Time has stood still these past few weeks.
I no longer crave quiet nights. I desire evenings filled with laughter, accompanied by friends who beam with light in times when the world feels dull. Lately, I have had many of my final lasts. Saying goodbye has been hard, but I am excited to see what the future entails.
This internship is not just about the work you do; it is also about how you utilize the time between.
Visa runs are a great opportunity to explore, increase your cultural competency, and see some of the amazing landscapes the world has to offer. I decided to visit Sumatra, the largest island in the archipelago of Indonesia. Sumatra falls within the Ring of Fire, a highly tectonically active area, and is sliced horizontally by the equator. As a result, this area is extremely biodiverse and is one of the two places you can see wild orangutans.
It was nothing like I have ever seen before.
I saw 7 orangutans on my 3-day trek. Three greeted me as I looked up into the trees, before I had even finished my breakfast. These creatures are incredibly intelligent. I remember meeting a new friend, Alice, who reminded me that their hands had enough strength to crush a human skull. Not exactly what you want to hear as you set off into the middle of nowhere.
They swung through the trees with such grace, as if they were weightless, yet weighed as much or even more than most humans. Their movements are slow and calculated. I also found out they love a mid-day siesta high up in the Dipterocarp trees. Alongside the orangutans, I saw Thomas leaf monkeys, Pig-tailed and Long-tailed macaques, gibbons, black squirrels, and my favorite, so many bugs! My camera roll has now turned into a National Geographic episode.
I have done overnight hikes before, but this one was particularly challenging. I didn’t know I could produce that much sweat, and I felt every drop. My clothes clung to my body as the sweat created a vacuum to my skin.
When we arrived at our first overnight stay, it started to pour rain. With no books and phone service, for the first time in five months, I had to sit with my thoughts. This was really hard. I am so accustomed to having some form of stimulation that keeps me in a constant state of busyness. I had to sit with the fact that many of the people who feel like home to me have no idea about the new person I have evolved to become. They would never understand the laughter I share while eating breakfast with my friends from Myanmar, or the hardship of losing people who helped me find balance in a new place.
I say that I have solo-traveled before, but nothing like this experience. Sumatra is raw. It does not conform to the idealistic beach holiday that the surrounding islands provide. It requires you to trust in processes. To get uncomfortable, and even ask for help.
Samosir Island has got to have one of the coolest origin stories. Thousands of years ago, a super volcano erupted and created a large caldera (essentially a crater). It was then filled with water, which is known as present-day Lake Toba. The island formed from uplift within the center of the caldera. It has some of the most beautiful hills I have ever seen. Samosir is home to many Batak peoples, who are a collective of related ethnic groups indigenous to the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Unlike the majority of Indonesians, the Batak people overwhelmingly practice Christianity.
The views from the island were incredible. I had the chance to bike around the island and was astonished at the surrounding landscapes around the churches.
The people of Sumatra have an unwavering amount of kindness and curiosity to give. There was not a day that went by that I was not greeted by the most blinding, bright-eyed smiles.
A few days before my trek, I traveled to the highlands of Berastagi. I set out on a 4 am hike to the top of Mount Sibayak. From this mountain, you can see Gunung (Mount) Sinabung. Sinabung is a stratovolcano that stayed dormant for almost 400 years until 2010, when it erupted and continued to spew lava for the next 5 years. My homestay guide, Rio, showed the marvelous yet catastrophic pictures from his home. Every night, he would watch as it poured from the volcano, emitting a bright light. You can no longer go near the volcano, but the ghost villages filled with abandoned houses are enough to keep you away.
Sibayak has its own unique characteristics. It is currently dormant, but contains geothermal activity in the form of sulphuric steam vents. The crystals from the vents were once mined, as sulphuric acid is used for a plethora of products. As a result, the bottom of the mountain contains a few hot springs. The one I visited contained many pools. You have to be careful to not breathe in too much hydrogen sulfide gas. Thankfully, it smells like rotten eggs, so you aren’t inclined to stay for long, but it can cause headaches and is toxic in high concentrations (I got flashbacks to my early childhood with an older sister).
I also had the pleasure of enjoying many plates of Indonesian food. My favourites are chicken rendang and gado-gado!! Everything I ate was incredible.
I don’t know how to end what has been such an incredible beginning.
How do I say thank you enough times to equate to the love I have been shown?
Hanna and I were talking the other day, and she said something that really hit. I was feeling bad for not bringing more food to a friend’s house when she said something along the lines of, “They want to share. They want you to eat their food. It makes them happy to see you enjoy.” And then I did some of my own thinking. The times I am the happiest are also when I resist being an individual and lean into being a part of something.
I haven’t done much souvenir shopping. Honestly, there isn’t an object or thing that would be able to capture the moments I want to take with me. What I can bring back is a new version of me. One that stops taking life for granted and lives as if there were no tomorrow, for those who would do anything for another day on this earth.
Lots of love,
xoxo, Amina
