Day 82: Tangkahan & Medan
We had an early 6AM pick-up from our hotel, as we had an 8AM date to give some elephants a bath at the Tangkahan conservation center on the other side of Gunung Lesuer National Park. It was a long drive on a poor road covered in pot-holes (our driver humorously referred to it as the “jungle massage route”). We arrived a bit early, so we had time for breakfast at a restaurant in the park, during which time our driver insisted that we try Indonesia’s favorite fruit: durian. We had seen durian fruits throughout our trip, but due to their notorious reputation as “the world’s stinkiest fruit” we had carefully avoided them. Now, we were stuck – we had half an hour before our activity started, and a very friendly local buying a durian just for us, saying, “You never know, if you never try!”
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of smelling durian, let me tell you that once you have experienced the smell, you will never forget it: it’s like rotten garbage and sweaty socks. In fact, most of the nice hotels in Southeast Asia (including the Marriott in Surabuya) have signs prohibiting guests from bringing durian into the building due to the offensive odor. As far as the taste goes, people either love it or hate it.
Lindsay’s first taste of durian fruit
OK, neither of us *loved* it, but the taste is much better than the smell – kinda like a cross between an over-ripe mango and over-ripe avocado, with a tiny aftertaste of puke. Honestly, I could learn to like it, if I ate it often enough.
After breakfast, the elephant handlers opened the elephant enclosure and led a small parade of about a dozen elephants (including three babies!) down to the river where they were prepped for their morning bath. Bath prep includes – and I am not kidding – the park ranger STICKING THEIR ARMS UP THE ELEPHANTS ASSESS TO PULL OUT INDIVIDUAL CHUNKS OF SHIT. When we asked why the rangers do this, they told us it’s because the elephants can get constipated from all the fruit the tourists feed them. I suspect they want to give the elephants enemas because they don’t want them to crap all over the tourists while they are washing them in the river. Whatever, glad that *duty* was not part of our tour activity. Instead, we were handed some scrubber brushes, and all we had to do was help wipe the mud off the elephants’ backs as they lay in the river for us.
A parade of dirty elephants heading down to the river for bath time
Park ranger pulling poops out of an elephant’s ass. And you thought *your* job was ad? Dirty baby elephant is still really cute, tho.
The elephants lay down in the river so Igor can scrub their backs
Igor is having so much fun cleaning the elephants!
After the tourists are done washing the elephants, the elephants get their turn to wash us, too!
Look how clean she is!
Rubbing some “good luck stones” on the elephant to get a little of her luck to go with us, giving them some snacks in return – bananas & sugar cane sticks!
Lindsay feeding a beautiful bull elephant
Igor gets a kiss in exchange for his treats!
Clean-elephant salute!
After the washing and feeding, we opted for an additional elephant ride through the jungle. The jungle paths were muddy and steep – Lindsay had to close her eyes a few times as it was like riding a really slow roller coaster. Our guides took us across the river and into a meadow were the elephants got to forage for a “second breakfast”, before returning to the park entrance for lunch.
Taking an elephant ride through the Gunung Leuser National Park
Heading across the river, via elephant-back
Walking through the bush with our guides leading the way
Our elephant steed stopping for a snack – such a good girl!
Feeding our girl a little snack of leaves
After watching the elephants chow down, we got a little peckish ourselves! Fried noodles and cucumber juice – delish!
It was long and bumpy road back to Medan – we were very happy to check into the JW Marriott and unwind. But our day wasn’t over yet – we had one last task before leaving Indonesia: to get Lindsay some hiking boots! We still have a lot of trekking coming up in the next few months, so the sooner we find a couple of boots for her, the more time she has to break them in!
The mall, unfortunately, did not have any camping stores, so we did a Google search and found a store called “Cosina” which sells trekking gear – according to Google it as only a 20min walk from the Marriott, so we headed out on foot (despite the Concierge ‘s advice that we take a cab). It was NOT a 20min walk – it took us at least an hour walking along a very busy road in the humidity, doubling checking our directions on very weak cell data and asking direction from local street food stalls, before we finally found it. Turns out Cosina is an Indonesian trekking brand – boots, backpacks, clothing, camping gear – everything! Lindsay tried on two pairs, and picked a new couple of boots that cost a bargain price of 900K IDR (USD$70.00).
The sales team at Cosina – thanks for the new boots!
What a gratifying experience to wash and ride the elephant—love the pictures.