Air Terjun & Milk Rose

The next day my friend and I were left scratching our heads about what to go see. I wasn't in the mood for spending a lot of money to see some orangutans in Bukit Lawang (the other major attraction of North Sumatra). Eventually we settled on finding a waterfall (Air Terjun Dua Warna or Two-Colored Waterfall) my friend had never been to.

So we gathered our stuff and headed to the mountains about 1 hour outside of Medan.

When we arrived, the people at the guidepost tried to sell us some guide services for about $15, but since both I and my friend are cheapskates (and stubborn men) we decided to set out on our own.

The forest was amazing as we entered.

But eventually, I started getting bored of it.

We had no idea how long the hike was, nor did we know what was at the end of it. Neither of us had thought to bring water or snacks. Yep, well prepared.

All we had to go on were this small trail markers, which provided almost no helpful information aside from a general direction.

After about 2 hours of hiking through the jungle, we heard the sound of water. The trail took a steep descent to a river bed.

There we followed the river up to its source, two waterfalls coming from either side of a canyon.

The smaller of the falls was warm. It wasn't really all that special.

The larger fall, though, was.

What seemed a narrow thread of water fell from the rocks above. Where it entered river, it turned the pool a bright light blue.

It was beautiful. We took some fun pictures; unfortunately I hadn't brought extra clothes, so I couldnt' jump in.

As it was starting to get late, we headed back down the mountain. During the hike, a fog settled in, and it started to rain.

Just as this was happening, we met a hunter and his dogs in the woods. On his back he carried an impaled porcupine. He and my friend spoke in Batak for a bit while I stared at the porcupine and avoided the dogs.

After a few moments my friend said, “He says there is a quicker way down the mountain; we can just follow him.”

Well, when a strange man in the forest bearing a dead porcupine on his back offers to help you down a mountain, how can you refuse?

So we wandered off the path to follow this hunter.

There were a few times when I questioned the wisdom in this choice, but true to his word, the hunter got us down the mountain in less than an hour. It turned out well because we still had enough time to return to Medan before dark.

In celebration, my friend took me to Milk Rose, a roadside stand specializing in flavored milk.

The milk comes in old-fashioned glass bottles, and the flavoring is contained in decorative bottles that remind me of liquor bottles. It was halal, so no alcohol was involved, but the novelty of the bottles was fun.

The milk comes with ice and red stuff at the bottom.

You mix it and then drink it. I finished off two glasses.

The next day I left Medan and headed for Pekan Baru.