Sumatra was an adventure I could not forget. This was my
first trip to Indonesia back in 2010. I was in a midst of losing my work permit
in Singapore so I gave myself a 5 day trip to the western part of one of the
biggest islands in Indonesia. I tagged along with my very good Indonesian friend
Naga and met two other friends and locals of the city of Medan. The city is a bustling
area of cars, pollution, trains and markets alive with throngs of people
getting their own business day by day which makes me think of Manila in the
early 90s except with the tons of motorbikes streaming around the main roads
and pedestrians like they are the kings of traffic. But it is not the city we
came for, we were gearing for meeting up with the elephants that lies within
the deep forest in the rural town of Tangkahan. It was my first to see, touch,
ride and watch as they poop their way out in the river as part of their morning
rituals. The elephants in this town are well taken care of. Well it was my
first time seeing them in their natural habitat so I guess this is what normal
looks like. The best thing about the place is that very few people come to see
this place and the presence of Caucasians is very minimal. The odd thing on
this trip is that I never thought I will meet fellow Filipinos who are also on
their vacation from working in Medan.
