Holidays in Tangkahan – Part1: Setting the scene

Tangkahan is a beautiful jungle area in Sumatra, Indonesia, offering a wonderful eco-holiday experience including elephants, wildlife, hiking, tubing, caves, waterfalls, great food and wonderful people.

RAW Elephant Odyssey, July 2011

Now: South East Asia might sound a little bit scary for the rather inexperienced traveller, I however am sure that almost everybody feels a little bit of a tingle going down the spine, thinking: I wish would just dare going there…

I am one of those people. Up until summer 2011 I only had travelled to the USA, safely accompanied by my husband. Yet, travelling alone to the jungle, facing heat and humidity, creepy-crawlies, and uncertain food and bathroom situations was not really my idea of holidays.

There however was that tingle when I stumbled across that website advertising a 14 day Elephant Odyssey with a prospect of seeing wild Orangutans. One and a half years on, I not only did this beautiful guided tour - and I did see a wild Orangutan mum with her baby in the jungle, and a hornbill, and an eagle flying high up above my lodge why I was lying in my hammock - I went back twice, travelling on my own account. Thus I now feel enabled to give sound information and during the next few posts I will hopefully be able to rope you in. Who knows? One day we may even meet in Tangkahan.

Travel always bears the question: What will it cost me? And the answer is: There is always a trade-off between ease and price.

The easiest way is to book a tour with RAW Wildlife Encounters. On their website you find different tours  and they are always happy to tailor a tour for your needs (please note that the prices on the RAW website are Australian Dollars). As far as I know they are now able to help with flight bookings when you are Australian, if you are travelling from Europe or America you will have to book your own flight, but just ask to see with what they can assist. They expand and tailor their services all the time.

Tours booked with RAW of course have to be more expensive than travelling on your own account. Firstly, you will be paying for their service – and what a service that is – and secondly, the company has a strong corporate responsibility scheme, running sustainability and conservation projects in the area. However, if you are organising everything yourself you might find that prices are not as cheap as one might expect from basic South East Asian jungle lodge living. ... and rightly so, they aren't! Tangkahan is special in many ways.

The History

A good decade ago the villagers were illegal loggers and the area was about to lose the rainforest for good. Bamboo River lodge was the first in the area and the owners raised awareness to convince the villagers to rather find their business in eco-tourism and preserve the rainforest rather than destroying it. The paper company fought back, wrecking the place forcing the couple, an English lady with her Indonesian husband, to go back to England. Their message however had been received, the villagers drove the paper company out, Bamboo River lodge was rebuilt and still exists and others followed. The rainforest has recovered and the tourist business is the tool to give people a living without palm oil, rubber and logging. Travelling to Tangkahan is active conservation.

Accommodation is simple, usually a room with a bed with mosquito net, small table and a chair. Bathrooms have sitting down toilet, some lodges have sinks but at my favourite - Green Lodge - you only will find a tap with a bucket from which you will take the used water with a ladle to flush the toilet.

my bathroom 2011 - in the meantime I got a proper toilet seat, amazing with how little water one can survive quite comfortably

Electricity is still provided through generators during evening until bedtime. Bamboo River lodge was the first to be connected to the power grid just now – we had a big party to celebrate – so there is hope that the others will get power as well during the next year or so. Mobile access is available but not strong enough to load some websites, or to send big emails, so communication is slow.

Apart from the conservation aspect you might ask: 'Why would I want to pay for something so basic at all, why should I visit a place like this?' And I would answer: because you would be sitting on a beautiful restaurant terrace in the middle of amazing foliage, overlooking the river. 

walk to the restaurant

You would be drinking strong Sumatran coffee and if you would get lucky it would be from the area of Aceh, you would eat fantastic food cooked and served by lovely people, you would be faced with challenges just big enough to make you proud when accomplished and after only a short while you would feel like family. I in the meantime have a daughter and two brothers and I am proud that they chose me as their mother and sister.

And I am asking back: Why would one want to not pay a decent salary for all of this? If we travel in Europe, North America or Australia we expect service cost to be high, we accept that people have to make a living and that tipping 12% is the norm. Why would we think that only because the houses in East Asia are basic and chickens are running between them, the common rule has to be that labour is cheap? The season for business only lasts three quarters of a year at its best and ever so often staff does not even earn enough to make a living during this period. Tangkahan is different. The prices are appropriate to give people a decent living and to support community projects like rubbish collection and the rainforest conservation.

A lot needs still to be done! Like in Europe, fees are added to certain services and activities to sustain community projects. The people of Tangkahan are working hard to develop a sustainability concept for the villages and the rainforest, and they need the help and support of their guests. You however will get your moneys worth of holiday: If you allow it to happen, then visiting Tangkahan will be a life changing experience.

Coming up: Some more info about money

Location Scouting in Sumatra – Samosir round trip

Eventually! I am travelling again! 

This is my third trip to Indonesia and you may remember that I got completely hooked to Tangkahan on my first trip in July 2011. I then went back in April 2012 to help drive forward the ‘English Club’ into ‘Tangkahan Education Centre’ and now I am back to see how the projects evolve during the wet season. I however never got round to write a comprehensive travel diary, so lets see if I will manage to that this time.

After my first trip I decided to compile the diary into an eBook to sell for charity in support of the ‘English Club’, then things at home got busy and it didn’t happen. For the April trip the plan was to use Tangkahan as writer’s retreat, but the mood took a bit on a downturn when two of the elephant baby died. I at least met Jess again, who had some troubles of her own, needing to take some tough decisions for RAW. All this didn’t really help to lift the writing spirits. Although I felt that the community quite appreciated my support I could not do a lot more than inspire during this short period of time. I knew needed to be on location to turn the ‘English Club’ into the Tangkahan Education Centre’, so I booked the next flight for December 2012, an here I am.

Tangkahan - Augustines wet kiss!

Oh, and what a change I see! The mood has completely changed. The elephants are healthy and happy, and RAW has taken initiative again: Jess brought her friend Sonya into the game who has a strong background in sustainability. She drives things with ease and encourages people to see and take opportunities. Due to employing more of the guides with RAW they have grown from a group of friends into a real team, with each member taking full responsibility in their role. They are strong role models for the younger guides and thus the future is looking safe and prosperous for Tangkahan.

That does not mean that things are easy, though. There is still a lot of work to be done to be sustainable. One of the actions which RAW is taking in this respect is to find alliances. They are extending their tours to sustain the RAW profits to maintain the company healthy, and to be able to run and extend their corporate responsibility schemes of giving grants, paying fair wages, rubbish management and many more. And that is were my current trip comes in: I am travelling with the team to scout for new locations.

Samosir Island, Lake Toba - West coast

They already had made initial contact within the Lake Toba region, a volcanic lake, which was created by one of the biggest eruption that ever happened. We now are travelling around and finding out more details so that at the end we can plan a tour from Medan, to Lake Toba moving on to Tangkahan. The Lake is about a day drive from Medan and has the absolutely beautiful island Samosir in the middle. As I type we are driving along the North coast towards the West side of the island where there is a to reach the mainland without the ferry, we however want to go further South down the West coast. We were told that at one point the road gets bad and 4-wheel drive is needed, which we don’t have. So we feel like explorers. The road we are on does not look like being able to take two cars, at least it does not have a white line, yet we are dashing along with 80km an hour at times not really knowing what is around the next corner, people walking, animals crossing, potholes usually a bit deeper than expected - ok, now we are crossing a little bridge of wood I would be careful to walk on…

Samosir Island, Lake Toba - Water buffalo at the South coast

One gets quite used to this sort of driving, though. In the UK I would have an adrenalin shock by now, clinging to something to hold on to. Oh, and the music is howling louder than in a disco. I feel more relaxed than ever in my life, and I am learning again to type without looking at the keyboard so that I don’t miss too much of the scenery. So many traditional Batak houses, each different, water buffalos everywhere, flora changing from fruit trees, to rice terraces – no palm oil nor rubber plantations, beautiful churches and the island seems to be mainly Christian, and graveyards with mausoleums taking the prime spots of land to honour the spirits of the ancestors and make them watch over their children. I quite like that idea to have the graveyard so close to the community – the Western view point of strict separation between life and death and the denial that we all have to go one day, does not seem to exist here. 

Samosir Island, Lake Toba - Sunset in the mountains

The task for today is to find out where the ferries go, how the streets are, how much time one needs to get round and if there are attractions we don’t know of yet. The coastline of the mainland is absolutely beautiful here on the West side, very close to the island, with a shimmering strip of water in-between.

I had to interrupt my writing for taking as much pictures as possible; we a had coffee break at the ferry, followed by a strip of bumpy road in the south of the island and then turned up North into the mountains which truly are a secret treasure. After every turn we were surprised by an even more beautiful view to then find at the perfect spot for a beautiful sunset.

Now however we are in another adventure; we need to get off this mountain in rain and fog. Weather is changing quickly. We could see the big cloud closing in on us, almost sitting on the surface of the lake. We could see it from above and all of a sudden this wall of grey had overtaken us and we became like blindfolded. As I write the driver is negotiating a small road with a sight of not more than 50m. We already have passed a small slippery bridge made from strips of wood, which had just the with of the car with the mountain on one and a steep fall on the other. Basically: If you are reading this then we made it!

I will close my story now, we are going downhill and the sight is starting to clear at least a little bit. I guess we will have at least another half hour to go and I suppose a toilet brake is out of question. Some focus from my side is required!

PS: The music seems to be on ‘shuffle’ – it did not stop for a single moment

I did it...

... eventually tried Haggis! ... and it doesn't taste too bad at all! I felt like being thrown into a time warp back to when I was a student thriving on cheap liver sausage. The haggis at The Links Hotel Edinburgh was spicy and had a quite good consistency. Thus now I am not just on a Whisky quest but on a Haggis quest, too. I decided that I should try porridge as well - nope, even after 12 years in the country I never had porridge and now feel the urge to remedy that!

It appears that this trip is becoming a quest for all sorts of things. On our last day in Edinburgh we brought the Whisky challenge into full gear. A tour at The  Scotch Whisky Experience helped setting the scene for the entire trip. There was a very charming ghost accompanied by a cat describing the process of Whisky creation, and a very much alive guide explaining the specialties of each of the four main Scottish regions for single malt: Lowland, Highland, Islay and Speyside - 'single malt' meaning one distillery and one type of cereal, usually barley, in one bottle.  Of course we did some tasting and then, quite unexpectedly, found ourselves in the largest Whisky collection of the world. It was AMAZING!

only one shelf of the world's largest Whisky collection. There were about 4 of those.

... and very special bottle - limited edition only given to Royals and presidents

Of course it is very exhausting to go to school like this; one needs a break! Coffee and cake it is, and if the cake is an Ecclefechan Tart the day is a really good one. This is a very buttery rich fruit cake local to the Edinburgh area and it determined the ultimate purpose of this trip... not a holiday, No! I am now determined to not just find the best haggis and the best Whisky, but the best cake/sweet as well. Who would have thought that Scotland would be the one of all places wanting to do that?

Quest aside: We needed to comply to our sightseeing duties as well and hopped on the bus to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. We should have booked the tickets; the wait however was bearable, due to queuing in a mall while enjoying an ice-cream. Although big, it was not as impressive as I thought. One has to take into account that parts are still under restoration, the rest is very nicely displayed, though. It just appears to me as rather modest - well, or old fashioned, given that a queen was traveling on it. 

The bed of the Queen - I know I would feel like falling out!

The tiny bed impressed me most, how did she not fall out of it, it's a wonky environment after all! 

Communication Queen Style!

Altogether a nice experience. And off we whizzed off to the Balmoral hotel, where the booked Afternoon tea was waiting for us. Those never look a lot, but we were stuffed by the end of it and due to the late hour we were aiming for a break.

Sandwiches, scones, and cakes at Balmoral hotel

A very sparkly drink for hubby

and a yummy less sparkly version for me

The bus chauffeured us close to the hotel and after a rest we couldn't help but going for a little pub crawl. It turns out that we are much too inexperienced, we only managed two pubs and a cocktail bar; the first pub was very pretty and had good whiskys, the second one fell into the category interesting and was chosen as the only place still offering a grub, while the latter had an impressive cocktail list, a little bit confusing decor and was named The Dragonfly.  If you like cocktails, definitely a place to visit in Edinburgh.

So what did I take home from the Edinburgh leg of the trip?

Edinburgh is definitely worth a visit, most of the things can be done walking, for the rest of it, like the Britannia, take a bus or a taxi; having a car is not worth the money. And for the airport there is a bus anyway. Hotels, bars and pubs are plentiful and of all kinds; they can be found everywhere and in good density around the inner town (Princess street, Grassmarket), Tripadvisor gives rankings which are rather trustworthy, and I would use The Links Hotel again anytime, trying to get hold of room 110, or 120 as very calm twin rooms.

So off we go now to Islay to explore the Whisky situation.

Tata!

I still haven't ...

...had haggis, but I got my dose of bagpipes.

7:50, and it's a perfect Sunday morning. Again, I slept like a log at the Links Hotel and woke refreshed. 

I decided to take the first coffee of the day in the library. Yesterday's Spanish guitar music, which played in the breakfast room, I found a bit disturbing, and it is not entirely calm here either. The library is located close to the pub bar and the music there is some 80s style rock pop stuff, but at least it is not directly in the room. 

Life is good!

Yesterday was the day of abandoned plans. We intended to visit the Edinburgh Castle, but when we arrived we skipped it. We just couldn't get ourselves to pay 16 quid to then walk for a couple of hours between cold stone walls. Neither the crown jewels nor the National War Museum of Scotland could tickle our fancy. The castle is very impressive, though. It's a proper castle and we keep wondering what effort it must have been to build such a huge thing on top of that rock.

Edinburgh Castle seen from Princes Street Gardens

We strolled down Rose Street, starting at the side close to the castle and stumbled over The Dome, a super posh restaurant and bar. All mirrors and chandeliers, beautiful ceilings and floors... We had heard about it before; it was said that it is a glamorous place for dinner with cocktails at the bar after, and a glamorous place it is, indeed! We discovered it late morning, were peckish and cold - it was only 13 degrees C - and so we skipped plans to go there at night and used it to replenish our resources with coffee and danish in the club room. I really am glad that we did not abandon this plan entirely, and I could very well imagine a dressed-up night out, should I ever come back to Edinburgh. 

Scott Monument

Thus refueled and warmed we kept ambling along Rose Street, turned right at the end and found Jenners an old style department store, which actually is a House of Fraser, but one wouldn't know from the beautiful banisters and doors. It is a quirky building, which is addictive; it has corners and corridors, staircases up here and down there, leading the customer deeper and higher, until  the 3rd floor with the food section is reached. Not quite Harrods, but loads of Short breads, cakes and chocolates, wine and whisky. The view of the food bar goes to the castle on one side, the Scott Monument and the old part of the city to the other, and the park in-between. So we treated ourselves to a nice glass of Prosecco and just enjoyed life.

We crossed  the train tracks by the railway bridge, strolled into the old centre, and then made our way back towards the castle along the Royal Mile, investigated the Tartan weaving and Mill Exhibition, and then felt a strong pull... Whisky!

The old centre

The Scotch Whiskey Experience called our names out loud. So far we only have explored the shop, and are planning to do the tour today. Nobody ever said this trip is for fun; it's hard work to learn about Whisky! Hence we decided a decent meal was needed to survive the bedtime sampling. Lebanese was the mutual choice and Detlef's iPad recommended Beirut. An absolutely excellent choice! ... and not pricey at all...

The starters... absolutely delicious!

Although we felt well prepared for the Whisky, the cold had got the better of us. We needed to get to the hotel to warm up. So the plan to visit the 'Voodo Bar' was abandoned and we again found ourselves in our house pub. I am testing a theory: According to a Whisky sorter display, which we saw at the Scotch Whisky Experience it appears that most of the Whiskys starting on 'G' are non-smokey... I really do hate smoke flavours. At the bar however they were running out of 'G' Whiskys, so I had a Jura instead. It was quite an interesting choice. I always thought they are either smokey or not, but I now learned that in parts of the process peat can be used which makes it earthy. And this one tastes like a fresh spring morning, with the mossy grounds steaming when the sun comes out after a refreshing rain.

... and I still didn't dare the haggis...

Will I or will I not... it's Scotland after all!

I must be a little bit mad! 7:51 on a Saturday morning in a wonderful hotel in Edinburgh and I am sitting in the breakfast room, wide awake and having my first coffee of the day.

The only thing that my brain finds slightly confusing is the Spanish guitar music dropping from the ceiling; well, better than bagpipes I guess!

But first things first! This is to be a posh 10 day trip through Scotland with a lot of Whiskey tasting, those things need time and diligence.

The trip started yesterday by car, leaving 8:05 from my doorstep in Ipswich to Stensted airport. Valet parking was booked and although it felt a bit odd to see my car being taken away by a stranger holiday started straight away. Check-in with Easy Jet was uneventful, security check was annoying as always - Stensted is the slowest of airports with huge queues - and breakfast at Frankies & Bennys has become a tradition now. 

Then off we went straight to the gate: Easy Jet does not allocate seats and it is a good idea to be there early for queuing. I quite like sitting at the gate to do a bit of writing, but not here. It wasn't a problem this time as I was in hubbies good company, but... 

However, boarding actually is fast, we wanted to have seats across the aisle anyway, so the hours flight was rather uneventful, too. And then...

Edinburgh!

I was told that it is nice, but it is nice in a very specific way: This city is cosy, grand, traditional and young all at the same time; in one word: Fantastic! It's my kinda town - the more that we had glorious weather.

My favourite start into the day!

Taxi got us to the Links Hotel and, boy, did we get lucky with that choice! We booked twin rooms, which for Germans is a sensible choice, so you get your own mattress, and duvet each and it is huge with ceilings about four meters high. It is at the far end of the building away from the kitchen and the bar, and it is the most silent room I have ever been in. You can hear your thoughts walk through you brain. After an afternoon of strolling through this beautiful city, enjoying the parks, having the best lemon cake and rum raising ice cream in ages and sampling the first of the whiskeys I lay down, closed my eyes and was gone in a jiffy. Hence me now sitting here at this early hour, wide awake and well rested. I slept like a log. 

I am now looking forward to two more days in a beautiful city in wonderful company. In the early evening our friends from Germany arrived. You might remember my story about our trip to Tuebingen in Germany, when we attended the wine fair of Weinmarkt Mattheis, which is owned by our friend. They are selling whiskey as well, want to meet potential suppliers and invited us to accompany them on that quest. We will strive to gather strength and momentum during those two days here and on Monday we will make our way across the country.

So let me finish my breakfast to get things rolling. Edinburgh castle is waiting for us. Still have to decided if I will try the the haggis, though.

Tata!