Lake Toba and the Orangutans in Sumatra

After the Siberut adventure, I decided to end the Indonesian trip by heading north to Sumatra to visit Lake Toba and see the orangutans at Bukit Lawang .

Tourists, Gods or money with legs?

Before, however, I entered with my pants rolled up and my dirty travelling shirt, to a 5-star hotel in Padang to ask where there was internet in the area. With big smiles, not only did they not kick me out, but they offered me to use the hotel’s internet!


A smiling woman from lake Toba

How is it that people in Indonesia treat you so well for being western? How can it be that they invite me to use the internet in a hotel where, in Barcelona, they wouldn’t let me in, dressed as I was? Why are people so hospitable?

On one hand, people in Indonesia have Westerners on a pedestal because of their physique: they like to have fair skin and on special occasions, they put talcum powder on their skin or creams to appear whiter. Even when it is very sunny, they wear long sleeves to avoid being exposed to the sun while they work in the fields or when they travel around by motorcycle.

They point to our prominent nose complaining that their nose is too small. And they wear t-shirts of Barça, Madrid and Manchester, of Spain and Germany, while we wear shirts of Bali and Brazil, and we toast in the sun to become brown.

They are curious to know where you are from, where you come from, and where are you going to, if you are married, if you have children… Wherever you go, children shout “halo mister” at you and people want to take pictures with you. In Indonesia, you feel like a Hollywood star!

On the other hand, there is the question of money. They think: tourists are rich. They do not understand why we have to go around the world with a camera taking photos here and there. When they have a holiday, they stay home to rest or perform a religious ceremony. And they don’t have a camera. If they have to take a photo, they use a mobile.

Drinking coffee with some locals they ask me if I am rich and I try to explain to them that in Europe salaries are higher and expenses are too and that with the money that can be saved in Europe many things can be done in Asia. We compare the rents and the prices of the soft drinks, and they hallucinate, but I think they don’t understand me at all, and they look at me with the face of saying “you’re loaded.” It is good to be aware of the difference between our possibilities, and despite this, being so lucky that they welcome us with open arms.

Lake Toba

I go to Lake Toba , where the “Batak” live (they are Christians and have houses shape like the horns of a buffalo).

The place was quite touristy at some point in the past, but now it’s all half-empty, even in high season. The few tourists here tour the island on a motorcycle, swimming in the lake and eating the local fish from the lake (“Nila”).

Lake Toba

In a mountain village, they are quite busy: the men killing pigs and water buffalo, and the women making sauces. It is a violent act that makes me think of the suffering of animals that I eat and that I don’t normally see. A water buffalo lies defeated, while its calf screams pitifully and a pig screams desperately as a group of men grabs it by the ears, knowing it is going to die.

After a while going around and taking photos of the party preparation, a man approaches me with a knife, and without a smile, tells me if I want him to cut my beard. I know he says it as a joke, but just in case, I stop taking photos and go away!

Orangutans at Bukit Lawang

From Lake Toba I take 2 buses to get to Bukit Lawang in 7 hours, where there is a centre dedicated to the reintroduction of orangutans and to disclose information about these primates, which only live in Sumatra and Borneo (Indonesia) / Malaysia).

Orangutan eating a banana

One of the main problems for the orangutans is the loss of their habitat: the town is a clear example since it is surrounded by palm plantations to make palm oil, rubber trees and cocoa plantations. It is a curious place, with a lush jungle, plenty of souvenir stores, tourists going down the river in tires and locals showering and washing clothes in the river.

The next day I go with a group and a guide to see the orangutans and it is incredible to see them moving through the jungle, swaying from branch to branch, with the sun rays through the trees lighting their orange fur, or eating bananas and drinking milk in the feeding platform.

But the most “fun” show is given by the tourists: dozens of tourists try to find a hole in the crowd to make the perfect photo and probably post it on Facebook.

Here you can see this “thomas leaf monkey” who is almost as haunted as the Guardiola: