After the amazing orangutan experience, I decided to head north. Over the past few weeks I had heard from more than one traveller that the ultimate backpacker's paradise was to be found on a tiny island at the very northern tip of Sumatra. My destination was Pulau We (pronounced like "Way"), reached by boat from the town of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's western-most province of Aceh. If I had bothered to read any of the local history I would have known that the Acehnese had a long history of revolutionary stirrings, which the central Indonesian government did not take lightly. My overnight bus from Medan to Banda Aceh was stopped and boarded no less than four times by armed Indonesian soldiers. Apparently local elections were around the corner, and with rumors of communist rallies in the air I guess the military had stepped up their presence. A bit unnerving, but the bus delivered us to Banda Aceh as advertised, if not well-rested. We (there were a couple of Canadian travellers also headed out to the islands) hopped in a cab to the next bus station, had some breakfast (surprisingly good pastries!), hopped in another bus out to the harbor, boarded a boat, motored for about two hours over to Pulau We, hopped on another bus, and spilled out, exhausted, at Gapang Beach.

Yes indeed, this was a backpacker's paradise. For just a couple bucks a night, a little shack on the beach was yours - with all-you-can-eat dinner included! It was about as bare-bones as you can get - single rooms with a thin stained matress on the floor - but the price was right, and there was nothing around except the ocean on one side and the jungle on the other. No hustlers or souvenir hawkers patrolling the beaches - ahh, the beaches! Fantastic fine white sand, clear bright blue water, and incredibly rich coral reef just offshore. My expected stay of a couple of days quickly stretched to a couple of weeks, as every day brought about even more fantastic snorkeling and, well, this was jam karet to the max...

My routine went something like this: Wake up at no particular time in the morning. Peel a few fresh mangoes for breakfast. Grab a mask and snorkel and see what new discoveries awaited on the reef (mooray eels, stingrays, cuttlefish, lionfish, scorpionfish, sea snakes, Hawksbill sea turtles, countless other colorful reef fish...). Hike over to the beach on the other side of the island and scan for manta rays or whale sharks. Play cards under a patio roof during a tropical rainstorm. Grab the mask and snorkel again and take an afternoon swim. Nap under a coconut tree on the beach. Have one more swim before sunset. Watch the flying foxes fill the sky at dusk. Chow on a delicious dinner of fish, goat, vegetables, and rice. Drink banana brandy and gaze at a distant lightening storm over the water. Shoo the scorpions off the mattress and fall into a deep sleep.

Well, at some point I had to get back on the road. Sumatra is a huge island and I needed to get all the way to the other end before my next tourist visa ran out. So off I went. Next stop: Lake Toba - a huge lake in the midst of a gigantic volcanic crater that apparently was the site of the largest explosive volcanic eruption in the last 25 million years! Today it's basically a playground (apart from the small indigenous Batak population), with tons of locals on holiday blaring loud stereos and jetting around in boats. The caldera was something to see, but the atmosphere was not really to my tastes. I needed a break, though, and the weather on Samosir Island was perfect for lounging. I washed all of my clothes and basically did nothing for a couple of days. My backpacker's pillow reeked a very foul smell and it took some serious washing and a couple days airing out in the sun before I could stand to have it near my head again.

Next up: Bukittinggi, in the Minangkabau highlands - after a tortuous 15-hour smoke-filled busride along incredibly winding roads, with freezing air conditioning, a foul-smelling toilet, and a continuous aural assault of bad American big-band songs (apparently recorded with a cheap keyboard and a drum machine) blaring in long medleys over the sound system. This bus ride was by far the worst I had experienced in all of Indonesia. But Bukittinggi was quite nice - relatively cool (thanks to 1000m elevation) and clean, with beautiful scenery, a thriving local culture, and the spiciest food yet! Like elsewhere in Sumatra, Islam is the religion of choice, but the indigenous Minangkabau seem to keep a strong grasp on their own colorful traditions as well. The curved-roof architecture is even more pronounced than that of the Bataks of Lake Toba, and I attended a couple wonderful performances of Minangkabau folk music and dance. And it turns out that this is the home of rendang, an amazing dish of meat slowly simmered in a coconut chili sauce that is just out of this world. Seriously, if you've never had rendang, you should run to the nearest Indonesian or Singaporean restaurant and order some right now!

After a few relaxing days among the Minangkabau, it was to move on again. I wasn't sure exactly where I was headed, since the guidebooks were pretty lean on details about central Sumatra. But I'd heard bits & pieces about another big national park south and inland from Bukittinggi touting rumours of tigers and rhinoceros, as well as possibly an unknown species of ape (dubbed the "orang pendek") that locals claim is more human-like than the orangutan. Sounded intriguing, and I was eager for more wildlife spotting. So I headed towards Sungaipenuh, apparently a good jumping-off point for Kerinci-Sablat National Park. The city itself was nice enough, without much in the way of organized tourism, making it difficult to find information about the park. After a few days hanging out and wandering through the colorful local markets, I eventually encountered a local guy who offered to guide me on a 3-day excursion into the park.

The next day we were off - a short busride to the slopes of Gunung Kerinci for some amazing views of the volcano, and then into the jungle. It was a pleasant hike up to Danau Gunung Tujuh. No tigers or rhinos, but plenty of birds, insects, and monkeys. The rainforest was very dense, and I could see how it might continue to house many secrets despite a steady stream of foot traffic from tourists and research teams. I entertained the idea of staying in this area for a while longer and see what secrets might reveal themselves, but opted instead to continue on to the southeastern tip of Sumatra - and to pay a visit to the legendary Anak Krakatau!