Reunion in Istanbul

When we were planning our trip to the NESA Teachers’ Conference in Istanbul, I wrote to the Tohs and the Nemlis on the possibility of reconnecting. To our delight, the connection was a go. Unfortunately, it was Girls Getaway week for them, so we would not see Toh and Sarper, who would be kid caring while the wives would play. On the upside, we would see Monique and Filiz.

Filiz and Sarper are ethnic Turks. Filiz grew up in Bulgaria, but moved to Turkey with her parents as a young adult. She met and married Sarper in Turkey, and they consider Istanbul their home city. Some time ago Filiz had written that she would like to show us her Istanbul, but we really didn’t expect it to happen. Lory and I initially met up with Filiz and Monique at a restaurant on the top floor of the Marmara Pera Hotel on Saturday evening March 21, 2015. The venue offers a beautiful view of the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn, Istanbul’s treasured inlet harbor. Lory was recuperating from pneumonia the whole time we were in Istanbul so we were lucky that she was strong enough to go out for dinner.

Reunion with Monique and Filiz

Filiz chose the restaurant to share both the geographic beauty of Istanbul, and the tantalizing Turkish cuisine . We were a group of seven. Monique’s friend Maura had come from Colorado to celebrate her 46^th Birthday. Two other friends from the US were with us as well – Bill, a childhood friend of Maura, and Barbara, who works with Bill in the State Department, both currently posted in Turkey. For dinner, I wanted to try something authentically Turkish, and Filiz recommended the lamb’s neck. I never would have thought of ordering lamb’s neck, but it turned out to be melt in your mouth delicious. My best dining surprise since my horsemeat steak in Atyrau on my 68^th Birthday! Lory had giant shrimp in a beautiful presentation with various sauces, every one delicious.

Filiz invited us to join the group for a cruise on the Bosphorus the following day. Lory had to decline because if she felt healthy enough the next day she wanted to attend some conference sessions. But she strongly encouraged me to go, guilt free!

Ortakoy Neighborhood

Filiz picked me up by taxi at the Hilton on the Bosphorus, and we set off for the Ortakoy district, where our cruise would begin. Filiz apologized profusely for the traffic and the mad pace of city life in Istanbul. The city has changed greatly since she lived there. I had noticed the increase in tourism when I spent Friday afternoon in Sultanahmet, the center of the old city. Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazar are all within a stone’s throw in Sultanahmet. It is packed with tourists even in off-season March! Sultanahmet is just south of the Golden Horn inlet, and Ortakoy is north of the inlet near the first Bosphorus Bridge.

Ortakoy is a very trendy district that Filiz wanted to share with me, probably because I am such a trendy guy. It reminded me of Granville Island in Vancouver, and Pike’s Place in Seattle – cool little bistros, bars, and coffee shops on the waterfront. Later we would participate in an Ortakoy street food tradition of eating a huge baked potato with your choice of toppings. Several food stalls along a cobble stone street compete for baked potato sales with barkers who shouted, “Hey slim, get your baked potato here!” Sounds the same in Turkish. The passenger ferry tour starts from right next to the beautiful Ortakoy Mosque. Monique and friends joined us at a bistro near the mosque, and we boarded the ferry.

the Bosphorus strait

The Cruise

We happened to get the warmest, sunniest March day for our cruise. It was still a sweater and jacket day, but the bright sun was most welcome for this Kazakh tourist, fresh out of winter.

The Bosphorus Strait

The Bosphorus Strait is a critical link in the sea passage route that connects Eastern Europe and Central Asia to the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. It directly connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, which in turn leads through the Dardanelles into the Aegean Sea of the Mediterranean. This passage has been the focus of many wars throughout history, including two world wars. Since Medieval times, the Bosphorus was vital for strategic naval control of the area. Istanbul, then Constantinople, was a major trade center of the Silk Road.

Today the Bosphorus is a critical warm water route for Russia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other oil exporting nations. But on our tour, my focus was on the late medieval period, and the transformation of Christian Constantinople to Muslim Istanbul. There are two suspension bridges that cross the Bosphorus: the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge. Our cruise was north from the first bridge on the European shoreline, and south from the second bridge on the Asian shoreline. It is a relatively short afternoon cruise that for my money was just right.

Ortakoy Mosque

The Ortakoy Mosque

The view of the Ortakoy Mosque from the water is spectacular. Built in 1856 it was designed in the Neo Baroque style by Armenian architects, father and son Garabet Amira Balyan and Nigogayos Balyan. The Balyan family designed the Topkapi Palace, the Beylerbeyi Palace and many other religious and public buildings in Istanbul. Filiz informed me that the mosque is slowly sinking into the Bosphorus, but would still be here when we returned from the cruise.

Bosphorus Bridge

Passing under the Bosphorus Bridge, we noticed workmen high up on the cables. When it was built in 1973, the Bosphorus Bridge was the fourth longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,560 meters. It now ranks twenty-second. At the time the bridge was opened, much was made of its being the first bridge between Europe and Asia since 480 BCE.  That was a pontoon bridge built by Emperor Xerses I of Persia in his march to subjugate Athens and Sparta. Xerses bridge spanned the Hellespont (Dardanelles), some distance away from the Bosphorus. However, his father Emperor Darius The Great had built a pontoon bridge across the Bosphorus in 513 BCE.

the Bosphorus bridge

Galatasaray

Cruising up the Europe side coastline we passed a floating barge that Filiz informs us is owned by her favorite football club. It is called Galatasaray Island. Take a two-minute boat ride and you have a choice of restaurants, nightclubs and a swimming pool. We also passed a riverside promenade and a marina and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of some of the most expensive homes in Istanbul.

Rumeli fortress, symbol of the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium

Rumeli Fortress

For me the most exciting visual experience of the cruise was the Rumeli Fortress wall and towers on the European side of the river. Located just south of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, the fortress was built by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, in his drive to conquer Constantinople and thus defeat the Byzantine Empire. This was in 1453 AD and it is a huge historical event in world history. When Mehmed II took Constantinople, he effectively absorbed the Byzantine Empire into the Ottoman Empire, and Byzantium was no more. Ironically, Mehmet claimed the title of “Caesar of the Roman Empire.” Christian Europe rejected his claim.

Sultan Mehmed II is a national hero in Turkey. By conquering the Byzantine Empire, Mehmet II laid the foundation for the Ottoman Empire to become a supreme world power for six centuries, right up to the end of the First World War, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk would lead the new Republic of Turkey into the twentieth century.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge

Our ferry turned around at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, the second bridge of the Bosphorus, named after our favorite Sultan. It is about 5 kilometers north of the first bridge. The bridge was completed in 1988, and is 1,090 meters long, about two-thirds the length of the First Bosphorous Bridge.

Anatolia fortress

The Anatolian Fortress

On the Asia side of the Bosphorus, directly across from the Rumeli Fortress, is the Anatolian Fortress, which was built by Mehmet’s great-grandfather Sultan Bayezid I in 1394. Anatolia is the name of the territory that constitutes Asian Turkey. Bayezid built the fortress on the ruins of a Temple of Uranus, and I am not shitting you. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) The fortress serves as a backdrop for the beautiful Ottoman era waterfront houses, creating a spectacular visual effect.

symbol of the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium

Küçüksu Palace

Another beautiful Baroque style building caught my eye is the Küçüksu Kasrı. I was unable to identify the building, but Filiz provided me with the name and some history.  It turns out that the palace was also designed by the Armenian architects,Garabet Amira Balyan and Nigogayos Balyan. No wonder I was struck by the beauty of the palace! It was built in 1856-57 as a summer hunting lodge for Sultan Abdul Mecit. His predecessors had built wooden kiosks, or just used simple picnic blankets to camp out on this spot, but obviously Abdul was a 5 Star kind of guy. The palace was used in the James Bond film “The World is Not Enough” as a mansion in Baku belonging to the daughter of a rich oil baron.

Kuleli Military High School

A little further down river is the Kuleli Military High School, which I assumed was a high-level government building. My subsequent research tells me that the building was originally the Kuleli Cavalry Barracks, designed by Gabaret Balyan (man, he was busy), and completed in 1843. It became part of the Ottoman Military High School system in 1845. The students of the school have been relocated a dozen times since 1845. It was temporarily converted into a military hospital during both the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) and the First Balkan War (1912-13). After the First World War the British occupied the building and used it to house Armenian orphans and refugees, victims of the Ottoman genocide of Christians during the war.

Beylerbeyi palace

Beylerbeyi Mosque

Named for its location in the Beylerbeyi neighborhood, the Beylerbeyi Mosque was built in 1778 in the actual Baroque period. Tahir Aga, the favored architect of Ottoman Sultans Mustafa III and Abdul Hamid I, designed it. Poor Abdul Hamid had a tough life. He was imprisoned for the first 42 years of his life, 17 of those by his brother Sultan Mustafa III.  When Mustafa died, Abdul Hamid became Sultan, and commissioned Tahir Aga to build this majestic mosque. So I am thinking, “If my brother imprisoned me for 17 years, would I hire his favorite architect? Is there no question of loyalty here?” Apparently Abdul Hamid valued architectural excellence above any petty grievances. Tahir Aga must have been one hell of an architect!

Beylerbeyi Palace

The final photo I took on the Asia side waterfront is the Beylerbeyi Palace. Also named for the neighborhood, this palace was completed in 1865. It was commissioned by Sultan Abdul-Aziz as a summer home and a residence to entertain visiting dignitaries. Sarkis Balyan, the younger son of Garabet, who designed the Ortakoy Mosque and the Küçüksu Palace. His architectural style is more restrained than that of his father and older brother.

Filiz, Bill, Norm and Monique

My Historical Research

So that concludes my virtual tour. If you are a history buff, you will enjoy the following articles:

To know more about Ataturk’s Republic of Turkey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Ataturk

To know more about the Ottoman Empire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

To know more about the Eastern Orthodox Church: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church

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Mr. Norm at Padang

On October 5th, 2009 I traveled to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra and the focal point of relief efforts for the victims of the recent earthquakes. The first earthquake hit at 5:16 pm on September 30, 2009. We set out on what proved to be a nine-hour drive for a mere 340-kilometer trip.

The road to Padang winds through the mountains to the height of Bukit Tinggi (High Hill), one of the larger cities in West Sumatra. From Bukit Tinggi it is 90 km downhill to Padang which is on the coast. My traveling companions were Chip Hill, Paul Liu and Pak Andre. Chip is an American who teaches at an English Language school in Pekanbaru. The school is owned by Pak Andre who also runs a volunteer social organization called Nitra Sejati, which focuses on responding to the needs of people in rural villages. Paul is the pastor of the International Christian Fellowship in Pekanbaru. Through Pak Andre, Chip had established a grass roots contact in Padang in the form of Dian Insani, an organization sectioned by the government to do “Earthquake Training” in West Sumatra. Ironically, the four-member board of Dian Insani was meeting about earthquake training on the day of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Their meeting had finished at 5:00 pm and the earthquake leveled the building at 5:16. The meeting was at the office of Ibu Shirley, one of the Board members. Ibu Shirley and her parents lived above the office. Ibu Shirley had left the building to pick up last minute groceries for dinner. When she returned, she had lost her home, her business and her parents in the tragic collapse of the building.

This is one of many horrific stories of the earthquake. On the positive side, the larger community of West Sumatra and Indonesia has pulled together to help each other get through the disaster. We stayed in the house of Pak Michael, one of the three leaders of the Dian Insani organization. He and his family were hosting about 20 people in their home the night we arrived.

Padang earthquake Indonesia West Sumatra

People slept in tents, and on floors. This will be their lifestyle for months to come. We four slept on the floor in the front room, while six others were in the living room. We used three of the bedrolls we had brought with us. The second night Paul and I stayed at Michael’s house but Chip, Andre and ten of Andre’s guys with Nitra Sejati stayed at a house they were calling the center (rented as an office for Dian Insani in Padang). The downside was that when Paul and I rolled in after 11 pm, all the bedrolls were in use because they thought Paul and I would be at the center. Fortunately they had a blanket for us to put on the floor and I got a pillow that night, so I was even more comfortable than the first night on the bedroll.

About half of the houses in that neighborhood, including Pak Michael’s, had no water as a result of the earthquake. The community came together, sharing water with neighbors. Our first night there, after our nine-hour drive from Pekanbaru to Padang, they had lots of drinking water in plastic cups, but their bak mandi (a water storage tank in the bathroom) was empty. That meant there was no water to wash or even to flush the ‘squat on the floor’ toilet. The next morning we toted buckets of water from the neighbor to fill Pak Michael’s bak mandi. That was a small but heart-warming act of service for the four of us. OK, I admit it was not without some element of self-serving motivation.

There are aid workers from over 20 countries in West Sumatra, most in the capital city of Padang itself. Padang was full of white faces. The city is surprisingly approaching normalcy already. There was no chaos or looting. People were going about there business. Of course the business of many people was taking care of food and shelter needs and cleaning up the city. The focus was no longer on rescuing survivors from the rubble of destruction. It was too late for that. Although an estimated 180,000 buildings were flattened or severely damaged by the quake, I was surprised how much of the city was untouched. There would be complete blocks with no damage. On other streets one house would be flattened and the next perfectly intact. Some of this was the result of poor construction practices. They have a cheap mortar available to use in place of cement. For many, the luxury of cement was not affordable.

Some large business and government buildings withstood the quake while only a few were leveled. On Tuesday night, Paul and I were trying to locate a young girl from Pekanbaru. We went to a youth shelter near the site of the Ambacang Hotel. There we saw the most awful sight of our time in Padang. The Ambacang (ahm-bah-chong) has been the hotel of choice in Padang. It was completely leveled by the earthquake. Another large hotel next to the Ambacang was still standing and from a distance looked normal, but it had been closed due to structural damage. At 11:00 pm floodlights allowed the men and machinery to dig through the rubble to retrieve buried bodies. A crowd of people stood and stared. I don’t know if they were friends and relatives of the missing. I hope so. Schools had not yet reopened. This is too bad because school routines would be therapeutic for the children at this time. The government was beginning to provide tents for use as temporary classrooms. We passed one school that had significant damage to a large gazebo in front of the classroom buildings. The classroom buildings appeared to be intact, it was impossible to say for sure. Early estimates claimed that over 500 schools in the area were damaged, and that 241 schools had to be rebuilt.

Padang rubble

Restaurants and stores that did not suffer damage are open for business. We ate mostly at roadside restaurants and outdoor lunch places that hardly require electricity. However, a group of Chinese Indonesians from Jakarta, who had been delivering supplies with us on Tuesday, took us to a real restaurant near the Pizza Hut. First they insisted that we eat durian at a roadside stand. Durian is a fruit that is notorious for its odor. Hotels do not allow durian on the premises. Pak Lim showed us how to eat durian Asian style. After the proprietor cut open the spiky shell of the large fruit (about the size of an American football) we peeled out the fruit and slurped it down. Then Lim showed us how to fill the shell with water and mix in the fruit residue to create a drink that supposedly neutralizes the smell. We weren’t sure about the authenticity of this theory, but we did as we were instructed.

The Dian Insani group will continue to serve the community and will help us identify ways in which we as a community can help. They are currently identifying specific villages in Pariaman that will benefit from the kind of supplies that we can provide. For example, they will find a home for the remaining blankets that we left with them. We left some blankets with neighborhood health clinics in Pariaman.

Pariaman was hardest hit by the earthquake. This largely rural district suffered landslides that buried complete villages. These landslides are in remote areas that have only been accessible by helicopter. Dian Insani is holding meetings with many other small volunteer groups to coordinate their aid efforts, with a focus on Pariaman. The first suggestion that Michael made for our school was that a clothing drive would be very beneficial. The Duri Campus had already started a clothing drive, and at Rumbai we were just waiting to learn what would be identified as most needed. At this point volunteer groups are focusing on commodities such as rice, milk, tents, tarps, medical supplies, clothes, diapers, and other basic food and shelter items.

The efforts to help the victims of the earthquake will continue for years to come.

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Monitor Lizard

Lory is not a squeamish kind of woman. She was raised on a farm, riding horses, milking cows and selling calves to the market for slaughter. She raised cats that were half pet, half ratters. Not squeamish at all, really. So this story may surprise you…

We had been at the Rawi Warin Resort on Koh Lanta, Krabi for about a week. Part of our morning ritual following a two-hour walk, a twenty lap swim and breakfast on the balcony restaurant of the hotel. Lory throws pieces of bread from the balcony into the pond below. Fish of various sizes immediately attack the bread, and we anxiously await the arrival of the arapaima fish, a seven-foot long import from South America, that is the prize fish of the pond. This is Lory’s morning entertainment, consistent with the farm girl described earlier.

The morning ritual following the fish feeding frenzy is the deliciously decadent period of sunbathing and reading by the lap pool. You really know you are on holiday when your biggest decision in a four to six hour period is when to roll over. On the morning of our story, Lory rose from her poolside lounging chair to return to our hotel room, a mere thirty paces. Whether her purpose was to get a cold drink from the minibar, or to tend to some other personal business is now forgotten.

When she arrived at the room, Lory noted that the door stood open, a sign that the hotel housekeeping staff was on the job. However, she also noted that on the step outside the room, a monitor lizard was on his way into the room. Lory stood her ground and called out for the attention of the housekeeping woman, Khun Ming, whom we know on the casual basis of her tending to our room every day. No answer came from inside the room, but Lory’s calling out inspired the lizard to slither into the room at lightning speed, cross the length of the room and climb two and a half feet up the curtain of the patio doors. Lory entered the room tentatively, keeping the lizard at a safe distance, once again calling out to our friend Khun Ming.

Khun Ming did indeed respond and appear from outside the room at our doorway. Lory informed Khun Ming in English that the monitor lizard had entered the room, pointing at the beast, where it hung from the curtain. Khun Ming, who speaks little to no English, fully comprehended madam’s concern and responded to this cry for help by wisely keeping Lory between herself and the lizard. As the two women communicated their strategy, Lory in English and Khun Ming in Thai, I remained somewhat oblivious to the event, lounging poolside, deeply ensconced in a novel. However, I can attest to the fact that the communication referred to above emanated from room to poolside in the form of women screeching with what I interpreted as hilarity. Perhaps not.

Back to the scene of the intrepid intruder. Lory had cleverly climbed onto the countertop, which houses the television and some shelving space. Khun Ming was still poised on the floor holding her mop. Lory requisitioned the mop and leapt from the countertop onto the bed, positioning herself nearer to the lizard’s curtain. As Lory stealthily moved the mop toward the curtain, the lizard turned its scaly head, darting out its slithery tongue and undulating its bulbous throat as with breath and cunning. Lory winced as the mop handle made contact with the lizards tail. In a flash the lizard was down the curtain and across the floor! Khun Ming shrieked in alarm and leapt onto the bed for protection. The lizard moved toward the open door of the closet and Lory feared it would make its home in one of the drawers containing our unmentionables. Again the lizard reared its ugly head, exposing a long lick of a tongue, and stretched its bulbous throat in defiance. The tail, as if with life of its own, slithered back and forth on the hardwood floor.

Suddenly, a man to the rescue! Thank God! One of the groundskeepers, hearing the cries of damsels in distress entered the room valiantly and chastised poor Khun Ming with the Thai equivalent of “These lizards don’t bite. What are you afraid of?” Then in a disappointingly anti-climactic gesture, the unnamed hero ushered the lizard out of the room. And so ends the story of Lory and the monitor lizard. Except of course for the moral of the story, which is: in the event of an encounter with a reptilian arch-villain… send for the groundskeeper.

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Heading to the mangroves

Mangrove trees live in salty water, like ocean water. Mangrove forests are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines in both the western and the eastern hemisphere. The mangroves have massive root systems that protect the shoreline from soil erosion, even from hurricanes and tsunamis. They also protect a special ecosystem of living species – including mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. In recent times the mangrove forests have become endangered. Since 1980 we have lost twenty per cent of the world’s mangroves. They have been removed for both urban development and for agricultural purposes. Some of the loss is the result of powerful tsunamis and other natural disasters that wash away the soil that sustains the plants. We are very fortunate to have an extensive mangrove forest on the east side of Koh Lanta.

Adventure on Koh Lanta

We have been vacationing on Koh Lanta for several years, four or five times a year. People often ask, “What is there to do on Koh Lanta?” Now I admit that it takes very little to entertain Lory and I on holidays. We are the quintessential beach people. We like to read and suntan by the hotel pool, occasionally swim laps, go for walks on the beach – “Do you like pina coladas?” you may well ask.

We have never felt any need for ‘adventure’ on Koh Lanta. Yeah, with peer pressure we have done the one-day snorkeling trip to Phi Phi Island, and in a weak moment we hiked down to the south end of Koh Lanta Yai to the Marine Park – a much more rigorous and exhausting hike than we had anticipated – but those were aberrations in our vacationing lifestyle. We have never done the four-island tour, we are not divers, and we don’t care if we ever get up on another elephant.

all aboard

So imagine our surprise when, on a recent Koh Lanta holiday, we had not one but two new adventures. At our urging, our friends Jeff and Susan had agreed to join us on for a week on Koh Lanta. It was a thrill for us to share ‘our island’ with them. But Jeff and Susan are not beach people. How we ever became friends boggles the mind. Our first adventure was a hike up to the waterfall at Klong Jark just three kilometers north of the Marine Park. It was an easy ‘family hike’ and in the green season the waterfall is quite spectacular. We had sent Lory’s mom Doris and her aunt Fran to Klong Jark for an elephant ride and hike to the waterfall in the past, but there was no water to fall in the dry season, so we were delighted with our wet reward.

Our second adventure came about as the result of a drive across the island to show Jeff and Susan the construction site of our retirement home. We were cruising past a sign ‘Mangrove Way’ on the east side of the island. Jeff and Susan are ‘earth people’ as opposed to ‘beach people’. They eat healthy food and live a healthy lifestyle. They are concerned about environmental issues, even if the issue may be in their back yard. They run, rather than walk, and they go on adventure holidays to remote corners of the world that have no beaches. “What do they do for fun?” you may well ask.

sail alongside mangroves

The thing is that ‘fun’ seems to be defined differently by different people. Aristotle claimed that man’s purpose is to be happy. Heidegger argued that Aristotle was a smiling idiot. He said the purpose of the human condition is to contemplate death. From my perspective, Lory and I are definitely Aristotelian, and Jeff and Susan are closer to the Heidegging side of things.

Khun Luen’s Mangrove Tour

Hence it came to pass that the four of us drove down Mangrove Way to discover what wonders would be revealed. The road ends at Tung Yee Peng pier, on the edge of the mangrove forest. A small kiosk advertises eco tourism opportunities. Our first instinct was to jump into kayaks and paddle leisurely up the narrow inlet into mangrove land. We were immediately informed that we would not be allowed to kayak without a guide to ensure we found our way out. So we decided that if we need a guide we might as well save our energy and take the longboat tour.

We crossed a wooden bridge to access a long narrow pier that winds through the mangrove to a boat launch and restaurant on stilts. Here we were greeted by Khun Luen, who would be our boatman and guide. A longtail boat is a small fishing boat. The propeller is at the end of a long pipe extending from the motor at the back of the boat. Longtail boats are also used for low cost tourism ventures in Thailand.

Boarding the longboat, we settled in for our adventure. Khun Luen spoke no English, but this did not stop him from shouting out information to the tourists about the islands we were passing and other information that will remain a mystery. He was charming. The boat followed narrow channels between the mangrove islands, and it reminded me very much of boating on the Bayou in Louisiana. It soon became clear why we would not kayak without a guide. Only experienced guides could navigate these waterways.

We passed a fish farm in the form of houseboat sitting in a wide stretch of seawater, and we spotted Lanta Old Town in the distance to our right. Then we turned back into narrow channels again and enjoyed the magical atmosphere of life in the mangrove forest. We passed local fishermen in other longtail boats. Their relaxed body language suggested that they enjoy an idyllic life on the water. We were unable to identify the two species of water birds that proliferated the area; they flew in great numbers out of the mangrove trees and over our boat. We also enjoyed the flying fish that skimmed along the water close to the boat.

traditional longtail boats, best for navigating the canals

The highlight of the adventure for Khun Luen was his specialty of ‘feeding the friendly monkeys’ (as advertised in the brochure). The monkeys were long-tail macaques that live in the mangrove forest. They are quite accustomed to Khun Luen bringing tourists and fruit for them to enjoy. Khun Luen maneuvered the boat up to the mangrove trees so that a dozen monkeys could jump onto the boat. It quite startled us initially! We know wild macaques from our home in Sumatra and they can be quite vicious.

Surprisingly, these monkeys were almost domesticated in that as Khun Luen moved to the front of the boat, they climbed up his legs, almost pulling his pants down. Khun Luen’s smile was as wide as the macaque’s tail is long! The monkeys were all over him, clambering to get their share of the fruit. It was hilarious!

When the fruit was gone, Khun Luen returned to the helm and backed the boat away from the mangroves. The monkeys instinctively leaped from the boat, flying through the air to latch onto a mangrove branch and scamper to shore. Another successful monkey feeding expedition!

On the way back to the pier, we passed a group of kayakers and we felt quite relieved that we had not opted for that option. They were working very hard and would not cover anywhere close to the area we were able to see and enjoy. A beautiful thing about the Mangrove Way experience is that you really feel you are supporting the local economy. Your money goes directly into the hands of the locals who run this little eco tourism enterprise.

Epilogue

In a small way, the Tung Yee Peng community is preserving the world’s mangrove forests. You cannot do this tour without increasing your awareness and appreciation of the special ecosystem of the mangrove forests.

TO READ MORE ABOUT MANGROVES:

The Krabi Bay and Estuary

Santubong Mangroves Swamps River Cruise – Kuching

Mangroves replanting ceremony 2016

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I looked into Suma’s eyes, searching for a sign of recognition. Could this large and limber orangutan and I share a history? Are we somehow related? I had to know.

In September 2011, Michael Ingram and I flew from Pekanbaru to Medan, North Sumatra. Our mission was to entertain ourselves while our wives did important work on improving the education of expat children of the Human species. Michael and I were on our way to the Gunung Leuser National Park to spend some time with the Sumatran Orangutan.

The park is almost completely within the borders of North Sumatra, but it extends into Aceh province in the north and touches into West Sumatra province in the south. The rough landing at the Polonia International Airport in Medan made me wonder about the advances in technology that can send humans into space. Why is it we still cannot bring an aircraft to a ‘jet smooth’ landing? The luggage collection room at Medan could be described as frantic chaos. Somehow we struggled through the crowd to grab our bags off the carousel. As we emerged through the airport exit gate we were met by Pak Effendi, who would be our tour guide. Effendi’s job was to entertain and inform us on the three-hour drive from Medan to Bukit Lawang, a village that borders the national park.

Mr. Norm, the author

Effendi gave us a little history of the orangutans. I had not realized that there are only two orangutan species in the world – the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo Pygmaeus), and the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo Abelii). In fact, the English word ‘orangutan’ is really a Bahasa Indonesia contraction of ‘orang’ and ‘hutan’, meaning ‘people of the forest’. The Orangutan is one of the Great Apes, a member of the Hominidae Family. This family also includes three African apes, the Gorilla, the Common Chimpanzee, and the Pygmy Chimpanzee or Bonobo. They tell us that we humans are also proud members of this family.

Effendi also took advantage of the controversial research that asserts that the genetic make-up of the greater apes is 98% identical to that of humans. He informed us that orangutans are capable of speech, but choose not to speak. He smiled and said: “They know that if they ever speak, the government will put them to work”. The Sumatran Orangutan is a highly endangered species. In 1973 two Swiss zoologists, Regina Frey and Monica Boerner, established a Rehabilitation Center at Bukit Lawang to save the Sumatran Orangutan. The program was designed to return captive orangutans to the rain forest.

When we reached Bukit Lawang, we walked across a suspension bridge, over the Bohorok River, to the Echo Lodge. The lodge is rustic and the grounds are beautifully gardened. It is an idyllic setting with the calming sound of the rushing waters of the Bohorok River. We checked into our rooms and met with Silo who would be our trail guide the next morning.

Setting off at 8 am, we were surprised that Effendi was joining us on the hike. Effendi smokes like a palm oil plantation, and has a bad leg from a motorcycle accident. But he was game. Silo, Effendi, Michael and I passed through a small rubber tree plantation that separated the lodge from the national park. Our first wildlife encounter was with a Thomas Leaf monkey. Silo stuck pieces of banana on a tree branch and the Thomas Leaf came over to help himself, eating one at a time as he climbed up the branch. We continued on the trail for another half hour before Silo spotted Suma, a female orangutan, who was lounging in a nest that she built in the branches of a tree. She was a fair distance from us and was pretty relaxed in the nest. Silo called to her and waved a banana. He even called her by name. But Suma did not move until Silo lifted a banana bunch over his head to lure her in.

I was surprised that Silo was feeding these primates in the forest, especially since Suma had been a captive orangutan that was reintroduced to the forest through the rehabilitation program. Since the Indonesian government took over the Bohorok Rehabilitation Center in 1980, the focus has changed from serving the orangutan, to serving tourism. No new orangutans have been admitted to the center since 1996. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, the current work at Bukit Lawang does educate tourists and locals about the plight of the orangutan, and it does give us an opportunity to have a magical moment with this magnificent primate in her natural environment.

As Suma slowly raised herself from her comfortable position in her nest, we could see a baby orangutan hanging onto her. Suma was 15 months old, Silo told us. Suma, with baby hanging on, moved up into the canopy of the forest and, out of our sight, swung through the trees until she was above us on the opposite side of the trail. Slowly she descended, gripping the tree trunks, the branches and the vines with all four hands. Silo says that orangutans have no feet, only four hands. Nearer ground level, but still above us, Suma realized the bananas were on the other side of the trail.

It was interesting to watch her problem solving. She grabbed a loose vine with one hand, steadying herself with her other hands on stronger branches, and began to swing her body across the gap above the trail. Her goal was to reach a thin tree trunk on the other side. That accomplished, she easily moved through the trees to her banana bunch prize. She shared the bananas with her baby and hung around to entertain us for some time after that. We stayed with Suma for about half an hour. Other tourists came along and enjoyed watching Suma allow the baby to climb on her own, never far from mother’s watchful eye.

When we left Suma, Silo began a long descent on a trail less traveled. I should mention that Michael has 20 inches of titanium from mid-shin to mid-thigh of his left leg. The result of high school baseball injury, this restricts the range of motion in this leg such that climbing stairs is a challenge. I reminded Michael that we were the paying customers and encouraged him to opt for the ‘Chicken Trail’. Effendi had told us that there are three choices of trails in the forest, the chicken trail, the family trail and the rigorous hike. We had made it quite clear to Effendi that the chicken trail sounded just fine. When we reached the creek bed at the bottom of the trail, I looked across at the impending ascent. Turning to Silo I said with incredulity: “You know Michael has a bad leg, right?”  Silo calmly responded: “Yes, it’s all right. We’ll go slowly”. Knowing there was no real option at this point, I shook my head and trudged on. At the top of the ascent we stopped for a welcome rest and a fruit snack – oranges, rambutan and, of course, bananas.

After our break we continued on the trail, and came upon a group of Long-tailed Macaque monkeys. As we stopped to enjoy the macaques, Silo spotted the second mother orangutan. This was Pesek – the name meaning flat nose in Bahasa Indonesia. Pesek’s baby was three years old. In contrast to Suma, Pesek allowed her baby a wide range of independence. She was no longer carrying the baby, but training him or her to survive in the forest. It was the baby that responded to Silo’s invitation to have a banana. A cheeky macaque challenged Pesek junior, but the young orangutan grabbed the banana prize and backed off quickly. This encounter included a bit of verbal aggression between the competing primates. Pesek moved quickly within range to protect her baby if necessary. Pesek and her baby were not so interested in hanging around and entertaining the tourists. When they drifted back into the forest we moved on and descended on another trail down to the Bohorok River. We passed the rehabilitation feeding station on the trail just before noon. The feeding times are early morning and late afternoon. Silo informed us that Suma and Pesek may choose to show up for a feeding if they happen to be in the area, but they are not dependent on the feedings.

When we got to the river, I stripped down to prepare for the white water rafting back to the lodge. As I took off my wool socks, a long skinny leech was dancing on my ankle. I didn’t need my salt to pluck it off and toss him into the bush. I waded into the river, but the flow was too fast to swim. So I just sat in shallow water for a cool down. Michael also came into the chilly mountain stream and we sat on warm rocks with our feet in the water to enjoy Silo’s offering of nasi goreng – fried rice. One of the best meals ever, Michael and I agreed! Strange what a rigorous four-hour hike does for your appetite.

The raft man from the village arrived with four large inner tubes. While we ate, he tied them together to make on long raft for the five of us. The rapids were fairly intense but at no point were we in danger of overturning. Nevertheless, the spray of the river water was chilling! It was a great way to finish our adventure. It is comforting to know that at this time, the rain forest in Gunung Leuser National Park has a large number of Sumatran Orangutans. They estimate that there are 9,000 orangutans in the rain forests of Sumatra. Tourism causes the trail guides to indulge in some unnatural behaviors that seem contradictory to reintroducing the apes to the wild. Still it is a thrill to see semi-wild and, if you are lucky, even wild orangutans in their native habitat. It was a very special adventure.

To know more, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunung_Leuser_National_Park  or http://www.orangutans-sos.org/visit_sumatra

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