The Odjek driver Vino had arranged was called Andi which was convenient. We quickly agreed a price of 60,000 rupeea from 9am to 4pm,including petrol.I would cover lunch. Vino had set the route detailing the local sights which required transport to get to. These were :
Waterfall – Timbulun
An impressive waterfall not far out of town.
Hydro plant - Dam – Salidokecil
Climbed about 500 steps in this heat and humidity to get to a great view point but no lake as I had expected, just a tunnel and some water routing and feeding water down the hill to the turbines. A good bit of exercise.
Root bridge - Jembatan Akar
Guess what a bridge made of live tree roots and tendrils. About 30km out of town. This sits about 20 feet above a river and is a fair length. I can’t imagine that this occurred naturally. When I asked Andi he said god had made it. It is supported by some steel wires but Andi says this is a recent thing, for safety only. Quite an impressive sight either way.
Waterfall 2 – Bayangsani
We didn’t quite make to the last sight, we were running out of time and it had been a very hot day.
By far the most interesting thing was traveling through the small Sumatran villages away from all the traffic. It really is a paradise once you leave the Cars Busses and Motorbikes behind.
On the way Andi Took me in to see his family. We saw a guy training a small monkey to through coconuts down from a coconut tree and saw some enormous fruit bats as dusk fell.
Andi didn’t speak much English but we managed to have a laugh. I gave him an extra 20,000, he seemed pleased. A good trip.
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