he was really cool. his name was doni, born and raised in bukit lawang (left). he was living in a house next to the river, so during the flood in 2003 he lost everything, including his mother. after that he moved to medan and managed to get a job as a carpenter without any experience or degree. he stayed for two years, but missed the jungle too much and decided to move back and work as a guide. he brought me to the river, where most hostels and homestays are located. i decided to stay at the ecolodge, where we had some lunch and hung out. he arranged a jungle trek for the next day and i realized that i didn’t have enough money with me, again, so he offered me a trip to the ATM, which was also located far away from the town. we drove around most of the day and ended up back in bukit lawang at his place, because it was raining like crazy on the way back and he wanted to put on some dry clothes. we played guitar (seriously everybody has a guitar in indonesia) and after a couple of beers we went to play pool at a bar nearby. i asked him about the flood, his mom and how it was growing up in bukit lawang. his grandfather was a medicine man and tought him about all the plants and trees in the jungle and what their purpose is. he was really sad after the flood of course and went to medan to get away from all the memories, but he realized that losing someone is just a part of life and you have to keep going. he is still scared of the river, but also sees the beauty in it. i was calling him jungleboy, because he knows so much about nature and like most locals i've met, he told me with a big smile 'life is beautiful'.i was having breakfast the next morning and suni, doni’s older brother, told me he would be the guide, because doni was sick. i was a little bit dissapointed at first, but suni was a great guide and a lot of fun. i went with two dutch couples i had absolutely nothing in common with, so i was hanging out with suni most of the day.
the trek started right next to the ecolodge and it was so much fun. it was different from all the other treks, much hanging onto lianas and roots in order to not fall down the steap paths. the weather was perfect, no rain (except at night) and loads of sun. we saw (semi) wild monkeys, rubbertrees and giant ants. suni tought us some jungle stuff and gave everyone a massage at night, how cool is that! he also had some magic tricks, but that’s a common thing with guides. we walked for about 5 hours in total and arrived at the campsite right before dark. there were two other guides who had already put up everything and were making dinner. it was right next to the river, so after the trek i immediately jumped in the water. i was only spending one night in the jungle, because i had to get to medan for my return flight. the next morning the rest left and i went back to the town rafting with the two other guides (you can choose to either walk back or raft back). 
rubbertree, giant ant, first (very sad) monkey we saw
monkey sitting right next to me, two mommas with their baby's, the orangutan was very violent, smacking other monkeys with sticks and screaming at them
suni doing his monkey impression, a small river in the jungle, lunch
the river to the left, right and the view from the campsite (click on it to see how big the mountain is, there are some people standing next to the water)
the kitchen, our 6 star jungle hotel and the homemade raft (that was carrying me, two guides and all the stuff)
i got back to the ecolodge around noon and spent the rest of the day walking around town. bukit lawang is so nice. most hotels, shops and restaurants look very artsy and are almost all decorated with bamboo.
bridge to the ecolodge, cute little house, the town
in town:
doni was at the lodge and invited me to hang out with a
couple of friends at his place that night, which i did. he had two bottles of seahorse (the same indonesian so called whiskey as eric had) and we chilled out and played guitar. he came by the next morning to say goodbye and i went to medan. it was so weird to go home already, since the whole trip went by so incredibly fast, but at the same time i was looking forward to seeing dad and jade again and being home. i arrived at the airport way to early and had to wait for four hours (boring!). the flight went by in a flash and i arrived in singapore at night. there was a dnb party at homeclub and even though i was so tired, i didn’t want to miss it and danced all night!
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