Bigfoot with a Broom

At the Gunung Leuser rehabilitation center the orangutans like to help out with the chores.

Bukit Lawang, Indonesia

Doggy Bag

WARNING: This video may be disturbing to some readers!

This video was taken during a pig hunt in Indonesia. Since the hunters were all Muslim, they did not want any of the meat so they let the dogs tear the pig apart.

To catch this pig, the hunters stood on either side of a valley with their dogs. Then a few men and dogs went into one end of the valley to flush the pig out. Once the pig was found, one of the hunters shot-off a gun to let the dogs know where the pig was. At the sound of the rife the other hunters let the dogs go and then waited for them to corner the pig. When the dogs finally caught the pig, this was the result.

Sumatra, Indonesia

Plant Action

Travis pointed out this Mimosa plant to me after we stopped to watch people make mud bricks.

Sumatra, Indonesia

Jungle Music

You're on your way to a temple shrouded in the jungle, when you begin to hear music.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia 

Finding the Equator

When you look at nearly any globe or map of the world the Equator is clearly defined, so one would assume it would be easy to find. Then again, things usually tend to be different on the ground.

Finding ourselves without a globe, map, or the Indonesian word for Equator, Travis suggested that we start flushing toilets to determine which hemisphere we were in about 2 hours into our search.

There are several monuments marking where the equator passes through the island of Sumatra. With the help of a number of kind locals, Travis and I finally tracked down the Kinali Equator Monument, located in the small town of Kinali.

One of the first things I noticed was the corn being dried in the parking lot. Curious as to how equator popcorn tasted, I gathered a few kernels for future microwave research.

Toilets and popcorn aside, Travis and I took several goofy pictures and then made for the closest shady spot to escape the boiling midday sun and have lunch.

Kinali, Indonesia

Downtown Padang

As the afternoon call to prayer filled the air, I sat drinking a Coca Cola in a busy back alley. In the mango tree above a man threw fresh mango's to a women below. When her hands were full of mango's the women took to dodging the mango's, which splattered at her feet.

Walking round the roundabout, I saw an infant playing in the gutter. A policeman caught sight of the little girl and called out to her mother to fetch her from the street. With a vacant gaze the mother remained sitting on the sidewalk, while the policeman pulled the child from the street.

Mother and Child

After a day of riding to the equator and back, Travis and I pulled back into town to return our rented motor scooters. At the restaurant where we had rented them, we got into a rather interesting conversation with the owner Mr. Porcupine that somehow spiraled into him offering to sell us a tigers tooth, a tigers claw, and other assorted jewelry made from porcupine and anteater.

Being offered these exotic animal parts made me wonder if he had any exotic meat. Much to my dismay he did not have any anteater, porcupine, or tiger meat. But then Mr. Porcupine reached under the bar and pulled out a large Tupperware container. Inside the container was a deer fetus (deer embryo) soaked in banana brandy.

My eyes lit up when he offered to let me try some for free. After finishing the brandy, he told me he had some of the mothers meat in the back that he could make into a steak for about $4.50.
So there I sat by an ancient volcanic Lake Maninjau eating a jungle deer steak listening to Mr. Porcupine tell me tales of encounters with tigers and python attacks from his days as a jungle guide.

It was truly an unforgettable day in the wilds of Indonesia.

Lake Maninjau, Sumatra

Thaipusam

After two hours of walking alongside this pilgrim,

I was able to watch him perform the Val Kavadi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavadi_Aattam

Little India, Singapore

The Middle of Some Where

Finding myself in places like is why I ride.

Somewhere in Cambodia

Cow Poke

Get on motorcycle with no idea where here and there are. Ride into the wind on roads that lead to places you've never been.

Stop and drink a fresh coconut, while watching pony carts trot down the road.

Turn down a dirt road, fly through a corn fields, then wipe out in the mud. Chase chickens and children up the road and you will finally find there.

Angkor Jam

With over a million people visiting Angkor Wat every year there is bound to be some traffic. Luckily our Tut tut Driver was willing to weave in and out of traffic to get ahead of the pack. Unfortunately a police officer was none to impressed with his driving and tried to make us wait. Our drivers response, weave around the police officer.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia 

Siem Rep Market

This is the Old Market located in downtown Siem Reap, Cambodia.