Harau Valley visit

Our bungalow in Harau stood against one of two sheer cliffs in the narrowest part of the valley. Sunlight was limited but the views were astounding, claustrophobic. We heard gibbons hooting immediately after arriving but we didn't see any. The smaller Macaque monkeys were occasionally in the trees, and, as has been the case everywhere in Indonesia, the guesthouse property was overrun with skinny semi-feral cats (especially during mealtime).

It t-stormed each night as the air cooled, and mornings were misty. Everything in Sumatra is bigger than we're used to. For example, the leaves and beetles are so big that you jump when they hit the ground near you. We continue to play a lot of Hearts. Lindsey has a comfortable lead at the moment.

The highlight of the Harau visit was our trek on the second day. A local man named An took us on a trail up the steep cliffs and into the jungle above. this was our first real taste of the jungle adn it didn't disappoint. Going up, we often found ourselves shimmying along ledges or climbing rickety bamboo latters or using vines to let ourselves down slippery embankments (when it rains, as it had the night before, the trail is a stream/waterfall). Several (non-stinging) territorial wasps followed us, too, and when An jabbed a stick into a hole in a large root at the base of a resin tree, ants the size of your pinky came pouring out. these ants are so big you can pick one up by the "scruff" of its neck and (if you're so inclined) bite off its abdomen, which is about the size of a Skittle and apparently tastes like citrus; the locals call them "lemon ants" and consider them a treat.

Our guide An was full of interesting information. three examples: one, a small fern here closes its leaves when it's touched. you've probably seen these at botanical gardens, maybe even read its unimaginative scientific name. Here in west Sumatra the fern is called "ashamed lettuce", which we think is a pretty excellent name (a close second... the day before, our driver referred to speed bumps as "sleeping policemen"). Second example, An emptied the contents of a pitcher plant ("condom flower" as he called it) into his palm to show us the decomposing ants and mosquitoes inside. The best part about this demonstration was that after talking about it, he carefully poured the juice back into the plant's guts. Final example, An showed us a leaf that behaves like Velcro on clothing. you can literally toss the leaf onto someone, and we used the leaves to hide the corporate logos on our tshirts.





Next, An lead us to a hidden swimming hole and we swam. swimming meant jumping in from a horizontal log about 10' above the hole, being careful not to hit a large trunk partially visible just below the surface.

next was lunch (Nasi Goreng wrapped in banana leaves) in a bat cave (hundreds of bats darting about). After lunch we walked through to the other side. Look closely at the photo and you'll see hundreds of little bat eyes illuminated by the flash of my camera. Guano everywhere; locals harvest it.

The trek down was quicker than the trek up, tho some challenging vine action was still required. A really cool hike.