Cooling off
Monday, August 20th, 2007This month, the wind blows dry and hot from the West and so much of the city and surroundings is smouldering that the air is constantly ripe with smoke. There’s no getting around how close you are to the sun. Luckily, when God draped Sumatra over the equator, he also created refuges like Takengon, eight hours across and 1000 meters up from here. It sits on cool Lake Tawan and is surrounded by coffee plantations and green mountainsides, logged but lush. The Gayo people troll the lake with handnets. We spent the weekend up there with a crew of 5 others from Banda, celebrating Indonesian independence day (see parade), foldable kayaks (red and blue), dugouts (most are seaworthy, my borrowed rig had an unseen slice down the keel), fresh water fish (best with local chilies), earthy coffee (handpicked by the Gayo) and the allure of another man’s boat (someone else in my Folbot).
Take care until next time,
Oakley
