Back in Medan overnight. Tomorrow I fly to Calcutta via Singapore. I have two nights there to make my luggage meet whatever the latest UK-bound-flight requirements might be, then fly to Heathrow via Mumbai.

more ramblings
I’m sad to be leaving Sumatra. Obviously, I’ve only just been able to infinitesimally scratch the surface but it’s been fun and pretty in places. It’s also more organised and cleaner than India in some ways.

However, vegetarian food can be a bit harder to obtain. For instance, I ordered what I was told was fried noodles and vegetables: It arrived with fried egg mixed in. Since when is an egg a vegetable?

Similarly, watch out that your nasi goreng (fried rice) doesn’t contain anything you don’t want. To make up for this, a dish of tempeh and tahu (tofu) stir-fried in sambal with some freshly-steamed vegetables and rice makes me a very happy Bruce.

Sumatra’s sungais and beaches can be beautiful, Bukit Lawang and Danau Toba ARE beautiful and the people here can be a lot of fun. So I want to visit again.

Meanwhile, the lunghi and I hope to see Scotland-based near and dear ones in September and England-based near and dear ones a bit before that (simply because I’ll be arriving (and initially living) in England.

See you soon, space cats!