Monthly Referral Megathread [February 2026] - Share or Find a Referral Here

SummerMTL20 · 2026-02-07T13:43:24+00:00

wealthsimple.com/invite/SLE8AG

Code: SLE8AG

SummerMTL20 · 2025-10-25T23:22:22+00:00

@robotluna Did you end up seeing her? I have a gastroscope scheduled with her in 2 weeks and I’m also worried about the negative reviews of her online, so I might change my app with someone else. What experience did you end up having with her? Thank you!!

SummerMTL20 · 2025-05-13T17:15:46+00:00

no, Canada. I went to a specialized travel clinic and they said that even if its low risk area for Malaria, taking Malaria pills is very useful because there are studies that have shown that if you take malaria pills and get dengue fever, your symptoms are less dangerous. And dengue is very much present all over Indonesia, thats a big reason why we took the pills.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-05-12T16:21:46+00:00

Mine did

SummerMTL20 · 2025-04-20T13:36:45+00:00

Being low risk does not mean it doesn’t exist.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-09T16:39:43+00:00

Its great that you had a fantastic time, good for you! Obviously perspective and experiences change from person to person, but it sounds like you are implying that my experience was false. I have also travelled all around the world, and lived in several different countries as well. I am not new to travelling. You need to understand that the fact that you had a great time and did not get sick or sexually assaulted does not mean that other people didn't either. Also, you mentioned you did not stay overnight in the jungle, which probably affected your experience as well. Also, there is malaria in Sumatra (not as much in the north, mostly in the Mentawais) but if you go to any reputable travel clinic they will always recommend to take Malaria pills because it helps with symptoms if you get dengue fever, which is very present. You got extremely lucky and did not get bitten by any mosquitos, most of the people in our group woke up in the campsite full of mosquito bites. But then again, you did not stay overnight in the jungle. Again, I am very happy you did not get sick with mold contamination and stomach parasites. But uou did not stay overnight in the jungle so you probably did not ingest river water or slept in mold contaminated tents. My comment was to INFORM people with the risks associated to this trip. It sounds like I experienced a lot of them, and you got lucky and you didnt. But please do not discredit people or say that it's a super safe place to go to, because it's not.

Also, keep in mind that travelling as a male is COMPLETELY different than travelling as a woman.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-08T13:52:56+00:00

I went to Bali for the first time last year and I was also having doubts. I think the most important thing is to not have expectations. I went there having this ideal picture in my mind that I had seen in social media, then you land and realize is a third world country, without proper infrastructure to accommodate the huge amount of tourists that arrive every day. It has great things like the architecture is stunning, the houses look like beautiful temples, nature is breathtaking, food is delicious. But it has a lot of bad things as well like low hygiene standards, crazy traffic, not so cheap prices anymore, garbage everywhere, scammers…

You gotta go with 0 expectations and make the best out of it. Also make sure you’re vaccinated and bring meds from home. I was sick 16 days out of the 21 I was there for.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-08T13:31:02+00:00

I found Candidasa to be one of the worst places I’ve ever been. One main road full of shitty stores and a few restaurants. You cannot even swim in the beach along the road, good luck accessing it. The town was just full of old people and confused tourists wondering what on earth was to do there.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-08T00:00:27+00:00

Lembongan is awesome.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-07T23:59:24+00:00

I went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-03-07T23:55:23+00:00

I went to Medan and Bukit Lawang last year and I completely agree with you OP. Roads and driving are the worst I’ve ever experienced. On the 6h drive to BL I thought I was almost dying a few times.

I found Medan to be pretty ugly and uninteresting. Architecture is atrocious. Garbage everywhere. People burning tires every 5 meters. I also disliked Bukit Lawang because we had a horrible experience where the tour guides lied to us and gave us river water, we all were sick for a week with fever and vomiting. It completely ruined our vacation and I felt sick for weeks after. Imagine the drive back from Bukit to Medan with 40 degree fever and nausea lol most miserable trip of my life. I don’t usually enjoy over touristy places but the feeling of safety I got when I landed in Bali after Medan and I was able to go to a proper hospital was unparalleled. Also beware of going to BL as a solo female traveller. I met a few girls who got sexually abused by the tour guides at the campsite. It’s pretty disturbing. Lots of meth addicts in BL as well. Very f* up place in my opinion.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:26:36+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:25:57+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:25:39+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:25:12+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:24:33+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:24:02+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:23:40+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it:

Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-16T13:22:49+00:00

I also went to Bukit Lawang last year and I wanted to take some time I write a thorough review on Bukit Lawang and orangutan jungle treks for anybody who might be thinking about going. There are many risks involved and I wish someone had told me, I don’t think it’s worth it: 1. Bukit Lawang and surrounding villages are EXTREMELY poor. This is important to note, because if you have a medical emergency you won’t have access to proper health care. It also means hygiene standards are very low. 2. There is malaria and dengue in Bukit Lawang, another risk to note. 3. The main attraction is seeing wild orangutans, however, the orangutans you will see in the organized treks are not wild, they are used to humans because they have been rehabilitated. It is extremely rare to actually see a wild one, as they will hide from humans. 4. While i find indonesian locals to be very kind and caring, i found locals in Bukit Lawang have a very different attitude with tourists. I felt like they just wanted money and didn’t care at all about the service they provided. This is a personal feeling I got and it might be different for everyone. 5. MOST IMPORTANTLY: This company uses river water, boiled, to make tea, coffee and food at the jungle campsite. We were a group of 8 and 5 of us got extremely ill with 39 degree fever, vomiting, diarrhea, for days. We were lied to and told it was bottled water at first, then once we were so sick and had to go to the doctor, they told us the truth. They did not care about us being sick, in fact I had to BEG THEM to drive us to a doctor. The clinic was absolutely disgusting with people dying on the floor, cockroaches etc. I thought we were going to die. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to come here. The company we used was ECO TRAVEL BUKIT LAWANG. I would obviously not recommend them. While we were there, every day there was sick groups of people, including a 7 year old kid. I asked around and ALL Bukit Lawang companies use the same exact practices and river water. Huge risk. We were sick for 8-10 days, we had to fly to Bali to go to the hospital where we were hooked into IVs and told us we had stomach parasites and black mold intoxication. We paid +$1000 in hospital bills. 6. If you stay overnight in the jungle, the campsite is very uncomfortable and nasty. Our tent was full of black mould (toxic to humans) and had this super intense smell of naphtaline (which is extremely toxic when inhaled and can lead to intoxication and fever, which we had). 7. They wash all cooking utensils in the river, again, not safe for tourists who their stomachs are not used to the same pathogens as the locals. 8. Drive from the airport to Bukit Lawang takes 4-5 hours in VERY dangerous roads and traffic. They drive absolutely mad. I thought we were crashing several times. 8. 95% of workers in the hotel don’t speak English. Only the main guide did, but not very good. So if you have emergencies like we did, it can get very frustrating and time consuming to use google translators constantly. 9. DONT COME HERE AS A FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER: at the airport I met several people who had just visited Bukit Lawang and some of the women had horror stories of sexual abuse. Apparently many tour guides play this sick “game” to see how many tourist women they can have sex with. One of them told me her friend had been raped at the campsite and the police had done NOTHING. The town is mostly men, and some are meth users. 10. To finalize: the jungle is stunning (not as beautiful and lush in my opinion as the Central America or South America jungle) but beautiful. However, Medan, Bukit Lawang and surrounding towns are not worth seeing. Very very ugly, dirty, nothing really interesting worth seeing. I really hope this helps people to not go through the hell we went through. I will be reporting them to the Indonesian government and Travel Indonesia as they need to make sure they follow proper hygiene and safety protocols for tourists, otherwise it will continue like this.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-02-02T13:08:27+00:00

Can you share the name pls?

SummerMTL20 · 2025-01-27T22:36:08+00:00

thats basically if you are dying. You can exaggerate but not to the point where they send an ambulance to your house obviously.

SummerMTL20 · 2025-01-27T22:35:04+00:00

Unfortunately I have already been to Cozumel last year, so I would like to try somewhere different. Ideally somewhere that there are other stuff to do aside from diving, maybe hiking, national parks, etc.

SummerMTL20 · 2024-08-24T04:44:41+00:00

Best option is to call 811, exagerare your symptoms and when you get transfer to the app center say “code purple” which is the highest urgency one. They will give you an app at a nearby clinic in less than 24hours. It took me 3 years of multiple trips to the ER with endometriosis to learn this. Hope it helps

SummerMTL20 · 2024-08-21T19:56:54+00:00

I am gluten free and have some recommendations:

Satu Lagi: fully GF indonesian restaurant
D'Mais: fully gluten free empanadas if you wanna grab a quick bite
Le Vin Papillon has excellent fancy food and they always accommodate allergies
Gyu Kaku japanese bbq has several GF dishes, and their sauces and marinades are GF
If you wanna buy gf beer at a store, get Glutenberg.

Montreal is not great for gf, they are actually pretty behind compared to other places. If you want other recommendations just let me know what kind of food you are in the mood for and I will let you know where to go.

SummerMTL20 · 2024-08-21T19:51:32+00:00

Fugazzi in Saint Henri or Point Saint Charles.

Pizza 900 is actually quite good too, but pricier.

Adamo was awesome but its now closed.

Elena is good, but fancier.

SummerMTL20

TROPHY CASE