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The Bukit Lawang Diaries: Entry #7
A Secret Jungle Waterfall
Finding beauty in a new life
18 December 2025 ~ A Secret Jungle Waterfall Near Bukit Lawang ~ 13:00
We turned down an inconspicuous dirt road through the palm oil plantation; each time I see those uniform rows of towering palms, I’m reminded of what was destroyed in their propagation: an already ubiquitous tragedy, a virus that grows by the day.
The plantation broke into a sliver of old growth jungle before opening up into a small village. Boule, boule, the kids cried out. Mel, who grew up there and offered to show the way, motioned us forward from her motorcycle, down a jungled path full of dips and mud traps. How we all managed to leave with our bikes is both a mystery and a miracle. We parked when it became too treacherous and finish the journey on foot.
Some hung onto tree stumps and vines down the cliff face, some steadied their footing on the makeshift mud platforms and use them as stairs. Some sat and shimmied down. Some nearly tumbled; whatever gets you to the bottom, I suppose! We were met by a small creek with a sandy bank. It carved a valley into the jungle floor; the palm oil plantations and village we had passed minutes ago seemed a world away.
