Phnom Penh + Sumatra

First of all: I share the opinion that Phnom Penh is not worth seeing, no!

The Genocide Museum alone, where over 20,000 people were tortured and only 10 people survived, as well as the killing fields where the people were ultimately executed, are worth a visit.

In S21 prison, the prisoners, as mentioned earlier, were tortured by the Khmer Rouge until they wrote and signed their confession. After that, they were taken by truck to the killing fields a few kilometers away. Until their confession, the prisoners lived in single or large cells under adverse conditions. The whole scene reminded me strongly of concentration camps. As the Khmer Rouge wanted to establish an agrarian state, many educated people were killed or enslaved. Of the 8 million inhabitants at the time, the Khmer Rouge killed 3 million people.

Since there were gradually fewer doctors, simple farmers were taught to give injections and make herbal medicines in a 4-month crash course. They also practiced minor surgeries on prisoners, while they were fully conscious.

Up to 300 people arrived at the killing fields every day and they were executed on the same day. As bullets were too expensive, the Khmer Rouge used machetes, axes, bamboo, shovels, and even axes to kill people. Afterwards, poison was sprinkled on the bodies. On the one hand, those who were still alive died finally, on the other hand, the smell of decay was reduced.

The worst places were the tree where the soldiers beat children (remains of skin, brain, hair, blood, and bones were found) and a grave where women and their unborn children were found. Children were killed because the Khmer Rouge wanted to prevent them from seeking revenge in the future. Finally, we visited a memorial site where over 9,000 skulls of the dead are preserved on 17 levels. The remaining bones and skulls of the other victims are still buried in the ground. As they surface due to rain, the staff still have to collect the human remains at least every two months.

From Phnom Penh, we moved on to Indonesia. Everything was fine until the check-in counter. Then the nice lady behind the counter asked for a onward flight ticket from Indonesia. I don't have one, 'then we can't take you with us'. Okay, I was getting a little nervous, what now? I tried to explain to the ladies that I will apply for a Visa on Arrival in Indonesia for 30 days and then extend it for another 30 days, so I don't have a return ticket yet. The ladies explained to me that I cannot enter without a return ticket at the border. After some research, it seems to be true, but I couldn't find anything on the official Indonesian website, which I actually trust the most. Some time ago, I heard about a website where you can "borrow" a flight ticket for $12. The agency then books a ticket in my name, sends it to me by email, and cancels it after 48 hours. I will give it a try, what else can I do? When paying with PayPal, my password didn't work. I had only 50 minutes left until the gate closes. Reset password, try again, still 45 minutes left. The ticket was paid for, according to the email, it would take between 60 and 180 minutes until I receive the ticket, damn it, I only had 40 minutes left. What now? Skyscanner! Looked for an airport somewhere in Indonesia, the cheapest flight to Kuala Lumpur cost 21€, book it! Still 30 minutes left. I received the payment confirmation in German, showed it to the staff and explained that it is the confirmation. She didn't want to see the actual ticket... Just in time, 15 minutes before the gate would have closed, I got the tickets. It cost me an extra 35€, but at least I was on the plane.

At passport control, of course, no one wanted to see any flight. Well, be that as it may, I arrived.

After two nights in Medan, we moved further north to observe orangutans in the jungle. Bukit Lawang is a nice little town where you can relax by the nearby river. The jungle tour in Gunung Leuser National Park started the next day at 8 a.m. After a short walk, we saw the first orangutans. Impressive, I could have watched the animals all day. Unfortunately, it wasn't really a jungle tour, I felt more like I was in a large open-air enclosure. After a short time, more and more small groups arrived as the locations of the animals spread. So we met different groups on the beaten paths. Some of the animals were also used to humans, as injured or sick animals are nursed back to health in the nearby station. There are already over 8000 orangutans in this national park again. If you really want to go deep into the jungle, you have to book a tour of at least 5 days. Nevertheless, the tour was absolutely recommendable. In the evening, we had delicious food and lots of tea at a campfire. The next day, instead of another hike, we decided to bathe in the river and observe the animals that kept appearing nearby. The highlight was the almost one-meter-long Baran, who swam just a few meters away from us. We returned relaxed on a boat made of tires.

Since everyone in the group wanted to go south, we decided to take a driver towards Lake Toba, the largest crater lake in the world. On the way there, we passed an active volcano and climbed a currently inactive volcano. Both were absolutely impressive, as I saw an active volcano for the first time.

Thomas (whom I met on the jungle tour) and I decided to stay only one night and explore the island by scooter the next day and then take a night bus.

The island is quite nice and the roads are easy to drive on. Unfortunately, you have to pay an entrance fee at the two or three official beaches, which is not really worth it for one or two hours. Since we wanted to avoid the rain and had plenty of time, we decided to take a different route. The roads turned into tracks, but were still passable... Then Thomas suddenly had a flat tire, fortunately right in front of the only workshop for miles around. Unfortunately, we only had two hours left and we needed them given the road conditions. We decided that I would continue driving, get the ferry, and try to reschedule the bus.

The road and the weather got worse and worse, it started raining at some point, I only had one hour left, I was annoyed and then eventually wet. When the road became so bad that we couldn't go any further, I realized that I couldn't reach the ferry anymore. To make matters worse, I slipped on a large stone and fell with the front wheel. I was surprised that unlike the scooter, I didn't have a scratch. After returning the scooter and paying 3€ for the additional scratches, I went to the ferry. With the next ferry, I would have arrived 1 ½ hours later than I was told. However, I found out that the bus was still stuck in traffic. Just before the ferry's departure, Thomas arrived. At the terminal, we were taken directly to the bus and 1 ½ hours later than planned, we finally got our bus. We couldn't resist a big grin.

The bus ride to Bukittinggi was exhausting, but we were able to check into our room at 8 a.m. and catch up on a few hours of sleep. Bukittinggi is a really nice town, in the shadow of three large volcanoes, with a small gorge and a nice center.

From Bukittinggi, we went to Padang, from where we flew to Jakarta. There isn't much to see in Padang. In Jakarta, I will take care of extending my visa, apply for a new passport, and pick up my first visitor from the airport.