08.53 It is Midsummer. We are in Christer's apartment in Sundsvall. Yesterday Spain beat Tahiti, 10-0, in the Confederations Cup. Today, Christer and I will take the first steps on this year´s long summer trip.

09.54 Breakfast is completed. Now we will continue to prepare for what will come.

11.26 After a few small problems and some swearing at the computer, we are now checked in at both Qatar Airways and Malaysian Airlines. Now the departure feels more and more real now.

13.03 Now it's time to leave the apartment. What has happened and been seen before we return?

Peter takes the first steps on a long journey.

13.53 We've placed the heavy backpacks on our backs and walked through a quiet Sundsvall. Once again we have entered a train at the Sundsvall Central Station. Soon we will head south towards Arlanda airport.

14.08 Now the tickets have been checked. We had to make a stop in the departure and the information messages as we left Sundsvall. We had a passenger extra on board. One person had not had time to get off after saying goodbye to some family members.

15.26 I have read to page 36 in Jo Nesbø's crime novel "The Cockroaches" that takes place in Thailand. The train has just reached Söderhamn. Now I'm wondering if I should get some sleep, read more or go and buy coffee with something to it.

16.16 I read one more chapter before I went and bought two coffees and two cinnamon buns. Now we are in Gävle. It's an hour left of this train journey.

17.29 We're at the classical rest area on the lower level here at Arlanda airport, but we are not on the benches we are accustomed to. It's some hard and uncomfortable benches without backs. The next few hours are about to get planned. What do we do in the evening? How do we do what we do? I already got a sore butt, stupid bench!

Rest and Fly, Arlanda airport.

18.18 It was decided to put our backpacks in a storage locker, I-30. Now we have walked a bit outside the airport. It is overcast and quite chilly. In the hallway between Sky City and the Clarion Hotel, we´ve seen a closed Starbucks. Now we are considering whether we should grab coffee or dinner first. This is one of the great questions in life!

19.21 The thing about finding an open restaurant was not so easy. Alfredo's, Sky Grill, East and West, and even McDonald's had closed. MAX was open so there we have eaten our last Swedish dinner in a while, an old-fashioned hamburger.

21.32 After dinner we wandered around a bit. Now we have taken an evening coffee at 7 Eleven. Soon we will go and pick up the backpacks. Then it will be checking in at Rest and Fly. We have access to a room there after 22:00.

22.14 The first room number is 32. We are at the accommodation Rest and Fly (http://www.restandfly.com). Now we will make the beds and get ready to sleep.

Saturday 22nd of June

07.06 We have for the last time in a while awoken on Swedish soil. Before us is a journey that is long in time as well as in distance.

07.42 We´ve used the showers and packed the backpacks. We only have the room until 08.00 so we have to hurry.

08.01 Now we have left the room and are out in the fresh air. Christer is mending one of the buckles on the waist belt on his backpack. It has come off the belt.

08.17 Things have been worked out with Christer's backpack. Now we will have breakfast at 7 Eleven before we check in our backpacks.

Christer's backpack is prepared for the long trip to Asia.

09.40 At the baggage drop we asked if it was possible to retrieve our backpacks in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and not have them sent all the way to Medan in Indonesia. Sure, it's fine, said the young lady. A luggage tag was printed out and attached to Christer's backpack. So now it goes all the way, she said. To KL we said? No, to Medan, she answered. We asked her to change that. The security check was passed without a peep. Ahead of us are passport showing and waiting.

10.06 This trip´s first gate is called F66 and the first destination is the airport in Doha, Qatar. I will, as soon as we´ve boarded, switch to Qatar time which means one hour forward.

10.27 There is no time change yet. However, there has been a change in the seating. The benches at the gate are left for seats on Qatar Airways flight QR 92. Slowly but surely the plane fills up with passengers.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

13.00 Now the time is changed. Our throats have been cooled with orange juice and gin and tonic. A delightful fragrance of food spreads in the cabin.

15.04 It not only smelled deliciously. It tasted great as well. Qatar Airways always serves excellent food, anyway great to be flight food. We're flying above the Black Sea. It is speculated if we do not keep an eastern route than we did last year on the same route.

Despite the summer heat, there is snow on the mountains of eastern Turkey.

Comfortable and pleasant journey with Qatar Airways.

16.23 Our altitude is 40778, not meters, but well feet. The flight will continue for one and a half hours. The altitude in meters is 12 429. It's a lot, perhaps our highest known altitude ever. We have seen snow on the mountains of eastern Turkey. It is not surprising, given that some are 5000 meters above sea level.

16.53 We have looked down on Iraq and tried to see Baghdad but failed.

17.25 We have begun to descend towards the Doha International Airport. There will be a short stop before we embark on the next plane. It departs at 20.00.

QATAR

18.47 After a short bus trip from the aircraft and passing the safety control, we are now in the departure lounge at the airport. In an hour we take off towards Kuala Lumpur. We know the airport here in Doha really well. We passed right here also last year on the way to and home from South Africa.

19.03 Christer has discovered that his cell phone somehow was turned on itself during the flight. He had among others got a text message "Welcome to Turkey". The phone is interesting. It also occasionally calls people on its own initiative without Christer's knowledge. Now the phone is turned off again before the next flight.

19.35 So, we were back on board an airplane again. Not much interesting happened in the departure hall. I hope that we are on the road again within half an hour.

20.50 We got out a little late. The beverage and snack cart is on its way. The landing is estimated to 08.37, Malaysian time, a time that I will soon move to, forward five hours.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

We arrived at Doha and had time to see a beautiful sunset.

Sunday 23rd of June

02.51 There is still no food in sight. We are supposed to land within six hours.

03.01 Still no food with us but a menu with very tasteful food has emerged.

04.38 It was very good food this time as well. Far below us are India and the Decca plateau. Its four hours until we have contact with the ground and Christer takes the opportunity to stretch his legs.

07.39 The passengers have begun to wake up to. We fly to the north of Sumatra.

MALAYSIA

09.24 Now we have landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), brushed our teeth with the toothbrushes that were included in the kit we got from Qatar Airways and sat down on the connecting train to the baggage claim at this major airport. Something else that was included in the kit was a pair of socks and a sleeping mask. The reason for the train is that the luggage will be picked up at another terminal.

10.29 We have fetched the baggage and got the passports stamped. We also met our friend Shu Ming and checked in the luggage again before the afternoon flight. We travelled with Shu Ming in Singapore and Malaysia in 2006, invited her to Sweden in 2007 and returned to Asia again in 2008 when she travelled with us in Vietnam and Malaysia. She lives here in Kuala Lumpur. Now it's time to take the train to the center of Kuala Lumpur since Shu Ming want to invite us to lunch. The smoke is thick outside the airport. It does not burn here but on Sumatra where difficult to extinguish forest fires are plaguing the lives of people in Singapore and Malaysia.

We had time to meet Shu Ming. We traveled in Asia with her 2006 and 2008.

Shu Ming and Peter are standing on the same platform you can see in our travel journal from 2008.

10.40 Our train, other passengers and ourselves are moving on towards Kuala Lumpur. We have time, but not enough time to revisit this pleasant metropolis.

11.41 The express train KLIA Ekspres took us to the main station KL Sentral. From there, it was metro to the shopping mall Suria KLCC (http://www.suriaklcc.com.my). Here we sat down at the restaurant Ben's for lunch. In connection to the mall is also the famous twin towers of the Petronas Towers. Because of the haze out there we do not see very much at all of the surrounding area today.

13.17 The lunch, which Shu Ming paid for, was enjoyed with laughter and old memories. After dinner we went quickly back to KL Sentral. Whether it was inexperience or fatigue, I do not know but I managed to confuse airport train ticket with the metro token. It was lucky that there were more awake, more clearheaded persons with me. Now we have said goodbye to the nice Shu Ming for this time. It was a short reunion but it's at least better than nothing.

Smoke from forest fires in Sumatra has reached Kuala Lumpur.

Shu Ming gave us a good lunch. The place is the restaurant Ben's.

14.44 We are back at the airport. We have passed the safety control of our gate and we have filled in the entry papers for Indonesia. Now we just wait for the Malaysian Airlines flight to Medan, Indonesia. We will arrive the same time as we depart because the flight takes an hour and we'll move the clock back one hour due to time zone changes.

15.00 Now we boarded yet another plane. I guess we will depart as soon as everyone is seated.

15.07 Our small backpacks will be put up on the shelf above us. There is a wall in front of us in row 5 and hence no seat to put the backpacks under. We talked a bit with the nice man on the seat between us. He wonders a little about where we come from and where we're going.

INDONESIA

CHANGING TIME ZONE

14.51 It is a new country and a new time, back one hour. We talked about everything with our new friend, Taufik. He received a business card from us and also our phone numbers. He might contact us tomorrow because he wants to guide us in his home city Medan. Taufik works as a "school coordinator" in Medan and told us that we could have visited a school if we had stayed longer in the city.

15.39 The passport control at the small airport Polonia went well and we got our backpacks. Taufik introduced us to his wife and offered to bring us to our hotel. We sadly had to say no because we already ordered the pickup through the hotel we´ll stay at. Now that driver is taking us to our first hotel here in Indonesia. The driver waited for us with a name tag when we got out from the airport.

15.43 Medan is a city in northern Sumatra and Indonesia's fourth largest city with a population of over 2 million. We'll stay in a part of town with Chinese population, you might say it is a "Chinatown".

16.19 Our drive ended a little unexpected in a garage. We took our backpacks and went up to the reception desk on the fourth floor. The lift was shared with a bunch of tall Chinese men, were they basketball players? We are at Citi Inn Hotel, Sun Yat Sen (http://citi-hotel.com/sunyatsen.html) and pay 286,000 rupiah/night for the room, which is around US$30. Now we have showered and washed in room 1112. Our room is large, green and we have a magnificent view of the central parts of the city.

Our big green room at Hotel Citi Inn, Sun Yat Sen.

Medan seen from our hotel room window.

18.37 Now we have even slept a little while. We can not continue right now. We need local knowledge, as well as food in the form of a dinner.

19.22 We asked about the dining options at the reception before we walked around the home area. There was not much to choose from, only a number of simple places that served rice and chicken. Now we have entered the only restaurant we found, Karikit. It was also the restaurant that was mentioned by the girl at the front desk. The hotel only serves breakfast.

20.13 I ordered udang in the belief that it was beef. It looked like that on the picture that showed the dish. In came no cow parts, but instead fried tiger prawns. It was actually really good. The price was nothing wrong with either, around 11 US-dollars for both of us. Christer had a dish that can be freely translated as "butter chicken". Tiredness and fatigue are detected now. We have to arrange with something to drink in the room before tomorrow evening. The long-legged men in the elevator may well have been a basketball players. There is a small nation tournament in the city. It is the Southeast Asian Basketball Championship and a qualifier for the Asian championships. Participating nations are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. We have seen this on a poster at the hotel.

21.28 Christer is trying to teach me some words and phrases that might be useful here in Indonesia. Sugar is called gula, pepper is called lada and so on. I am tired and want to sleep.

A simple but delicious dinner.

Monday 24th of June

07.47 We have slept substantially and firmly. We could have slept more but that will have to wait. There is nothing wrong wit the room. In the shower there is a fold-out seat. Now it is the time to get to know Medan a bit better. We might be guided by Taufik, the man we met on the plane yesterday. We will, while we wait for his answer, have breakfast and pay a visit to a nearby mall.

09.39 Now we had our breakfast here at Hotel Citi Inn Sun Yat Sen. It was a buffet with rice, noodles, vegetables, toast, coffee and fresh fruit. Now a comprehensive plan for the day has been established. Nothing has been heard from our friend from yesterday. It may well be that he can not get away from his job. At breakfast we saw more basketball players, among others some Thais.

10.17 Now the time has come. We're out in the heat and the city pulse. It must be arranged with the essential things for the future.

10.29 It is clearly a very hot day today. The thermometer shows +35° C. This combined with an intense traffic and sidewalks filled with parked motorcycles make it a struggle to get around the city. Our presence is met with countless "Hello Mister!" from city residents.

Jalan Sutomo, Medan.

A woman doing business in the big city.

10.41 Getting to the shopping mall Medan Mall was a challenge. The conditions of the sidewalks are as after an earthquake and the few vacant areas to put your feet on is usually occupied by parked motorbikes or cars. There are numerous bicycle and motorcycle taxis (becak) and a sweltering heat.

11.04 The mall is an oasis from the chaos and the heat out there. It's nice to get away from the traffic, the heat and all the people who want to say hello. Now we have visited and paid for juice at the restaurant Ayam Goreng Kalasan. We had a little trouble communicating with the staff but finally understood that their ice machine was broken. We ordered a lime juice each. The juice was heated and contained various undefined objects, not just lime.

12.34 A quick walk took us to the streets again and to an unvisited mall, Thamrin Plaza. Here we have walked to the seventh and top floor. Here we ordered lunch at the café/restaurant QQ Times.

13.08 The lunch was typically Indonesian, cheap and tasty. Now Christer is doing some shopping at the grocery store Maxi Mall at the bottom of the mall floor. I guard our small backpacks. They cannot come into the store.

Medan Mall.

Peter is navigating through the streets of Medan.

Cheap clothes in Medan Mall.

Christer is drinking lime juice and making a film.

13.46 After buying some drinkable and edible items for the evening and something for the trip tomorrow, we´re back in our room. There might be a shower and a little siesta now.

14.17 The doorbell just rang. It was a cleaning duo who wanted in to perform their cleaning duties. One of the cleaners found Christer's sleeping mask given to him by Qatar Airways. The man thought that it was some kind of mask for the mouth and tried to put it over his mouth. The cleaning duo asked where we were from.

14.49 Now we have taken the elevator to the 16th floor, floor 13 does not exist. We had plans to go up to the Skybar on the 17th floor to grab a coffee and look at the view but the stairs there was choked by a rope and a sign. The sign says, "Maaf Tangga lum bisanigadakan Dalam perbaikan" (stairs can not be used due to repair).

16.59 We have had a siesta in the room and read in the Lonely Planet guidebook "Indonesia" and Jo Nesbø “The cockroaches”. Now it was a power failure. Ok, the power came back instantly. It's good then we will not have to go on the stairs when head downstairs.

17.13 We're going back out on the streets to find some more sights and also a dining place.

Medan, Indonesia's fourth largest city.

The intense traffic in Medan.

Mesjid Raya (Great mosque).

18.06 The city's main mosque (Mesjid Raya) has been photographed. We have also been purchased tickets at Tobali Tours for tomorrow's transportation and now we will have dinner at the fast food chain Texas Chicken. It's no big portions but it will be welcome. The mall we are at is called Yuki Simpang Raya. Tomorrow we will be picked up at the hotel around 09.30.

18.44 It was good with fried chicken but it was not much food. A few items has been bought in the grocery store Yuki. Now we ordered coffee and pastries at Yuki Café Shop. Here there is WiFi. It seems to be the thing now days. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find any internet cafés on our travels.

19.46 The coffee was finished and we navigated us back home in the evening darkness. Now we cleanse our bodies and the clothes we wore today.

Peter is enjoying coffee and pastry at Yuki Café Shop.

21.10 We watch television news from Singapore in our hotel room. They talk about the smoke and haze from bush and forest fires here in Sumatra. The province where there is a fire is called Riau and it is located on eastern Sumatra. Now we have started taking our malaria tablets. Our room door is opened with a plastic card. It should not be kept in a slid, but is shown for an optical reader. Hi-tech!

22.07 It is time for the trip's first evening beer, a Bintang. Moreover, the language course in Bahasa Indonesia continues. Petrol is bensin. Dog is anjing. In the case of numbers, one is called satu and two dua. Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of the country that allows the different peoples and language groups in the country to communicate with each other. 80% of the language is more or less identical to the language in Malaysia. On the various islands in Indonesia over 700 different languages are spoken.

22.36 This Monday is coming to an end. We have not had time to see as much of Medan and the heat and the traffic make the city difficult to navigate. Finding somewhere to put your feet and getting across the street is really problematic. Unfortunately, there's no guidance either. Taufik, the man we met yesterday said that maybe he could not get away from work and I guess that happened.

22.59 We listen to Christer's travel radio. It offers lush ballads, "Fields of Gold" by Sting and "Because I love you" with, what we believe is, Stevie B. Now we have to try to sleep. The siesta has meant that we are not as tired as last night, but it will probably be fine anyway.

Tuesday 25th of June

07.03 We have once again become a part of the world of the awake. Soon, we'll do what we done so many times before. We will shower, eat breakfast and travel on. I wonder where in the hotel we will be picked up. Is it in the garage or at the entrance?

08.43 We have once again had the breakfast buffet on the fourth floor. The range was about the same as yesterday. Now, the final belongings will be packed. Within an hour, we are heading towards new goals, sleeps and events.

08.57 Now everything is packed, well not the travel journal and the pen. Shortly, we´ll check out and go down with the elevator to our transport. It has been an excellent hotel. The only negative thing is the few restaurants in the surroundings. What awaits us in the next town? Well, we do not know! Nothing is pre-booked for the next night.

09.24 Now we checked out from our excellent accommodation. We are waiting for the next transport. We are next to the elevator with can see both the garage and the regular entrance to the hotel.

09.44 After a while some of the staff came and asked us what we were waiting for. They asked if we were going to Tobali Tours. We were referred to a larger parked car and were driven to the office where we bought the tickets yesterday. We showed them the ticket before we returned to the vehicle. The man who drove us here looks exactly like the cleaner who tested sleeping mask over his mouth yesterday. Is it really him? Now we and two passengers, and everyone's luggage are loaded in the car.

09.51 We are moving! Quite right after the trip started we stopped. It is time to fill up with fuel. OK, that went fast. Now we go on.

10.24 Now we stand still again. We are far from alone. It is a three-lane road. An elderly gentleman in a hat was picked up on the outskirts of the city and joined the travelling group. He sits in the passenger seat next to the driver.

10.36 The traffic congestion dissolved and we came away. Pretty soon traffic crowded up again and here we are, still.

10.46 The wait is over and it is full speed ahead. To the left, we just passed a cemetery.

Christer is trying to endure the heat.

11.00 We just stopped and the driver snapped the elderly gentleman’s seatbelt. First it was fixed where the driver's seat belt would sit. As soon as it snapped, it was taken away again. We would only pass a police check. Now we pass a river.

11.31 Now we have made a stop to stretch the legs. The driver said "ten o'clock" but probably meant that the break would be ten minutes. It's good to stretch. However, it is very hot outside and even hotter inside the car where the old man sits unmoved.

12.39 It's time for a new stop. The driver went to a car we just passed. There is heavy traffic today. Sometimes we drive in our lane, sometimes in the meeting.

13.48 The surrounding landscape has become more cultivated. There are paddy rice fields and more. The speed and the driving method is the same. We go to higher altitudes and it feels in our ears. We have passed Pematang Siantar and seen a motorcycle driver who was carrying a goat.

Peter is writing about our arrival to Danau Toba Cottage.

Around Lake Toba is the home for the christian Bataks. Here are churches more common than mosques.

We have a lovely room with terrace and sea view.

A ferry is crossing the lake.

15.02 The last part of the journey took us through forest and past monkeys. We have come to the small town of Parapat at Lake Toba. We were driven to an office, Bagus Taxi. Upon arrival they shouted out from our car that there were foreigners coming. The office arranged with the transport to Sibolga on Friday and a new home here in Parapat for one night. We left our backpacks at the taxi office and were shown to a hotel nearby, Danau Toba Cottage (http://www.danautobahotel.com/internationalcottage). We now stay in room 1306. We have a lake view. The man who showed us here had two Polish coins in his pocket and wanted to know what kind of money it was. He had been given them by a tourist.

16.05 The lake we are staying by (Danau Toba/Lake Toba) is the largest volcanic lake in the world. It was formed after a huge explosion 70,000 years ago. It is 1707 km² in size. In this region the Bataks are living, an ethnic group which is mainly Christian. They speak a language that we have learned a word from. "Horas!" means hello/welcome and it is widely used. Our room here at Danau Toba Cottage is located in a house built in a traditional Batak style.

16.30 After relaxing on our balcony looking at the passing boat traffic, we will go out and get familiar with the neighborhood. We'll shop, eat and maybe if possible surf the internet.

Peter is locking the door to our room/our house.

Christer is standing at Lake Toba.

Parapat

Souvenir shops along the main street Jalan Haranggaol in Parapat.

17.28 We've strolled around the main street here in Parapat. We are at 900 meters above sea level here and the climate is not as hot and humid as in Medan. Christer has just bought two t-shirts. The woman who owned the store referred to her daughter at the age of around ten. With the aid of a calculator and perfect English she took care of the service. We have surfed the Net Harry at a cost of 2,000 rupiah for 25 minutes, it will thus be around 25 cent, an ok price.

18.07 A rain started to fall over the town. This and our hunger led us to move indoors. Now we are at Hong Kong Restaurant for dinner. We just got two menus, a notepad and a pen. Should we write down the order?

19.14 The self written order was taken up and turned into food. We rounded off the meal with some coffee. On the way home, we saw something that we didn’t experience throughout last year's summer trip, a hefty rain. It rained a lot, and it still does.

Rainy weather outside Hong Kong Restaurant.

20.25 Here I sit on the balcony and reading in the book by Jo Nesbø. Suddenly the light begins to blink. Is there a power outage? Am I going to faint? No, a butterfly, brown with white stripes and about 10 centimeters wingspan and nearly as long is going to land on me. It first landed on my left ear and then it flew up and sat on the wall facing the lake.

21.46 Christer has pulled out the power cable to our TV. His mobile phone needs charging. We hear thunder in the distance; it is great that Christer pulled out the cord to the TV. Now we treat ourselves to a large Bintang beer. It was a combined evening and balcony beer. The butterfly is still here and has a small gecko lizard as company.

22.54 I have finished reading "The cockroaches" and enjoy a new book, a book by Ozzy Osbourne. It is full with tips about how to act in life. Shortly, I'll probably soon crawl under the covers here in room 1306. Tomorrow awaits a new day with new experiences that I will write about. Now it's time to say good night.

We received an unexpected visit on the balcony this evening.