Day 25: First monsoon in Sumatra

When you think you can use your time at an Indonesian airport to write a blog post, you are mistaken. When you think you can visit a Buddhist temple and take photos, you become the subject of hundreds of photos yourself.

There is always one brave person in the group who approaches us and asks for a group photo with the 'German friends'. Once the ice is broken, usually everyone else around us rushes to join in. Phones are passed around, there is giggling, and the temple or blog post is forgotten. This is often how it goes when we are among people. A pleasant distraction.

Yesterday we arrived in Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia. It is located on the enormous island of Sumatra, which would take months to explore on its own.

Our walk took us through dusty streets past stands selling sugary orange juice and vendors carrying tiny cages with birds inside. When I saw this, I was reminded of Bali, where vendors sell small plastic bags with individual colorful fish to children. They transport these bags on their motorcycles through the villages, so the fish are probably simmering in hot water due to the sun. The fish in Bali are intended as toys for children. And here in Medan, a boy proudly carried a bird in a cage.

Just as we were about to turn back because we wanted to take a break from the constant "hello" calls on the street, a very old toothless man hurried over to us, gesturing wildly and pointing to a colorful temple. He led us across the street and suddenly we were inside a Buddhist temple, where people were walking around with giant incense sticks or a bunch of packs of incense sticks. Prayers were being said throughout the room, colorful paper flowers were being folded in one corner, and people were eating noodle soup on the floor in another corner. I could hardly keep my eyes open because the air was filled with incense sticks. So we stumbled into the next temple, where we were greeted by a group of Buddhist women. And as always, what followed next were photos! And after that: food! The women moved chairs and gave us mandarins and a lunch. And then our first Sumatra rain poured down outside. The city sank in water for two hours. Four hours later, everything was dry again.

And we owe all these experiences to the toothless man on the street.