We arrived at the friendship guesthouse in Ketambe in the evening. The guesthouse was simple and cozy surrounded by beautiful jungle. In the restaurant there were a few other tourists, the first we had seen so far on our trip. We ordered dinner, talked to some of the other travelers about where they had visited in Sumatra, and talked to Ahmad the owner of the guesthouse about details for our trek. After a long day of traveling we went to bed early, eager to rise the next morning and start our five night/six day jungle trek. In the morning we ate breakfast and met with our jungle guide and porter, both seemed very friendly and nice. The other three travelers were doing a one night trek in the jungle, which meant the first night we would all be camping together. We started our trek from the guesthouse. Ten minutes of walking on the main road from the guesthouse brought us to a dirt path where we ventured into the jungle. It wasnt long before we were completely submersed in absolute pristine jungle. The trees were enormous and varied greatly in variety. The weather was warm but the lush green canopy shaded us from the sun. Within 30 minutes of walking we spotted Thomas Leaf monkeys, gibbons, and macaques. The gibbons were the cutest of all the animals with teddy bear faces and long arms. Their quickness and agility made it a little difficult to watch them, but we caught a good glimpse of the adorable creatures. The Thomas Leaf monkeys flew through the trees. They would swing from branch to branch and drop twenty feet to the next limb on the tree. Their accuracy and jumping skills made them very entertaining to watch. The hike itself was a bit more challenging than we had expected with a lot of incline and muddy overgrown paths. Luckily we were given special leech socks to wear because Ryan and I each got three within a short period of time. Around midday we made it to camp. The campsite was next to a beautiful river where the sun was shining bright and hot through the clearing of the trees. At the camp sight our porter had our tent set up as well as a fire and all of our food supplies. Next to our camp was the campsite of the other three travelers who had a similar set up to ours. We were served coffee and a lunch of noodles, eggs, and veggies. After lunch we had an hour to hang out and swim. The water was refreshing after our long hike and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We were over joyed by the experience so far, and grateful to have four more days of adventure. After lunch we went on another hike, this time the other three travelers joined us. Along the way we spotted three orangutans, a mom, baby, and adolescent. They were beautiful creatures! Their orange fur glowed in the green canopy. We stopped and watched them for over an hour. They were by far the most lively and interesting wild animals I have ever seen. Hanging by their feet they would swing their arms in an upside down dancing motion. At one point the mother and the adolescent were tossing the baby back and forth between each other.The baby looked so human like it was unreal. They were truly intelligent and fascinating creatures. The entire time we watched them, they looked at us with curiosity, getting closer but still keeping their distance. It was by far one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Around 5pm we made our way back to camp where our porter was preparing our meal.Our guide set out a blanket on the ground and lit candles for us. We ate a delicious dinner of chicken, eggs, rice, and veggies, by candlelight under the starry jungle night.Everything was so perfect, it felt to good to be true. After dinner our guide offered to give Ryan and I massages. He started by giving me a back and neck massage, afterward he gave Ryan one. When he finished with Ryan he said he would give us both calf massages since we were sore from our long hike. He began to massage my lower legs until Ryan got up and went to the tent to get something, at this moment our guide stuck his hands down my pants and up inside of me. I was completely shocked and terrified. There was no way that his hand slipped. He was deliberately waiting for Ryan to walk away so he could touch me. I jumped up immediately and went to Ryan. After telling him what the guide had done, we stood there in silence in shock at what had happened. The day was so wonderful, we felt comfortable with our guide and we were having the time of our life. Why did such a wonderful day have to turn into such an uncomfortable and violating experience? After a while of talking it over we decided that we were going to have to end our trek early and go back the next day. Neither of us felt comfortable staying four more nights alone in the jungle with our guide, especially considering that the other hikers wouldnt be with us after tomorrow. We also didnt know what other intentions the guide had, and neither of us felt comfortable around him after that incident. We decided to go back to the tent and go straight to bed. The next morning Ryan talked to the guide and told him that we wanted to end our trek because of what happened the night before. Our guide apologized and said he was only trying to be nice and give us massages. He agreed to take us back to the guesthouse and he begged for Ryan not to tell his boss of the situation. The rest of the day was uncomfortable for Ryan and I. We hiked around the jungle with the other group and made it to a hotspring, but I didnt feel comfortable being in my swimsuit around our guide,so I sat out and watched as the others went in. We told the other travelers about what happened. After that they were very good about making sure both of our groups stayed together, so we were not hiking alone with our guide. Later that day we made it back to our guesthouse where the owner Ahmad asked us why we had ended our trip early. We took him aside and told him the story. He said nothing, his expression was blank. It was a very strange. Neither Ryan or I knew what to make of his reaction. After telling him he said nothing and did nothing, we stood there in silence for a moment, and then we said "Okay, well that is why we ended early", and we walked away to our room. We assumed that he was shocked and maybe when we checked out the next day he would apologize or offer us a discount, so we left it at that. Later that evening the other travelers that were on the hike with us asked if we would like to join them on a river rafting trip the next day. The rafting would start at 8am. We would raft for five hours until we reached the next town. At the end of our rafting trip our luggage would be driven to us, and we would then catch a bus from that town to our next destination; for Ryan and I, that next destination would be Beristagi. We agreed to the rafting trip, deciding it would be a nice way to end our jungle trek that was unfortunately cut short.
The next morning we woke up bright and early for our rafting. We ate breakfast, packed our things, and went to pay our bill. When it was time to pay Ahmad asked us how much we wanted to pay for the jungle trek. I told him that I didnt think we should have to pay for the trek because of what happened, he thought that was ridiculous, and said that was not possible. After ten minutes of talking, negotiating, and telling him my point of view, we ended up paying for a one day trek. At the end of it all Ahmad never apologized or said anything about what had happened, it was very strange. The rafting trip turned out to be a blast. Some of the rapids were pretty intense, and the scenery along the way was breathtaking. Half way through we stopped at a sunny beach and had a picnic lunch of chicken and fried rice. When we ended our rafting trip we waited in teh small town of Kutacane for the pickup truck with our luggage to arrive. As we waited on the side of the road, many Indonesians stopped their motorbikes and ran over to us, asking to take pictures. It was such a funny experience, I felt like a celebrity. We must have taken over twenty pictures with random people, all of whom seemed in amazement by the fact that we were white. It really put things into perspective of how little travelers there are in Sumatra. When the truck came with our luggage it brought us to the bus stop, where we waited for a couple of hours for our bus to arrive. The wait felt extra long in the 100 degree humid weather. We were the only foreigners at the bus stop with a few other Indonesians and a group of ten young barefoot children who hung around us watching us, whispering things in Indonesian and laughing. The children were especially fascinated by me. For two hours straight they stared, laughed, and watched me. I offered them some of my peanuts but they didnt want any, I even took out a frisbee and tried to get them to play, but my friendly gestures only made them laugh. For the first time in my life I felt like a true foreigner, it was an experience to say the least. The bus ride to Beristagi was a long and bumpy one. Half way through the drive our driver stopped in a small town. At that point a new driver got into the driver seat, and our previous driver got on top of the minivan where our luggage was stored and rode the rest of the way ( 2hrs) to our next destination. The Indonesians in the van seem unphased by this, while us tourists kept looking out the window to the top of the car wondering why the hell he has sitting on the roof of the car in the pouring rain, as our new driver was speeing around corners flying through traffic. Around 8pm we finally made it to our guesthouse in Beristagi.
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