The good, bad & smelly....

After leaving Bukit Lawang, we traveled to Brastaghi (also spelled Berrestaghi). From those highlands to our next destination, Bukittinggi, would be a 22 hour bus ride. On line, the ride was dubbed, "the world's worst bus ride", we were determined to ride it out. Yes, it was bad, but I doubt the worst; only two bathroom breaks in a span of 18 hours. The highlight came at 3:30 a.m., just thirty minutes after I finally fell asleep, everyone on the bus must pile out of the bus & walk up a muddy hill in the drizzle so the bus can make an attempt at the hill. From atop the rise I watch as the bus guns it & charges up, up, up. Near the top I watch in agony as the back wheels start to spin & the bus slides sideways. Fortunately there is a wench set up at the top & the bus is pulled the rest of the distance.
Two days into Bukittinggi we meet a mild Muslim woman wearing the traditional head scarf speaking excellent English. She wants to know where we are going, where we are from & if we like coffee? "Yes." we say to the last question. She tells us that she has a business in locally grown Sumatra coffee, but it is not any ordinary coffee, mind you, this stuff has been eaten & digested by wild critters, like civets & monkeys & then pooped out! It is said that the digestive enzymes affect the coffee beans in a most excellent way. I know what you're thinking, who in the blazes would have dreamed up such malarkey to even give it head room to be born as a thought?
So we set the stage for tomorrow to visit this woman's village, Batang Palupuh. A short bus ride out of Bukittinggi delivers us to a idyllic town squeezed into a narrow valley with tall steep rock walls. The coffee beans are located by villages & collected, they are then washed before roasted & pounded. Want to know what it tasted like? Becca or I will tell you if you ask one of us.
That same day, our hostess tells us that the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia arnoldi, is in bloom lucky for us & calls a local guide. Becca & I ride through amazing misty valleys, through small quaint villages & rice fields before embarking on foot up steep slippery slopes. Visions of Bukit Lawang's orangutans come flooding back. After some 40 minutes of hoofing it & stream crossings we head straight up again, low & behold, there is no denying it, this flower looks like something from deep space. It is three & a half feet in diameter & our guide says this is a small one. Nearby are two volleyball size orbs looking like purple cabbage heads waiting 8-9 more months to flower, which lasts seven days before the parasite, with a rotting meat smell to attract pollinators, fades to black. The day teaches us that smelly things are not all bad. TLC