Jungle Trek at Bukit Lawang for my 41st Birthday

Jungle Trek at Bukit Lawang for my 41st Birthday

As Adventure Josh, I couldn't just let my 41st birthday pass by without some sort of legendary experience. I had just come off 2.5 months in the Philippines. I toured through the south of Indonesia to see the rivers of blue flames inside the Ijen volcano, Komodo dragons, and the intense funeral rituals in Tana Toraja. It was time to end Indonesia with a BANG!

I had originally sort of dismissed Sumatra as it was so far out of the way compared to all of the other destinations in the country. And everyone I kept talking to was shocked! Clearly, I had overlooked something. The more research I did, the more enthralled I became with journeying northwards.

The day finally arrived, and partnered up with Bukit Lawang Adventure, and I set foot into the dense jungle of Gunung Leuser NP. Warned not to be disappointed if we didn't see any animals, as they can sometimes be elusive, minutes later we were greeted with an orangutang swinging from branch to branch with its baby! 

The steep, slippery, jungle ascent poured litres of sweat from my body. Jaka, my guide, was always quick to point out any interesting foliage — including one in particular that I found quite interesting. It was some sort of sap that when you scraped it off into flakes would burst into a spectacle of fiery flakes when lit.

Jungle camp, with the mosquito nets and padded mats to sleep on, was a welcome sight. Scorpion sighting aside. The crew got to work quickly preparing dinner by sunset, while I cleansed my aching body and mud-laden limbs in the nearby river. Dinner was a symphony of local food; not what you'd expect for a roughin' it experience.

Day two a much shorter journey to the Bohorok river where we tied inner-tubes together and blasted down the rapids through the jungle back to civilization.

If you ever want to do the same journey I did, hit me up, and I'll get you in touch with the experts.