Entry transfer Malaysia-Indonesia, on the map, it seems a trivial matter: a hydrofoil from Melacca to Dumai and then by bus to Pekanbaru (about 150km away). The boat leaves at around 10 and before 12 are already 'in Dumai, on the island of Sumatra. Smooth.
I do take a motorcycle taxi to the bus station, a huge parking lot with a single bus waiting in the hot sun. Fortunato and 'direct to Pekanbaru, the major city' of this area, and start 'shortly thereafter.
I have two accounts: 150km to go, an average of 50km per hour; between 3 to 4 hours maximum, I should be your destination. Am I wrong. The road 'paved but quite disastrous: potholes and unpaved sections every ten kilometers, work in progress. Traffic (and 'the only road from the east coast port in Pekanbaru), and some river overflows due to a flood that did not make things worse. It travels to sob. Speed \u200b\u200b' dei trasferimenti in Malesia e' presto dimenticata.
Sul pullman mi si affianca un tecnico petrolifero indonesiano di ritorno a casa per il fine settimana (e' un venerdi pomeriggio); abita a Pekanbaru e parla bene inglese perche' ha lavorato per anni per una compagnia statunitense. Dopo un po' che chiaccheriamo mi offre alloggio a casa sua per la serata; sono sorpreso: una proposta del genere non mi era ancora capitata!
A una trentina di km dalla citta' il traffico si blocca: un fiume ha rotto gli argini e sta sommergendo la strada. Si passa piano e uno alla volta. Alcune case sono per meta' coperte dall'acqua e gli inquilini stanno salvando il salvabile e si dirigono verso tratti di terreno asciutto. Brutta storia.
The day, which provided a quiet, turns out to be very long and when the bus arrives at Pekanbaru are now past the 20. My traveling companion is more excuse for not being able to 'hold' cause it has a very small child who needs to sleep. Directs me to the correct taxi (a small minibus), destination downtown, 'and say hello to me.
eat a platter of fried rice (nasi goreng, one of the specialties' national) and then I put to bed. I recall a while now: I have not seen a traveler, stranger, and I spent the day on the bus.
The next day I wake up early and take a bus to Bukittinggi, a town on the mountain range that runs from north to south, the entire island of Sumatra. It 's the meeting zone of two earth plates that, over the millennia, has generated a mountain range of volcanoes up to nearly 4000m high and continues to periodically shake this land by violent and sudden earthquakes.
The bus and 'half decrepit that stops all the time to load passengers, a kind of taxi giant falls to pieces. Little use to cover 200km over 7 hours. 30km times average, not bad ...
arrived in Bukittinggi not know where to settle down. I have not found a travel guide for Indonesia and I'm so "pro de ndo-sight using only a geographical map the country. I am therefore asking for information all the time and, not knowing the language, I can hardly make myself understood. Fermatomi at a kiosk selling cell phones (there are thousands in Indonesia) you ask for a budget hotel and I find myself riding a scooter salesman who, before taking them to their destination, he decides to do a tour of Bukittinggi. I left his cell phone number and asks if we can meet tomorrow. Well, yes, I see no problem ... His name is Riki. The soprannominero '... Molly!
Rene '
Only in Sumatra a lot of noise Another weekend in Kuala Lumpur. Is about to become the capital in which I spent as many days.
It 's the weekend of the Grand Prix of Formula 1 and the City' and 'fully-booked. Returning from the jungle (without a pair of shoes, abandoned for too muddy) I settle overnight at Pondok Lodge, left the next day 'cause the lower floor there is a pumping disco house music, excellent, up to 4. The walls were literally dancing in my room and the bed was vibrating, beaten by a violent succession of bass. But at the Green Hut - the next system - things is not 'going better, for the place and' infested with fleas annoying (or mites) that, at night, got excited without mercy 'on the arms and legs unarmed. They do not seem to spare any: All guests are scratching frantically and begging "new bed sheets", the problem, unfortunately, lies elsewhere ...
E 'without doubt a high volume weekend, thanks to the Formula 1, which leads to the city' tourists, party (a party with DJ Mauro Picotto Italy, already 'active in Rimini during my vacation maturing 18 year old! ), a period of great events and balances. The Grand Prize went to see him, because 'no? They are in the area, after all. Also saw the live show does not change: so boring the only difference compared to the living room, the noise and 'that without earplugs si rischiano seri disturbi d'udito. Sara' per questo che forse ci si sente un poco part of the game .
Prima di lasciare definitivamente KL passo una serata con John, un simpatico ingegnere informatico malese di origine singaporegna conosciuto nel corso del mio soggiorno a Phuket; andiamo a cenare in un fantastico ristorante giapponese, dove ci si serve ad un buffet, e devo ammettere che, contrariamente alla maggior parte delle mie precedenti esperienze, il cibo e' davvero buono. John mi convince ad assaggiare il "pesce incinto" (un pesciolino di 15cm di lunghezza, ripieno di uova, infilzato e grigliato su uno spiedino) e mi racconta alcune credenze popolari cinesi come: mai girare un pesce mentre lo si mangia; significa che "una ship will sink '. "
Since then I carry a Melacca capital, a city' on the bank 's namesake Strait, a port that has seen the passing of the Portuguese, Dutch, British and still retains many interesting relics of the past. It is no coincidence and 'recognized as the cultural capital of Malaysia. The Dutch colonial buildings, painted in bright pastel colors, have been turned into museums on the long history of Melacca.
Today, the footprint of China on the City' and 'strong and represented from the bustling Chinatown district, where the antiques trade and air and 'released by the Office of the bluish smoke of incense sticks.
are the last days in Malaysia and then the opportunity to finish my ringgit (local currency) in a night club for Ladies Night on Wednesday night (funny as always) and a movie night for the premiere of 10,000 BC, which confirms my unfortunate statistic in the selection of films on the big screen 80% of cases prove to be the big shit.
Just keep the money to purchase the ticket for the ferry from Dumai in Melacca: e 'March 28 and am about to set sail for Indonesia.
Rene '
Back in the cold and efficient Malaysia, Cherating village. I'll be back from Singapore with memories of evenings with Teo, a new camera and a 60-day visa for Indonesia.
Cherating is situated along the east coast of Malaysia, near a long white sand beach where, occasionally, come to lay their eggs in large turtles. It 'a very quiet place where I stop for a few days in total relaxation. There are very few foreign travelers and the beach and 'mostly' popular with Malaysians. Therefore I have an opportunity to observe how you behave at sea in a Muslim country. For children there seems to be special rules: I have seen from fully dressed to fully nude. The men were usually in t-shirt and shorts while women are fully dressed in traditional dress, veil included, and in this way are also the bathroom! Zero exposure of body parts in the sun. I did not expect such a conservative attitude on the beach ...
You are in the jungle baby ...
From Cherating I move westward and reach the interior of the country, the heart of the Malay Peninsula. Here is the famous Taman Negara National Park: a handkerchief of primary rainforest inhabited by tigers, Asian elephants and rhinos, snakes and lots of insects. The park headquarters can be reached after 2 hours of longboat (a long narrow wooden boat) along a winding river and off the water brown, overall, is very "Amazon Adventure".
That we are near a jungle, it takes little to understand, just take a look at the vegetation, impenetrable, which skirts the river, a message reinforced as I try to evening asleep in my bungalow: a terrified shriek the female who knows 'what will' see ... Surely not a snake. I close my eyes and try not to think about.
I have not had the opportunity to explore a rainforest and I am very curious. I decide then for 2 days with 1 night in a hut in the jungle. I leave with a small backpack containing 2 sets of clothes (one for use during the day and one for evening), 3 packages of white rice for meals, to go with cans of tuna, more 'a pack of biscuits and juice 'orange for breakfast. The first day and 'light. Go up the river in a boat for 1 hour until a group of bungalows, now disused, belonging to the authority 'of the park. Greeting the boatman, inspected with the look of the wooden huts almost completely sucked in by vegetation, then I focus on the path in front of me, disappearing into the jungle. I am alone.
The path to the bun-bun kanbun, my refuge for the night, and 'muddy but not too difficult. After 5 minutes 'walk are already' soaked with sweat dripping from all sides. The trees around me are very high and thick foliage forming a natural roof that blocks the sun's rays and forces a dark shadow in the undergrowth during the day. Surrounded by vegetation is easily lost sense of direction is not clear whether you are going east, west, north or south, there are no landmarks to follow and if we are not seen; serve a compass or the 'innate instinct for guidance from those who have and' born and still lives here. I simply follow the path, confident that sooner or later I'll find 'refuge. We arrive after 1 hour and a half and a couple of miles. It 'a small house, built on four concrete pillars over 2 meters high. Inside there are 2 rows of 4 bunk beds, without mattresses, and one side of the room has a large opening to a small clearing in the forest. I choose one of 16 beds, there knoll my stuff, I eat a ration and then I decided to explore the neighborhood. I follow the path from which they come, and I enter even more 'in the jungle. The sound of insects is the background to my feet. Zzzzzzzz a constant and continuous. Listen but I can not see from where comes the sound. The road starts to climb and descend, crossing small streams and gradually becomes muddy. When the shoes begin to sink to the ankle, I decided to go back. On the trunk of a fallen tree I stopped to observe a column of ants and 'an 8-lane highway. In addition to ants that move there are 2 files, on either side of the column of ants that patrol, real estate, the flow of the others. I had never seen so many moving parts. The wonder is interrupted by an itchy back. Put my hand under his back, scratching, and withdrawal. Bloody! Leeches, fuck!
Back to the shed and take advantage of the presence of a water tank on the roof to take a shower. Denudatomi I discover with horror of the blood stains on his underwear. At my feet moving a leech: there 'I had the ass! Ahhhh! I'm coming over being, swollen with blood, and burn it with the lighter. More
'later in the afternoon, get a pair of Dutch trekkers along with a local guide. It will not be 'the night alone. Better that way. The sounds of the jungle were starting to make me paranoid.
We have dinner and we remain a long time to fix the jungle by 'opening of the shed but, in addition to a bird with colorful feathers, we see nothing.
The next morning I wake up aching from a night on the wood. E 'expected return to headquarters - 12 km of jungle - and I will integrate' with the Dutch, by myself I would not have done. Today is' tough. First, you must put back the clothes, still damp from yesterday. Then there 'path: muddy, sometimes steep and rugged.
The shoes are now camouflaged with soil and the amount 'of leeches and' awesome. They are waiting on the dead leaves in the middle of the lane, and when they hear footsteps, attacking stands up to the soles of your shoes. From here, begin to rise, quickly, on the legs in a crack in which I try to slip to reach the skin and begin sucking. I'm wearing it all the time and I have long ceased to see the jungle for concentrami legs and on my personal war against the beast. Basically I spend my time to detach leeches from the body and what is not that nervous. Moisture 'oppressive sweat total vegetation and tons of suffocating mud are not enough? No! There seems no end to the dangers of the jungle, and 'What a hostile environment! Gia ', I forgot ... we have also seen an adder. So in two days, the only animal I see, well colored bird, and 'a snake that could kill me! Maybe the animals are watching me and not me to see them, I see only green and brown and zzzzzz constantly feel like an empty radio frequency.
The only enjoyable moment of the day 'lunch on the shore of a river, stripped to the waist, feet in water and without leeches.
I come to the park headquarters at five in the afternoon, after a grueling, muddy and downs, with one certainty: the jungle is not 'my place. Rene '
