It wasn’t until 1980 when the first guesthouses were built in Bukit Lawang. Before then, Western tourists would stay in the villages. Visitors were more like family because you shared meals together and they stayed in your home. Bukit Lawang was far from being developed, but the rainforest was still the reason for people being here.
They started to build roads in 1982 when the Bukit Lawang Ecolodge was built. Jungle Inn was the third guesthouse constructed here. After I finished school, I worked there without salary. The owner was like an uncle to me and I was happy to have work. I cleaned the restaurant and I helped with the cooking. When we had guests, we felt like family. Bukit Lawang is a strong community. We take care of each other and we take care of our friends. We make fires and spend time together. I think that’s why people stayed longer. They felt like they belonged.
When I worked at the guesthouse, I met a woman from Norway who wanted me to move to her country. She brought her friends, her father, her family, her brother. She did everything to convince me to come back with her, even offering money.
I told her, “I’m sorry but I can’t leave here.”
I loved her, but I loved this place more.
It would take months to send a letter to Norway, so when she left, we lost contact. Late in life, I wondered what would have happened had I gone with her, but I didn’t tell anyone how I felt. It didn’t matter, because I found my true love soon after.
In 1995, I got married to a woman from Medan. We knew each other from school in Benjai. Her family didn’t approve because I didn’t have a job. I was a jungle boy and they wanted her to go to university in Europe. I told her I didn’t have anything to offer her. I wasn’t wealthy, but she insisted she didn’t care. When I asked the family for permission, they made her choose between her school and her love.
She chose love. She chose to stay. That’s when she came to Bukit Lawang. I brought her to my father’s house and we were married. We rented a small house and started building our lives together.
When a friend needed help for a trek, I would save the money I earned from being his assistant. When I had enough money saved, I told the owner of Jungle Inn I wanted to make a business with my wife. I bought a small plot of land in Bukit Lawang, but had to wait to save enough money to make the rest of the shop. I bought materials little by little until I could build what we needed. Our small restaurant had three tables, but it was perfect for us. When we opened in 1997, my wife and I worked together. That is until the flood.
I don’t know why it happened the way it did, but the day before the flood, my brother grabbed my son and took him to our father’s house. If my son had been in Bukit Lawang that night, I don’t know what would have happened.
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