Category: Travel

Day 10 – Juni

I wasn’t going to share any of our best pictures just yet, but I think Juni deserves her own post.

This was the 3rd orangutang we saw on our trek. She is absolutely beutiful, but looked so incredibly sad.

I asked our guide, Jimmy, about her and he said that a few weeks ago her baby became sick. She wasn’t getting better, so the park Rangers decided to get her some help, which involved getting her out of the jungle.

From what we heard, she’s doing fine but she hasn’t yet been returned to her mom. This poor orangutan seems so lonely. She just sat there like that for ages. I am so happy that they were able to save her baby and that she will be reunited Juni before too long ?

There are so many people here trying so hard to help these beautiful animals. I’m so glad to be part of it!!!

Day 9 – Victory!!!

This is my victory face.

I share it without any concern for the lack of filters or the lack of makeup because this photo was taken about 10 minutes after we arrived at our jungle camp, after a long 6 hours of hiking. I couldn’t be prouder of this unflattering photo!

The trails were easily the most difficult I’ve ever done. It was only 5km from where we started, but it was up and down hills and through slippery terrain and hopping over logs.

By the end, my legs were absolute jelly and I was having a hard time balancing. I managed to only fall once, but only because Sardi was there helping my along to make sure I didn’t fall again.

As soon as we arrived, we stripped down to our bathing suits and hopped in the cool stream behind me. It was a perfect way to finish the trek.

Day 8 – Sardi

Sardi was our guide for days 1 and 2 of our tour and he also accompanied us during our 2 day jungle trek, as he’s going to become a trekking guide himself.

I can’t say enough nice things about Sardi. He was very helpful throughout the tour and he knew so much about the jungle!! He’s still learning English so he sometimes struggled to explain things but he always tried.

He grew up in the jungle and even Bukit Lawang was overwhelming for him when he was a child. He was completely at home in the rainforest, hopping around in flip flops while Dave and I tried not to slide all the way down the mountain on our butts!!

He really made the already amazing experience so much better!!!

Day 7 – Horas Bukit Lawang!!

Horas!! Hello, Welcome!! It’s all we heard as we walked through Bukit Lawang late Friday night. People here are unbelievably friendly and the smile doesn’t fade when they know you aren’t buying anything.

Our experiences in North Sumatra have been so wonderful, and a lot of that has to do with the way we’ve been treated. Everyone is so kind and welcoming. Everyone wants to make sure we are happy in their little town.

I took this picture as we were walking through town over the weekend. People had come out from Medan for the holiday and were playing in the river. When they saw I had a camera, this family started shouting “photo!!! Take our photo!!!!”.

I’m so glad I did because I feel like it captured the feeling of this beautiful little “Gateway to the Hills”.

Day 6 – Volcano!

Today is a travel day, which means winding roads, pretty scenery and intense driving. We stopped a few times today to see waterfalls and to stretch. We even saw countless monkeys rummaging through garbage people tossed out their windows.

Our most interesting stop though, was to see Mt. Sinabung. Just two weeks ago, this volcano erupted, sending ash into the air and lava down one side.

This was taken 2 weeks ago

Luckily (?) for us, the main event has passed, but there was still a bit of smoke coming out of the top.

Very cool thing to see!!!

Day 5 – Rainy Days

We decided to come to Indonesia in spite of the fact that it’s the rainy season. I don’t regret this decision yet, as it’s meant that there are very few tourists around and the rain hasn’t much messed up our plans.

The Lake was too choppy for swimming this afternoon, so we decided to go visit some historical sights on the island. But, when the clouds started rolling in and the locals started sending their kids out to collect the laundry, we decided to take cover.

Notice the Cross in the background? Samosir is a primarily Christian Island

We couldn’t have picked a better spot. With a lovely view of the lake and some gorgeous Indonesian coffee to sip on while the clouds empty, Yolanda’s Restaurant has proven to be a good choice.

A very cute little restaurant with really good coffee!

Day 4 – To Toba!

Unlike my grandmother, I happen to love taking the ferry! There’s something so exciting about needing to cross a body of water to get somewhere. I know Bridges do the same thing… But taking the ferry takes more effort, and I’ve come to realize that the things that take more effort are more memorable.

We’ve taken our fair share of ferries over the last few years. South East Asia is a poor area of the world and bridges are expensive.

Today we took our first ferry in Indonesia! This is the 11th country we’ve visited in the last 5 and a half years! I’m looking forward to the next 11 countries!!!

Day 3 – Malaysian Mountains

Although living in the city has its perks, Dave and I both grew up in rural Canada where the air is clean and the skies are huge. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to see the sky beyond all the sky scrapers in China… And the air… Well… It’s seen better days.

One of the things we love most about South East Asia are the mountains and the array of outdoor activities we can choose from. Whether it’s been canoeing through the Hongs of Thailand, floating down the river in Laos or visiting the Irrawaddy Dolphins in Cambodia, we tend to spend as much time outside as possible when we’re on holiday.

We’ve grown to expect a certain level of natural beauty in South East Asia. We’re pleased to say that Malaysia did not let us down!

Stay tuned for more on our hike next month!

Day 1 – Pudong Airport

Well, we are on day 3 of our holiday now, so I suppose I have some catching up to do if I’m going to blog every day!!!

The theme of my first post is simple: I hate Pudong airport. Pudong is Shanghai’s international airport, so we use it at least 4 times every year. Each time, I’m floored by how bad it is.

This year was especially bad because we flew over night and our flight left at 1:30am. Now, my big problem with PVG is that after security, the food and drink options are seriously limited. There are a few really bad Chinese restaurants (which confuses me because Chinese food is so good!!!), and everything is terribly overpriced… Even by airport standards!!

Burger King is one of the only decent options post security, so on Sunday night, Dave spent over an hour waiting in line to get a couple of burgers (we were flying Air Asia… They give you exactly NOTHING on their flights without paying extra so we usually just eat at the airport).

In the meantime, I set off to find bottled water (they seriously give you nothing…). I spent an hour running around only to find small bottles of Evian for 40rmb (350ml for nearly $10 Canadian). I couldn’t even find a functional drink machine either….I DID find SIM card vending machines though…. So there’s that.

In the end, I found an entire row of drinking machines about a half km down the airport, but by then, I was so thirsty I downed 2 bottles right away and then ran out of change! Luckily, Dave showed up moments later with additional coinage and burgers in hand.

A modern day knight in shining armour.

Snowy Suzhou

Suzhou doesn’t get a lot of snow. In fact, it only snows here every 5 years or so; and it rarely sticks around.

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We get enough to make an itty bitty snowlady every once in a while (credit: someone in my office…I’m not sure who)

Fortunately for me, this year was one of those ‘off’ years, where Mother Nature bestowed some of the white stuff upon this beautiful city.

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Quite a bit of the white stuff, actually (credit: my dear husband…my hands were too cold and I didn’t want to take my phone out!)

When people aren’t used to snow, it can be quite an ordeal! We saw one accident on our 5 minute walk home, and I can’t imagine how many delivery men wiped out on their e-bikes today! Imagine a late spring storm…with people who have never driven on ice before!

A chilly walk home!
The two cars in the intersection collided as we were waiting for the light to change. An hour later, they’re still out there, probably squabbling over who is at fault
Many of these notices were left around the city. Schools were PREEMPTIVELY shut down for 2 days because they knew the snow was coming. Unfortunately for my students…school had already ended so they didn’t get any bonus time off.
Kevin….pretending not to be thrilled about the snow. He was skipping through it a moment earlier…I swear!
Dave made a snow angel, to my disgust (Chinese sidewalks should never be laid on…)

I’ve lived in Suzhou now for nearly 3 years, and although I’ve had my challenges here, I really do love this city. Many of the gardens here are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and are considered to be some of the most beautiful gardens in China. We often spend afternoons walking through them because even the smaller ones are a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Suzhou. I’m always amazed at how quiet the gardens here are…especially when I consider the 8 million + people that live here!

Credit: Me!
Various parks around the city

Unfortunately for me, I never had a chance to bring my camera to any of Suzhou’s gardens today. Plenty of others did though, so I’ve collected some of my favourite photos from the day and compiled them so you can see what a lovely city we chose to call home. I can’t actually credit anyone specifically…China isn’t big on copyrighting things, so I’ll just say now that none of these pictures are mine….