A letter from Sumatra: 1993-part IV

I always thought that jungle streams and rivers were dangerous, because of the organisms that lurk there, but we used to swim down the rivers and bathe there everyday. My legs were covered with mud most days, though we never saw any snakes (Mark saw one on the last day) or anything that looked dangerous. There were some leeches, but contrary to my beliefs, they hang out on leaves, not in the water. You feel a little sting then see this little worm-like creature about 1 inch long. We would just pull them off.

Sumatra is supposed to have mosquitoes which carry malaria. Unfortunately Mark and I left our pills in Australia and forgot to buy any more. Some of our Australian friends who were brought up in New Guinea, told us that they never got malaria until they started taking the medication. I personallyy was not too worried and Mark is not bothered by mosquitoes. The odour produced by our body either attracts or repels them. Mar never gets bitten, he can sit there at night in shorts and not get bitten. One guy, Steve, had 75 bites one night.

We would reach the next village and Anise would make lunch, usually nasi goreng, fried vegetables etc. We would set up our stuff in the bamboo houses on stilts that the natives use, and we would meet some of the locals. They were shy and sometimes moved away whe na group of us sat down. Most are friendly when given a chance. They showed us how to make a loin-cloth, which is a 4ft piece of tree bark, hammered on a tree stump, soaked and dried. I didn’t really fancy one but Mark got one. The locals look good in loin cloths, as they are all about 5ft tall and totally in shape, the tourists look ridiculous. They let us use their canoes to mess around in the river and our group would play around in the mud in the river.

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