Geography

About 17,500 islands, a little over 1/3 are inhabited
Sumatra is the largest island that is wholly Indonesian (larger are Borneo & New Guinea)
and is 6th largest in the world (twice the area of UK)
15th largest country by land mass 735,358 sq miles (UK is 80th and USA is 3rd)
Many mountains above 1000m, its highest in Papua at 4884m
Highest in Sumatra is 3805m, active volcano Mount Kerinci
High levels of seismic activity and over 150 active volcanoes.

Sumatra–Andaman earthquake tsunami Christmas 2004

Though most people may think of Thailand and Sri Lanka in relation to this devastating event, in fact Sumatra took the brunt of it.
The epicentre was just off the north west tip of the island.
3/4 of all deaths due to that terrible tsunami were in Sumatra, which lost an estimated 165,000 (more than the population of Oxford,UK)
Kuala Simpang (our destination) is about 300 miles away by road.

Aceh Taminag Floods Christmas 2006

Two years precisely after the tsunami, Aceh province was again hit by disaster, this time from heavy tropical rains inland.
Approximately 120 were killed, over 155 missing and approx 400,000 displaced, with dozens of villages affected.
Our destination Kuala Simpang was perhaps the worst hit, and one can still see the tide marks on many properties.
They expect some flooding every year, and build vulnerable homes on stilts. 2006 swamped buildings well above these homes.

Climate

HOT! HUMID!
The equator cuts through Sumatra.
Year round temperatures vary from the high 20s C to the 40s C.
During our North Sumatra trip in April it was mostly in the mid to high 30s C in the lowlands, and locals said this is the hotter time of year.
At night locally in April it was mostly high 20s C to low 30s C
However, walking up a volcano at 1500 – 2000m altitude, it was low 20s C.

Population

Total 251 million (est 2013)
4th most populous country in the world
Sumatra 51 million
Java 138 million
Median age: 28.5 (UK 40.2, USA 37.1, Ethiopia 17)

Ethnicity

Many regional traditional ethnic groups with distinct traditions, dress and language.
In Sumatra, the Acehnese, Batak, Malay, Minangkabau and Tionghoa are just some of note.

Language

Hundreds of dialects are spoken, though Bahasa Indonesia is spoken everywhere, being formalised in the 1920s.
It’s supposedly one of the easiest languages to learn and sounds lovely, with lots of rolling ‘r’s. Managed a few basic phrases.

Religion

87% Muslims & the highest population of Muslims in the world.
The vast majority being very liberal and open minded, with women accepted in positions of authority and most choosing to wear a Hijab, Al-Amira or some wearing Khimar; quite often no headress was worn, though only in villages, and almost never in town. We saw hardly any Niqab or Burka (full veils).

However there are some instances of Islamic extremism in Indonesia and it’s apparently growing slowly. Online news stories suggest that North Aceh is more conservative than elsewhere, and you can find press articles on isolated attacks on Christian churches in Java and Sumatra, even local government closing them, and you can Google press stories of Shariah police in North Aceh enforcing ultraconservative laws.
Online press stories also make it clear that under Shariah law caning is administered as a punishment for gambling, amongst other things.
Such stories make one think if in our own UK, we have perhaps become too lenient in our punishments of certain crimes that only in recent decades have been outlawed in the ‘West’.

Despite this, we felt completely welcome, safe and found the people everywhere to be warm, welcoming, friendly and accepting of us and our probably clumsy social faux-pas; everyone without exception were perfect hosts to what must have appeared sweaty heathens in short trousers.
Other religions:
9% Christian
3% Hindu (mostly in Bali)
2% Buddhist

GDP ( PPP 2012 est)

$ 1,212 billion 16th in world (UK = $2,323 billion 9th in world)

GDP per capita (PPP 2012 est)

$ 5,000 157th in world (UK = $36,700 36th in world, USA = $49,800 15th in world)

Main exports

Oil and gas (including plam oil and crude oil), electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber, coffee, footwear.

Oil well behind our hut (©2013 Paul Elcoat)

Rubber tapping in Kuala Simpang region (©2013 Nick Hudleston)

Palm oil fruits - a quick buck (©2013 Matt George)

Miles of palm oil plantations - easy money, killing the soil. New planting now illegal. (©2013 Matt George)

Poverty

Judging by our standards of living and by what we saw around Medan, Brastagi and Tamiang areas, and the routes along which we travelled, what we would label poverty seemed widespread; buildings were mostly in a state of disrepair, were of very simple ‘low tech’ construction of hardwood timber and planks, with rusty corrugated iron roofing. Outside of Medan, a minority were constructed of block or concrete, and very few had tiled roofs.
In Medan as well as some modern looking buildings, we saw much run down and some very poor structures.

Medan's modern buildings (©2013 Paul Elcoat)

Medan's social problems are plain to see (©2013 Paul Elcoat)

Farmers with smallholdings of rubber trees might own 1-2ha of land from which they might gather 600-650kg rubber per ha/yr.
At between £0.70 – £2/kg (depending on season) this gives £5-50 a week from low season to high. Some will earn less, some more.

We saw a food distribution area in our local town, where those the local village chief decides needs assistance can collect free food handouts.

Health

Obesity 2.4% of population (UK 22.7%, USA 33.9%)
We noticed only 2 or 3 chubsters in our local host town, but didn’t notice any badly undernourished.
In fact most people looked very healthy and physically fit; so much for the Western claim of “it’s my hormones”.
In Medan city we saw many more overweight, more like in the UK.
Underweight children under 5yrs old 19.6% (USA = 1.3%).

Unimproved sanitation (includes no sewage management, use of rivers, bush, open pit, shared between homes etc)
urban: 27% of population (UK 0%)
rural: 61% of population (UK 0%)
total: 46% of population (2010 est.) (UK 0%)
Drinking water: Urban 30%, rural 10%, leading to diarrhoea (a major cause of death in infants)
AIDS: High risk, 3rd highest in ASEAN countries
Other risks: Malaria, Dengue fever, Hepatitis, Avian Influenza, poor air quality.

Education

Government spend about 3% of GDP 141st in world (UK 5.6% 52nd, USA 5.4% 60th)
All children are supposed to go to school, though quite a few children in our host village were around during the day.
Literacy rates: 90% (UK and USA 99%)
English Language education:
We found most people could speak a few words of English, with a significant number managing a few basic sentences and understanding our replies, even in the poorest areas we visited. Despite being in an area hardly ever visited by foreigners, we were able to have comprehensive conversations in English with new people we met every day.

Politics

1945 Independence from the Dutch
1945 Sukarno takes leadership as President
Gradual move to authoritarianism
1965 Attempted coup countered by military, anti-communist purge 500,000 killed
1968 General Suharto (head of military) takes presidency, and established ‘New Order Administration supported by USA.
Foreign investment in Indonesia grows.
1998 Suharto resigns following public pressure and accusations of New Order corruption.
1999 East Timor independence from Indonesia
2004 First direct presidential election
2005 Political solution negotiated to armed uprising in Aceh

This timeline shows how young is the government and administration of Indonesia.
We heard often “When the Dutch ran this, it worked well”.
It’s a massive and diverse country, and will take decades more to develop it’s infrastructure; it needs all the guidance and help it can get from those of us that have already been through these experiences.

Biodiversity

Watching Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero tonight (21st April 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/posts/Bill-Baileys-Jungle-Hero-An-audience-with-the-Sultan) makes one realise how incredibly diverse the flora and fauna of Indonesia are.

our neighbourly 2ft monitor lizard (©2013 Paul Elcoat)

With millennia of volcanic ash deposits making these islands so very fertile, almost anything will grow.
Natural jungles have been massively reduced, and species such as Sumatran tiger, rhino, elephant, Orang-utan and many smaller special approach extinction; poor farmers will defend their crops against damage without thinking about biodiversity.

12 April, 2013

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Hut sweet home

As far as accommodation goes our hut is a little basic…

Not unlike some rural backpacker losmen (homestay) in which I stayed around SE Asia back in ’94, the main room is big enough for our three beds and a table and chairs.
See the initial images of the hut in post titled “The Plan”.
We were actually pretty comfortable, like one might be if ‘glamping’.

Drinking water
Our host had kindly provided a water fountain such as found in most UK offices, so we had plenty of clean drinking water.
Both Paul & I also had water bottles with filters built into the cap – the correct models can filter sewage and produce virus free drinking water, so we were able to fill up from any tap anywhere during the day (see kit review page).

Fridge
A ‘Coke’ branded fridge complete with glass door and illuminated sign, which we shared with its resident ants (despite spraying with ‘Hit!).

Fridge ants found their way into the elephant chocolates! (©2013 Paul Elcoat)

On the tiled floor are two newish tufted synthetic rugs, to provide a bit of comfort underfoot and additional padding under the mattresses..

Kitchen…
The kitchen is basic but it’s functional, with sink, running water, butane bottle fed gas rings, and crockery. Our hosts had provided us with some essentials, such as tinned butter, bread, oil, sauces etc – very thoughtful. Little did we know we weren’t going to need it ourselves.

Mandi…
The mandi (bathroom/loo) is clean and has a superb new ‘rainfall’ showerhead not out of place in a top spec UK bathroom; the water pressure is adequate enough to give quite a good shower and very refreshing being cold water only.

The loo is indeed a sit on type but without any cistern, so the only way to flush is to use the mandi gayang, the plastic ‘saucepan’ like scoop used to scoop water from the adjacent water trough, itself filled by a tap. One reason for this is that when the mains water packs in there is a reservoir of water with which to wash, flush etc.

Wardrobes…
As we unpacked we created a mesh of overhead ‘sky hooks’ with bright yellow dyneema cord I have brought for the job, as well as Paul’s para-cord, from which to hang clothes (we have bought coathangers), towels, food, and anything else we want to keep off the floor and away from insects and other creatures. Luckily we have brought lots of screw-in cup hooks too.

Beds…
The mattresses are 3 inches thick and laid direct onto the floor rugs, but are surprisingly comfortable, and seem to help rather than hinder dodgy back problems.

Our hosts have kindly provided bed linen bottom sheet and new pillows.
Along with a silk sleeping bag liner, and fans blowing through the night, the temperature felt about right for a reasonable night’s sleep.

Our ‘bedroom’ with it’s colourful linen, mossie nets and guy ropes gave the impression of a Brownies’ Jamboree except I forgot to bring Enoch my old childhood Koala teddy! Fortunately ‘someone’ remembered to bring Major Klanger, the trip’s Klanger mascot, so we should be safe from ‘tin pecker birds’ and other such nuisances, but sadly not mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes…
In the light of the first morning we found why there are so many; our shack is directly adjacent to an open concrete lined drain, half full (optimistically) of foul water from peoples’ sink wastes, rubbish and mossie larvae…oh, and giant frogs.

We each had our own mossie nets we have brought with us (see kit review page)…
plus a giant sized aerosol can of ‘Hit’ fly spray, and 20 mosquito smoke coils, plus Lifesystems battery powered portable mosquito killer, and then the 100% DEET (see kit review page!).

Goats, chickens and monitor lizards…
On the other side of the shack is a patch of grass about the size of a tennis court. It is home to a few goats and their kids, chickens and a loud cockerel and even a 2 foot long monitor lizard.
In the early morning the 4:45 amplified call to prayer, the crowing cockrel and bleating goats all seem much louder, but surprisingly we all found we could get back to sleep most times. Amazing how quickly one adapts.
We haven’t seen any snakes, though have been warned they are around; maybe the tigers had all the snakes!

Neighbours

Our village was definitely one of the poorer areas of the town, but our neighbours were the warmest, friendliest and most fun one could hope to meet.
Despite language barriers, we had a lot of fun together.

2 April, 2013

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Three nights in Bangkok

Bangkok, oriental setting,
Made we three chaps ever so humble,
Time flies, doesn’t seem a minute
We were on a muddy river
And by a reclining Buddha.

Museums and temples,
Enough from so many
Brief mention of Mrs Anna
And teaching King Mongkut,
Everything but Yul Brynner

One town’s very like another?
Whaddya mean?
Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town
Siam’s gonna be the witness
It’s capital still impresses.

(thanks to MURRAY HEAD – ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK LYRICS and apologies for blatant plagiarism and butchery of them)

And that sums up quite well our 68 hours stop over in that fascinating city of contrasts.

We flew Heathrow to Bangkok via Dubai, on Emirates; what a super airline. Every other airline in the world should send all their staff on Emirates flights as part of their training. The A380-800 are so big inside that one almost forgets one is on a plane.

But then stepping into the Bangkok air was like walking into a stale sauna, the first contrast of the trip when compared to the Emirates Airline environment.

The taxi pulled off the busy and hectic morning rush hour street into a side lane (a ‘soy’) that if we didn’t know better might have led us to belief we were visiting the local slums. This was the location of contrast number two, our little hotel The Amber Boutique Hotel Silom, which was fabulous. Thanks to Daniella, an Elcoat Ltd associate from Romania, for recommending this to us. Spotless, modern, understated and charming staff to greet us. After nearly 40 hours on 1/2 hour sleep one can feel a bit like a grubby Morlock compared to an Eloi (contrast number three).

For the remainder of day one we sweated a lot mainly. After getting some cold beer and lunch as the Silom Village (a large courtyard area of the main road with touristy shops, performances, and a few restaurants) we felt more human and were able to return to the hotel to take possession of our rooms which turned out better than we expected; we couldn’t fault them, and at about 35 quid a night they would be about 4 or 5 times that in the UK with surly staff to boot.
The receptionist welcomed us back with a “it’s so hot today, it’s 40 degreesC”.

In the late afternoon we went for a stroll, to be offered multiple tuk-tuk rides, massages, 12 hour delivery made to measure suits, and taxi rides, and eventually got chatting with an elderly Thai gent who encouraged us to take a boat tour that day and told us the rates we should pay, and how much maximum to pay the tuk-tuk driver.

Could have been a con, but turned out to be the cheapest tuk-tuk ride of the visit at 25p for 15 minutes! The boat ride was super, especially considering how tired we were and how the the breeze generated by our progress cooled us nicely. We say palaces next to riverside slums, temples next to navy training colleges, and golden royal barges in the well guarded boathouses.

The trip started in daylight and ended in darkness, which falls quite quickly here, so we had the best of both worlds.

Day two and more contrasts – temples and palaces.

Wat Arun and What Po are amongst the ‘must see’ sights in Bangkok.
We took a long tailed boat to Wat Arun this time. These boats are long, narrow arrow like boats with massive truck engines bolted onto the rear deck. Heath-Robinson, but highly effective and high powered, the drivers are the rally drivers of the river. The boat ride is worth doing if you like a bit of exhilaration, but I don’t think scary for those more nervous passengers.

Rather chubby chap...standing next to a Buddha (sorry Paul!)

The temples and the Buddhas they contain have to be seen to be believed. They rather show up those of other religions, with the opulence and the number of beautiful buildings and structures in each monastery. Having said that, closer inspection shows signs of wear and tear quite advanced; gold leaf everywhere and stunning murals telling the story of Buddha’s life on every square inch of wall.

We also looked at one of the palaces, again very impressive, especially if you can imagine Yul Brynner as King Mongkut with all his entourage, living the life of a near diety, and Mrs Anna Leonowens giving him what for!

We then walked up to the Khao San Road as much for a trip down memory lane as to see what souvenirs we could find. It was wider than I remembered it, and now pedestrianised mostly, probably due to health and safety; it’s rarely a good tourism strategy to run over young foreign backpackers after all, with their lives ahead of them.

Blisters now becoming a distraction and having walked half way home, through streets of markets (first electrical repair stalls rewiring electric motors, then seamstresses, then butchers, and fish, then streets of florists with literally tonnes of orchids) we gave in to one of the numerous tuk-tuk drivers pestering us, and knocked him down from 200 baht to 100baht (GBP 2.50) to take us back to the hotel. Just as well because it was another few miles.

Day three – yesterday – dicky tummy and museums.
One of us had a bad night and feel unwell so that left two.
We dropped about 4kg of laundry at the ‘laundrette’ (someone’s front room in the same soy as our hotel) and we two healthy mortals set off for the national museum.
This time we took the express taxi boat, which is what locals use to get around town. Express? yes! But actually ‘dramatic’ is a better description.

These large boats take about 100-150 passengers, crammed in at times, and accelerate with a roar and whine of the turbos from the engine room, all accompanied by a frantic whistling from the crewman in command of the passenger entrances – the skipper simply responds to the coded whistles, two blasts meaning ‘reverse’ we thought. There is only two three speeds, launch forward, launch reverse and stop, though stop is usually carried out by the crewman throwing a rope around a dockside bollard. I cannot recommend highly enough taking a trip on these express taxi boats, and when you do, make sure you stand near the stearn, at the bottom of the stairs, and on the side of the piers, because there you get the best photos of people herding on and off and the drama of the boat crashing into each pier in turn while the crew whistle their commands to thew skipper.

The museum itself was full of many good exhibits, but sadly the curators have little idea how to get their history across, and I’m afraid to say often their messages were rather naive. If you can’t read Thai, then regardless of your nationality you’re stuffed. Otherwise only English is catered for.

…… more soon, with more images ….

24 March, 2013

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The plan!

Karang Baru Hilton…our home for two weeks

Paul, Matt and I am going to spend about two weeks in the very north of Sumatra, living in a local village amongst rubber tree farmers.

Our Hosts are an NGO called KDA, run by director Saggaf and his colleagues (including Yunus). Their aims are to help the local farming population to become more commercially aware and improve their operations, so helping contribute to local development in an environmentally and commercially sustainable way.

We are invited to help KDA in it’s efforts to make these improvements, in any way possible. We will be swapping language lessons, maybe working toward getting international quality systems in place, helping raise the profile of KDA’s cause at local and international level, and helping them develop strategies for funding to ensure their work is embedded in the local culture and is sustainable over the long term. At a grass roots (rubber tree roots) level we will see if there are any initiatives we can assist in to help the farmers themselves improve their product ranges, productivity and quality, and then work towards them being able to command higher prices from their customers.

We are hoping that our combined experience in the UK arboriculture, business consultancy, training, and automotive polymer engineering sectors will stand us in good stead. In theory our UK team is ideal, but the proof is in the eating.

It’s worth noting that the average annual salary in Indonesia is in the order of £200 p.a. (yes, per year) despite it being the 4th largest nation (by population) and quoted as the 16th in terms of GDP.

There are no or very limited mobile phone signals in the area, and home owners do not have their own phones. Indeed it’s usual that one has to travel to another town or village for telecoms. We will be using KDA’s internet connection to keep in touch and hopefully update this blog.

Our home for the duration of the stay will be in a local village where we are informed most people are poor; it’s located in the Aceh Tamiang region of Sumatra, which is in the north east, about 75km north of Medan.

The dormitory

KDA have kindly refurbished this hut for us, even tiling the floor and bathroom (‘mandi’) and fitting a shower, something of a luxury – let’s hope the water pressure is up to it. They’ve even put in a sit on loo bowl (with ladle to flush of course).

Clean fresh potable water and sewage systems in Indonesia are not standard, with approximately 1/4 of the population using waterways (rivers and even roadside gutters) as latrines, and a further 1/4 sharing a toilet between homes. Flushing sit on toilets are unusual, most common in rural areas being a hole in the ground and a water trough from which to ladle water to both flush and to wash one’s hand and bum; during my last visit 19 years ago I was told that the paper looks unsightly floating around the rivers and lakes, and it blocks the (very small diameter) sewer pipes. All this explains the ‘eat with your right hand, and don’t touch anyone with your left’ rule, and why mischievous young lads will try to get you to shake the left hand!

So, let’s see if we can get a decent internet connection and keep this blog going, avoid travel tummy, and see if together with KDA we can make a difference to the plantation farmers.

We are also looking forward to spending a day or two visiting local sights, such as an Orang-outang sanctuary, Lake Toba and maybe a chance photo opportunity with the rare and protected Sumatran tiger that is picking off locals about 100 miles to the south west!

Wish us luck!

Sumatra 2013

Indonesia: Background

Hut sweet home

Three nights in Bangkok

The plan!

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