Culture

This was our first visit to Asia and to a developing country. The gap between the rich and the poor was very evident as we travelled from Medan to Bukit Lawang and Batu Kapal. The most striking difference was between our hotel in Medan and the immediate surroundings. The hotel itself is peaceful, has a pool and restaurant and air conditioned rooms. We walked out to visit a local mini-market and have a look around. The contrast is immediately clear. In the neighbouring roads, the dwellings are generally small, wooden houses that provide the most basic of shelter and space.

Despite the contrast, the local people in Medan were warm and welcoming. Language was a challenge at times though phone translators are amazingly helpful. A small boy approached us and we quickly ran out of greetings that we knew. Through our phone we worked out that he wanted to show us his favourite local bridge by the river. Why not ... so we took a short walk with him down a side road.

Pretty soon we'd collected a small gaggle of his friends too and they were all delighted to meet us and practice what little English they knew. Generally - "what is your name, how are you ?" We saw the bridge, wished them well and headed back to the hotel. Pretty much everyone waved, said 'hello' or smiled as we walked back.

We wondered how much of the money we were bringing in through our stay would actually find its way back to the local residents.

Compare this to Bukit Lawang which felt a little more joined up. Bukit Lawang has the 'hotel end' with several hotels boasting eco-credentials. Recycling and the environment is handled much better here than in Medan where plastic rubbish ends up all over the place. Bukit Lawang has areas of poor housing, though there appears to be a zone in between where the two cultures meet for mutual benefit. In the middle there are restaurants, cafes and outlets that cater for visitors. Notably, there are many art stalls, sellers of locally made gifts and other services like traditional foot massages or even laundry. Some locals rent out robust inflatable tubes for visitors to enjoy on the river. Some of the restaurants run traditional cooking courses.

Overall, there's a much greater sense of the local community benefiting from the influx of visitors and the money they spend. This probably isn't without its problems, though on balance it felt like a positive thing for the community based on what we saw.

The feel around Batu Kapal was similar and yet different again. One of the big differences we noticed between the UK and Sumatra was the sense of local community, In the UK, we tend to hide out in our houses and back gardens. Front gardens are generally a token rather than a useful community space. Not so in Sumatra. As you walk around, people gather in front of their houses and talk with each other. Even in our limited stay, we got to recognise several people and greet them each day. Given the challenges of loneliness and isolation in the UK, there's something we can learn here.

Many people here don't have much, but most are willing to share what they have with generosity. We paid a local man a small amount to show us around the local bat cave. The tour was excellent. We mentioned that we liked rambutan - a hairy fruit that tastes a bit like grape. He invited us back to his home and picked an armful of the best rambutan from his tree - enough for us to share with all the volunteers staying at the conservation site. On our way out, our motorbike taxi driver made sure we left with another armful !

We didn't hit any real trouble in Sumatra. That said, we did find the odd person trying their luck. For example, we asked directions to the local market from a local person. A nearby teenager stepped in and offered to show us how to get there. We offered an appropriate tip as a 'thank you', though he clearly had ideas of more than that. I wasn't going to make a thing of it as the amount involved wasn't big, however it would have been more honest to ask for money up front or just accept what was offered, rather than be quite pushy about money. This was the exception rather than the rule though.

Overall, we valued the fact that although the locals didn't have a lot compared to the West, people seemed genuinely happy and enjoy what they did have and enjoyed their community together. 'Jungle time' made for a more relaxed feel compared to the West where we often optimise our time and money to make the most of it. People in Sumatra had simpler lives and a lot more time for each other and for building a strong and resilient community. I like to think we can bring something of those values back to our local community.