My Wonderful Tangkahan - A preview

My mum and I had planned this trip for more than a year; so much nerves spent on how to break it to our husbands, find good flights making the best use of mum's air miles to be able to travel business, and then the biggest question of all: What to pack!

We had to provide for three parts, none of which we were entirely sure what the requirements were.  

Step 1: Singapore

Due to business class we could carry 30kg, and we wanted to look a bit pretty in  a town like this.

Step 2: Green Lodge, the jungle home

Due to small airline between Singapore and Medan/Sumatra we had  23kg, and we would be mainly wet

Step 3: Elephant Jungle Patrol

We would only have a backpack each and had no idea what we would need.

We kinda did well, but my shorts were too thick material and didn't dry well, the cute shoes I only wore once in three weeks, and my leather hat, the one bulky thing I almost left at home, became my trusted friend and I feel a bit like Indiana Jones now.

I started collecting feathers and even a porcupine hair/pin to attach to it, unfortunately one is not allowed to take natural materials out of the country... so I left it back. Well, they let me through security with a pocket knife in my backpack... I could well have smuggled it in my suitcase I guess, but this is not the country to try the authorities, the more that I want to go back.

See, and that is the reason why I decided to be quite resourceful with the material I wrote during the trip. The initial plan was to do a big publication on this travel blog... until I met the children of the English School. 

English School in action: Quiz winners receiving books

This is not even a school as we know it. Twice a week they gather at the beach or whatever place they find to learn English, something that is so essential for them to get a good future. I would like to support them, and help them to find a proper room and to build a library, and hence I decided to produce a little booklet from my diary which I will sell for their benefit. Hopefully next summer I will go back, bring some stuff that they need, and see how things go.

So here I will tell you snippets of the trip and progress of my plans for the English School. I have befriended our guides and tour managers on Facebook, who are the supporters of the school on location, and they will keep me informed.

Kristin

Bimbim

Ika

To wrap up for today: It was a fantastic trip, and it exceeded all my expectations! I did things I never thought I would do, I saw things only few people get to see, and I never felt better than in this heat and humidity. More snippets and background info to come soon, so stay tuned!