Bukit Lawang, Sumatra. THIS Is The Place We Have Been Looking For.

Imagine if you will....We were dangling our feet on the edge of the tropical white water river, watching the locals float by on tubes, giggling at the grey monkeys swinging on jungle vines and bouncing from rock to rock when out of the deep green jungle, less than 50 feet away, appeared a big orange orangutan. He walked slowly along the bank across the river for about 3 minutes before he disappeared back into the vegetation. THIS is the place we have been looking for.

For US$50/ night we have the"Honeymoon Suite" at the Jungle Inn. It is a huge and quirky freestanding room with a hammock overlooking a private waterfall, a warning to close doors and windows to keep out cheeky monkeys, no A/C and no hot water. It is only accessible by foot and requires a sweaty 15 minute trek through a small village. No mosquitoes to speak of. THIS is the place we have been looking for.

We are so remote that people not only asked for Addi's photo but also for Jim's. With my brown hair and brown eyes, no one asked to take a picture with me...but someone did ask if I was Mexican. We are so remote that there is no cable television, locals travel 2 hours to shop, credit cards are not an option and the closest ATM is 25 miles away. I wish we knew that before arriving...but we didn't...so I have a 1 hour road trip ahead of me to go to an ATM. Lesson learned, but I can't even complain because THIS is the place we have been looking for.

Jim's latest caper was man versus monkey. He made eye contact with a grey monkey and swears he was engaged in a stare down. Next thing I know, Jim is running away. The other thing I know is that that monkey didn't move an inch. Jim is convinced, however, that the little monkey was after him. Hysterical! THIS is the place we have been looking for!

US$112 is worth 1,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah. That makes us mega millionaires...maybe even billionaires! THIS is the place we have been looking for!

Jim and I agreed that there is no reason to rush out of here for an 8 hour drive to Danau Toba...so we won't. We extended our stay here to 4 nights to really soak it in. We didn't capture the orangutan on film because we weren't expecting it. Next time. Even so, photos don't do it justice. A few initial shots are attached. Our front door, the river, our private waterfall, the thick jungle surrounding us, and Jim's monkey foe.

(Despite all of the 'remoteness' there is great 3G in the village- a quick hike away! Woohoo!)

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