Fire and Brimstone

Hello to all of our faithful readers! We hope all 17 of you are doing well. In the extended time between postings, K has been very busy with work and A has been busy doing...well, dishes and laundry. Somehow we found time in our busy schedules to escape for another hike up and down a mountain. However, this was no ordinary mountain.

K and S rest at the top of the mountain

This past Friday, we went for a little adventure with the Australians and our friend S, who is visiting from NYC, to the town of Berastagi. We stayed the night at an old, deserted resort that reminded us of the big Catskill's hotels from the '70s. Not that either of us is old enough to remember the Catskills in the '70s, but you get the picture. Friday night we went out to a karaoke bar at the hotel. We were the only ones there. It was bizarre. A and K can always sniff out a microphone!

A and K at the top

Saturday morning we tackled the volcano known as Gunung Sibayak. It was only a four hour trek up and over, but our out-of-shape bodies took a beating. Steam, beauty, and the smell of sulfur were abundant. When it was all over, the volcano offered us the gift of hot springs to rest our weary bodies.

Relaxing in the hot springs pool

Before we headed home, we hit the local market. The mountain town of Berastagi is known for its produce, so we stocked up on our fruit and vegetables for the week. A experimented with some fresh marquisa (passion fruit) by making a frozen dessert out of it.

The market

We're back off to Sabang this weekend, because K is working in Banda Aceh. We'll keep you updated!

K wonders why we like to hike up mountains

For the view of course