Sumatra part 1

We landed in Pekanbaru, a relatively unvisited place on the travelers trail and it was immediately obvious why. It was true old school Indonesia, and the people hadn't seen white faces for a while it seemed. There were definitely NO other tourists in sight and its been that way for the last 2 days now. We tried to book a flight to Medan in North Sumatra straight away but all flights for the week were booked. Plan B - 15 hour bus journey to Medan on a local bus. Sweet as. It was such a beautifully raw experience being thrown in with such friendly, warm and smiling people the journey was an absolute treat. The Indian hip hop music on the way played with the BASS UP! was classic and the food stops just had people in awe, they couldn't believe we were visiting and it felt extremely special for us to be there.

Now in Medan, we trekked all over the city and back taking in the heat, the smoke and the sights with lots more smiles and curious questions along the way from the locals. Tomorrow we head to Banda Aceh and Pulau Weh for some beach and snorkeling action away from the roads and cities. Now we are off for some enak makan Padang (Lekker Padang food) and an early night!