bungalows. We got a basic one for less than 4 Euros. At this place were a lot of travelers and in the evenings we were sitting all around a campfire and BBQed our food. We have to say that we had the best fish ever at this place. The whole atmosphere was fantastic.

One day we rented a scooter and tried to go around the island, which are approx. 130 km. We underestimated the distance a bit in according to the quality of the roads and in the end we were totally exhausted. On our way we visited the must see from the island, the stone chairs from the Batak people. A few hundred years ago they offered people at this spot, it has a mystic vibe. Along the way around the island, we also saw some spectacular graves, churches and the traditional Batak houses. The last few km we had to go up in the mountains, it was freezing cold and we were only wearing shorts. The view was awesome, on one side you had the lake and you could see the shore with its volcanic hills and on the other side there were steep valleys down the mountains, in the middle there were terrace rice fields. We liked it so much at lake Toba that we stayed 5 days longer than we intended to.

Sumatra, Indonesia

Our Indonesia adventure started in Medan, Sumatra. After reading the Lonely Planet we expected the worse but for us it was actually like arriving back in Asia. The Asia we experienced the beginning of our trip. Medan is definitely not the most beautiful city of them all but its charm are the people and numbers of crappy food stands with basic but delicious food. It wouldn't be our last stop in Medan.

We took a flight to Banda Aceh in the north of Sumatra to make our way to Pulau Weh. This island is a small paradise for divers. We took some Indonesian motion sickness pills before we started the 3 hour ferry journey. The ferry was an old and rusty ship that was definitely overloaded but before we could really worry about it the pills started to kick in and we both fell asleep. The pills turned out to be way stronger than we needed. We woke up in the harbor and the rest of the day we were terribly tired and walking around like zombies.

We got a a tuktuk to one of the diving resorts, unfortunately it was fully booked, so we checked-in in one of the bungalows next to it. What turned out to be a good decision, it was cheap as chips. The beach was of course beautiful, and a favorite for locals. There were only a few restaurants, but the food they serve was delicious. We did some dives there and it was unbelievable. The water was so clear, and so rich on fish. We saw some large tunas in the blue, an octopus hiding between stones, fabulous corals. It felt like swimming in a aquarium.

We went back to Banda Aceh to catch our flight to Medan. (don't underestimate the size of Indonesia, it's huge) Banda Aceh is also one of the cities where the Tsunami in 2004 had a really big impact. We read stories from locals survivors where they were telling their experience about it. near Banada Aceh are also two mass graves and a monument, a big fishing boat on the top of a house. The city is almost completely rebuilt, thousands of houses were newly built within months and streets were new planned and built. All of this gives the city a vibe that you can't put in words.

The big cities

It was getting closer to Chinese new year so we headed for Kuala Lumpur, which is known to have a big Chinese community, hoping to see some fireworks. By the time we made it to China town we one only saw a handful of Chinese. There were Chinese signs everywhere so it was clear we were in the right place but all restaurants and shops were closed and no Chinese. It turned out (almost) all Chinese leave the city to celebrate year of the horse with their family and friends in more quiet places. China town is closed for 2 weeks and we booked a room in this deserted place. Maybe doing a bit of research sometimes has it's benefits. But we didn't, so; no party, no fireworks, no delicious Chinese food but a good time.

KL is a modern city with metro, monorail and lots of skyscrapers. With the most famous being the Petronas towers. The two round towers over 500 m tall which are halfway connected by a sky bridge. They are on every picture of KL and probably the first thing you think about when you here the city name. 

Standing on the foot of the towers is amazing. It's an awesome view. We like!!

On the bottom of the towers is the most luxurious mall we've ever seen with brand shops of stuff we can't effort. Here we found the wealthy part of the missing Chinese community. After spending some time between chic shops we wanted to get more of this vibe. We found a sky bar at a 5 Star hotel near the towers. As we reached the top we were speechless, it had a swimming pool and a superb view over the city.

From KL we went straight to Singapore by bus. After a few hours drive, our bus driver just kicked us out in the middle of the city. We had no idea where we were, looking around for a street sign or a metro sign and then we run into a Subway restaurant It is unbelievable how excited we could get for a proper bread with cheese and ham. After the best sandwich in months we stopped a taxi to bring us to the hostel we had booked. As we were cruising through the city we realized how clean and organized Singapore is. We think we have never seen such a clean Asian city before. Also the hostel we stayed was super clean and modern. They even had waterfall showers! Next to the hostel there were some food courts, serving mostly Chinese food. Caro was so happy to get her favorite soup again, WanTan soup.

After a comfy night in our hostel we went to the famous Singapore zoo. It took us almost 2 hours to go there because the city is just huge. We don't have to tell you what we did in the zoo, it is pretty obvious  ;). After walking around for hours we almost reached the exit, one of the last “attractions” was the leopard. As we passed by, a big stork fell out of the tree directly in front of the leopard. The predator was so surprised that it just looked weird while the stork had probably the most exciting minute of his life. The animals looked each other in the eyes when the stork spread it's wings to defend itself. The moment the puma started the attack, the bird, who still looked disorientated, was barely fast enough to fly away.

During an evening walk through the city, we found out you can cross Singapore via its 1 mio malls, not seeing the outside of the buildings. We exited the mall-infrastructure an were suddenly standing on a river front. A long the river were lots of beautifully decorated restaurants. We walked for awhile next to the river, till we reached a big square. Due to the Chinese new year everything was decorated with a lot of giant Buddhas. In the middle was a stage where kids were dancing a ballet. In Singapore they also have the highest Ferris wheel in the world. Of course we had to try it. It was pretty expensive but it was worth it, the view over the skyline was stunning.

Kapas

When we arrived at the pier to catch a ferry to Kapas Island, it looked abandoned. Some people told us the island was closed because of monsoon season. Disappointed we walked back to the bus stop when a local asked us if when wanted to go to the island. He explained he was the owner of one of the guesthouses and planned to sail there the day after to prepare the place for the tourist season. He told there were 3 places already open for costumers but there weren't any tourist at the moment. If we wanted we could go with him to the island. We decided to stay overnight and embark his ship the next day. The captain was 2 hours late but we made it to the island.

The guy showed us his bungalows. It was clear they were not ready yet for the season. The bathroom was so dirty and food from last season still laying around, we decided to check one of the other places. We found a bungalow build against a cliff on a small private beach. The owner was a local lady with 2 children, the daughter was her trainee because she should soon take over the business. This was really good for us because the girl got cooking lessons from her mom and we always had to try her new creations. In the evenings we got a romantic decorated table from where we could watch the sunset. To make this idyllic picture complete, they brought some kittens from the mainland, which Caro fell in love with. The proud father of the cute kittens, got a rival from the neighbors. Jeff got truly unlucky getting between them while they were fighting. By accident he got bitten by the neighbors cat. He was stressing out, afraid of rabies. The next day he went to the mainland to see the doctor. Thankfully the Doctor could calm him down by telling him that there isn't any rabies on the island.

The women from the bungalows told us that there is a beautiful jungle trek to the other side of the island. After a few days of doing nothing we decided that it is maybe a good idea to get up and do the jungle trek. We walked along the beach to get to the trek. Suddenly we heard some rustling noise. We looked around and saw a huge lizard, it was more than 1,5 m long. It was starring at us and we starred back, it took us a while to get out of our trance and as we grabbed the camera, this huge animal was already running away. 

After 15 minutes we stopped and turned around because we were attacked by mosquitoes. It was not like here a mosquitoes and there a mosquito, no it was a swarm following us, stinging through our cloths and sitting in our faces. We figured out that maybe it is better to stick to our laziness.

East coast

After a few days of relaxing at this beautiful place we decided to move on to Kota Bharu, a city near the Thai border on the east coast of Malaysia. Buses were rare and overly expensive, so we decided to hitchhike the 300 km to Kota Bharu.

Hitchhiking started well and by the third ride it became really interesting. A car, with a local brand, the size of an old fiat 500 stopped. The driver, a sweaty and bit over weighted man, which made the car lean over a bit to one side, made a gesture to get in. Of course we didn't want to be picky and were thankful for his kindness to stop. We got in and together balanced the car out a bit more. From the moment he started the engine it was clear he felt like Michael Schumacher himself. He cut every corner and took them way faster than the car was ever intended to do. During our trip we have seen some crazy drivers already but never in combination with such a small and crappy car. When the hills got steeper his driving skills proofed to be to much for the car. Going full speed uphill without shifting back when we slowed down overheated the engine. He had to make a pit stop on the side of the road just before the highest point of a long hill. This was our chance. We said thanks to the driver and walked away, happy to be alive.

Not even 500 meters further we ended up with 5 young Thai guys in a pickup. Their English wasn't that good but we could communicate with hands and feet. In our lunch break they invited us for tea and a photo shoot. They were so proud to meet us, we had to make around 100 pics with them, changing sunglasses, hats and posing as cool gangsters.

We arrived in Kota Bharu and were looking for a place to stay. We found a little guesthouse in the city center where the rooms were really cheap and clean. Because it was so cheap we met there a lot of other travelers. 2 German guys who are already 9 months in Malaysia and trying to start up a diving shop on an island near by, an old man that just hangs around this place for already more than a month and some other people that are at this guesthouse because it has a television.

After all the city was not such a highlight, but it had a nice night market where really strange things happen. Every little food stand had a big television, all the chairs were in this direction and no one ever talks. Normally you choose the food stand were the most customers are because then it must be good. In this case the food stand with the most customers had the best show on TV.

British leftovers

We left Langkawi on the 13th of January, with the shortest flight ever. A 20 min flight to George Town, Penang. It was so short the stewardess could only stretch her legs before she had to 'Prepare for landing'. George Town is a truly fantastic, it's full with cafes and little places to eat. It has a cozy, welcoming vibe and we really enjoyed staying there. We did not do that much, walking around the city and enjoying the vibe, food and drinks. 

Someone recommended us the Cameron Highlands, totally unprepared we went there. As we hopped out of the bus we noticed that is really cold, it must be like 5° or so, we thought. Hurried to our hostel we met the owner, a really friendly guy from Bangladesh, who gave us a fleece jacket and cooked 10 l tea for us. Warmed up by the tea and able the move again we checked the outside thermometer: 19 degrees. Wow,!After having temperatures over 30 for 4 months, 19 feels like winter.

We stayed for 3 days and every day we did a hike through the jungle. We saw a lot of wildlife, like squirrels, every kind of birds and insects. In this region also grow wild orchids but unfortunately they were not flowering at the moment. One of the hikes was really tough, it was more climbing then hiking. Mud till your ankles, a steep path where you had to climb over roots and rocks. As we were at the peak we were sitting in a cloud so the view was a bit disappointing.

In the evenings we sat with the other guests in the living room of our hostel and enjoyed home cooked dinners, a cup of tea and movies on television. The things you do in winter.

Langkawi

We arrived at Langkawi by ferry and we were amazed how modern Malaysia is. Lots of flats, malls and modern office buildings.

The next day we started our second workaway experience for the next 2 weeks. We should help building and rebuilding a house for a dutch couple in return we get food and accommodation. We arrived at their house, which was on a hill in the middle of the jungle. We had a nice view over the valley and the mountains. Their house was a palace and it's only the guesthouse. They were busy building the real house next to it.

Overall we have to say that we did not feel comfortable with the people and we could not get along very well. After 4 days it was clear that they too and told us to move out. Although we shared the feelings it still felt like being dumped. Which is of course never a nice feeling. We left and moved to a little guesthouse next to the sea.

Our rental scooter made it easy to explore the island on our own. We were driving up one of the higher mountains of the island, when we spotted monkeys walking on the power lines. The next half an hour we just enjoyed watching the monkeys playing and relaxing on the power lines and hopping into the trees.

One of the 'must do' at Langkawi is the rope-way up the highest mountain. It was really windy when we went up, the gondola was swinging and  looking down scared us a bit. But our trust in Austrian designed and built rope-way is big so we relaxed. The view from the mountain was stunning. We could see the whole island and the little islands next to it. We haven't count if we saw all of the 99 islands but we definitely saw a lot of them. In the harbor you could see the big and expensive yachts. Big and fancy resorts on one side of the island, we were tempted to spent there a night.

For Caros birthday we spent a day on a catamaran, cruising between the islands, drinking wine and enjoying the comfort and rest. The biggest surprise was a shoal of dolphins, they were playing just a few meters away from the boot, we could watch them for 15 minutes. We have never seen wild dolphins, this was truly a good birthday present for Caro.