Woke up early with the mosque making noises first and then later cockrells, but as I didn't need to rush I stayed in bed until 8 when I got my things together and went to climb the Gundaling hill nearby. It was only a 30 minute walk and there were lots of stalls setting up at the top. The view was not great as it was very cloudy so the volcanoes were not visible.
I went back down a shorter route marked as steps but some was a slippery steep mud path so I slipped and got my hands dirty and had to wash them with a puddle and some leaves. I found a mosque on the way back which was not on the map app so I added it as the first place I've added since properly logging in. It looked newly built and not quite finished. At the hostel I washed my hands, looked at their inflated food prices, found out that check out was at 12 and then went round the corner and had mie goreng for 13,000. I found a different internet place which was also 3,000 per hour but it was full of schoolkids not in school so I went to the place I was at yesterday and it was also full, most were playing games, I'd expected 10am to be quiet but apparently not. So I went to the guesthouse and showered, packed and checked out. I went back and managed to get a computer and get more organised. Then I went to get a minibus as the local route would cost 15,000 or maybe a bit more and the tourist bus costs 250,000 which is crazy for such a short journey. The bus let me on and it was just 5,000 to the town about a third of the way since they don't go straight. Some school girls found it amusing that I was on the bus and he drove me to the bus station. I asked about 10 passing minivans for Tongging but none were going and some people at a cafe told me the bus comes here and will be an hour before leaving so I crossed and got a nasi goreng for lunch. The minibus filled up with people and luggage but we sat there for a few more people to get in and left around 2.30. The minibus ride was not too far but it was a small vehicle and we squeezed more people than we should have inside and there were some spectacular views before we arrived at Tongging where I got out. I didn't really know where to go, I was looking to stay the night but there wasn't much in the way of hotels and there was no mobile signal, people didn't speak much English, it didn't look like there was a boat anywhere and maybe not a bus. I walked around town and there was even less there so I went back and was waiting for a bus and a girl on a motorbike called Lydia came and talked to me. She was from the Berestagi chapter of Jehova's witnesses and it was interesting talking to her but she told me there are not many buses so I would need to get to the main road and then take one bus and then another. They left and someone said they could take me by car for 100,000 which is a lot for the short journey offered so I decided to walk to the waterfall which was not do far away. I went up the hill and got some good photos when a car stopped in front of me and reversed back. Someone got out and said they would take me to the top for free so I got in. There was 2 people both who worked for Cargill called Radod and Simanjunthax. We went to the waterfall talking on the way as Radod spoke good English. I got to see the waterfall which is 170 metres high and then we sat down to eat noodles which was a soup with noodles and an egg on top and was good. They told me that most people in this part of Sumatra are Christian and there are lots of churches as a result. Simanjunthax paid and then they wouldn't let me pay them back for the meal so I thanked them and they drove me to the main road. At one point the driver had to answer his phone and they stopped and swapped so that he wasn't driving and talking which is not something the minibus drivers worry about. We got to the main road and they said they would wait with me and there were children making a lot of noise with vuvazeelas (long horns). There was a couch surfing guy who said I could stay there but that would mean more travelling the next day. I told Radod I would be ok and they can go but they stayed and a minivan in good condition stopped and Radod talked to the driver and got an agreement to take me which was great as the van was empty. The driver didn't speak English and I don't speak Indonesian so we sat listening to music for the journey. It got dark pretty quickly and his music was not great as he seemed to have a compilation or an album of mushy songs by a boy band or similar. We did pick up one lady on the way but I got to the city hotel around 8pm. The woman on reception pulled out a list of room rates with the cheapest standard room being 150k, but she said she can do an offer for 100k and then I think she said it wasn't available or something but the next room with hot water and breakfast was 130k so I was ok with that. The room was not bad with a big bed but I left to see if I could find sone internet. They had supermarkets which is good and other hotels but there was very little on maps.me so I added the shop since I had properly registered now they should turn up on the map for other people. I walked through town and found a church and a museum that I added to the map as well, so if anyone using maps.me comes here and visits the museum they won't realise it but I literally put that place on the map. I walked back to the hotel and talked to a guy sitting a few buildings down for a bit. There was unlikely to be an internet shop he said so after walking a bit more I decided to see if there was anything on tv at the hotel before going to bed early. Back at the hotel I caught up on a few things using the wifi in the lobby, then I loaded up pokemon to see what there was and the local pokemon were just normal ones, but I did see a bridge over what looked like a lake and then lots of pokestops and some gyms which meant there was something maybe worth seeing so I headed out and the lake was no such thing there was only a river with a dam but further along the road where the pokestops were there was a big statue in what looked like a temple. I tried to walk in but the man there said closed so I walked back to the hotel a different way and went past a mosque and a graveyard. The TV in the room was showing rubbish so I went to sleep.
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I woke up early before 7 from a car horn out front. I'd slept pretty well without ear plugs or a mask and I got some of my things together before going to see if the owner could book me the 8am bus to Berestagi. His wife told me that he was at the bus station (probably touting for tourists although I'd been told the rooms were gone today) I packed my stuff and had a shower and waited eating rambutans and when he came back he phoned up about the bus and it was ok. When the minibus came I paid the hotel owner the 100,000 for the bus and 10k tip as it had been good and I hadn't eaten there due to their prices.
The bus was empty so I sat at the front and it never really had more than 5 people in at a time. He was also driving slower than others and doing a good job of avoiding pot holes until another minibus overtook is and he made it his imperative to catch them which he did 10 minutes later and then overtook pulling in to narrowly avoid an oncoming lorry. We'd by now picked up a passenger who seemed to delight in the driving shouting whoa or wai almost every time our driver overtook or honked his horn. It was nice having the view at the front although I was a bit concerned that my suitcase might fall out of the back while we are driving as I heard a story of a backpacker losing their luggage. We came to Binjai, so even though I was going all the way to Berestagi we still went via Medan but then there are no real direct roads. At least we had better roads and I got a mobile signal and we headed south on a 2 lane road which actually meant more opportunities for crazy driving including undertaking a lorry before pulling out in front of it to overtake a motorbike. The bus continued into the outskirts of Medan and filled up so I was sharing the front before we headed south. Coming close to Berestagi the road winded up and the town was quite elevated and cooler. I got out and found a guesthouse where they had double rooms with an ensuite hot shower for 150,000 or with a shared toilet for 75,000. It's quite a difference in price so I went for the cheaper room. I checked in and the woman asked if I was going to climb the volcano tomorrow so I said yes. I looked at the prices for food in the guesthouses but it was a bit overpriced so I went out and tried a bread or pancake with vegetables dish which was ok but a bit small. It was gone 2.30 but when I checked tripadvisor it seemed the volcano was easy to climb and people do it in the dark so I decided to go for it. I packed a jumper in case it got cold, a torch and an umbrella and headed out walking the 9km to the volcano as well. The walk along the road was uphill making it more tiring but I got to the ticket office around 4pm and it was 4,000 entry. The path became more forested but was still a road. There were some monkeys of a different breed in the trees but they weren't so friendly and I didn't see anything else. I got to some stalls before 5 and it looked like maybe some people camped there. Someone pointed me the right way to walk and I went past the rubbish mound I'd heard about. After the steps to begin with it was still a fairly good path for a while until there was no path and it was just open rocky/muddy land. I'd passed a couple of groups on the way but I didn't see any more which made me think I was a bit late but I still had at least an hour before sunset . There was a stream below which may have been hot as I could see and hear some volcanic vapour vents not too far away. I walked closer to them and the smell of sulphur was not too bad but they were quite loud and maybe dangerous so I just took pictures and didn't go too close. There was a pretty vertical climb and I had to stop a couple of times before reaching the top area where there were two peaks I could see so I headed to the higher one which was not bad going until the last bit as it was a big rock outcrop which didn't look easy. I had a rest before starting to climb the rock and was making my way but the hand and footholds were not great so I wasn't confident enough so I went back down and had another look at the rock. On inspection the corner looked easier to climb as it had proper holds and from my rock climbing experience (a 1 day taster) you also can hold around a corner. So I started there and it was quite a bit easier but still a challenge but I made it up. The view was ok but there were lots of clouds blocking views and they looked like they were moving in so I didn't stay too long as it was 5.30 as well so darkness was also on the way. Climbing back down was a bit trickier as I couldn't see the holds as well but then the last bit was easy as I could just jump. I found my way back to the path using a few markers and met a group with a guide who were going up. I carried on and came to a cave in the path that I didn't remember but this did look like the right path and I met another group going up soon after. Once back where the path ended I had a look to see if the stalls had anything I might want but they didn't so I carried on walking on the road path. I saw a snake which was quite thin and red but it didn't move when I threw a stone near to it so I think it was dead. It started getting dark and someone on a motorbike was kind enough to offer me a lift but as I'd spent a lot of the day on a bus and I was walking to and back from the volcano as a challenge I declined but I did take my torch out so that I could see better and drivers could see me. The road back was quite long and did go uphill as well for a bit, animals were naking more noise but I didn't see any apart from a frog and the ticket place when I got there was empty. The rest of the walk to town was dark quite a lot and I passed a market, museum and church back at town. I went back to the guesthouse for dinner and had a vegetable curry with rice which was ok but cost a bit more at 26,000. After that I went to an internet place I had seen nearby and it only cost 3,000 for an hour but my phone wouldn't connect to their computers. Afterwards I thought I could have connected by taking the sim card out as they had a slot but it was close to 10 and the place was closing soon and I found out it opens at 10am. I went back to the guesthouse and charged up my phone with all of my different cables to find out which ones worked the best, it seemed a white one was terrible so I ditched it so tht charging should be faster. There were some people that sounded German outside talking in English but it was mainly just one woman talking and seemed like she just wanted to talk about her problems and things which is very boring to me. They left thankfully around 10.30 and I went to sleep about 11. I woke up early but lay in until 7am, then got up bought some breakfast and used the wifi which didn't work in my room or even further into the restaurant. I found that there were trains to Binjai (on the way to Bukit Lawang)and decided to miss the 8am train and catch the 9.30. So I packed up and left and got to the train station with time to spare, the ticket was just 5,000 rupiah. It also had a lot of people getting off and not so many getting on so finding a seat was ok. We went for about 15 minutes when the train stopped and lots of people on the train went to stare out of the windows. The train didn't move for 5 minutes so I went to have a look and a man was sitting down near the track surrounded by people and he had a head wound so it looks like maybe the train hit him. We started moving again and arrived 10 minutes late at Binjai where lots of people were crowding to get on and all the seats went for the return journey.
I went outside and eventually agreed a lift to the bus station for 10,000 as the one nearby went everywhere except where I wanted. The minibus to Bukit Lawang cost 50,000 plus 20,000 for my suitcase and we waited 10 minutes before driving off. It was at least fairly empty which is good but after a few stops it was full and I was a bit squashed. I decided to swap places with my suitcase so that it would be between me and a guy which meant I got the cool breeze of the window but the road had lots of potholes so I had to hold the suitcase steady which got tiring. Thankfully some people got off so I swapped back and it was fine until we had a big bump and something fell off the minivan. The conductor (yes small minibuses gave a conductor) had a look and got back in. We drove a bit more while phone calls were made, and then everyone had to get out and we waited for another minibus. This one already looked full but we somehow managed to squeeze everyone in, I was at the front with 2 other people which was a squash and when someone got out I moved seat to the middle. Then we stopped to somehow get another person to squeeze in. Later the bus started to empty and I ended up on my own at the front when we arrived around midday. There was the usual taxi people and one guide who wanted to talk to me later about trekking and recommended 2 places to stay. The tuk tuks were all expensive for the distance so I started walking and the guide came with a tuk tuk offering a free lift but there wasn't enough space so I declined and carried on walking. 15 minutes later they were back with more space so I accepted their free lift and then agreed to the room at Brown Bamboo guest house as it was a good room even if it cost 70,000 instead of the 50,000 he had said. The guide called Ray wanted to talk and went through the trekking options but they were all quite expensive 45 euro for a 9 to 2pm day trek and 85 euro for a 2 day trek. I wanted to see the town and eat so I headed out and was walking along when soneone called Smiley introduced themselves and said they would show me around for free. So we went around town and they had a monument for the tsunami and some quite nice places but we couldn't see the volcano as it was cloudy. We went back and he took me to a cheap place for food, I asked him a few questions and he said he was from a broken home and didn't have a job but he didn't even consider moving elsewhere and lived at his brothers place. He offered to take me to the waterfall but I decided I'd rather go alone so I went back to get some bug spray and head out when the man from the hotel said the guide wanted to know if I wanted to do the tour. I said no its a bit expensive and went off. In town another guide wanted me to do his tour as he had 2 Canadian girls and he needed 3 people so he asked me to name my price. The 2 day trek costs 85 euro so I was thinking of maybe offering 30 or 40 Euro but even that is not cheap and I didn't have too much time so a 2 day trek would be a problem. I moved on and the path carried on until there was supposed to be a bridge to a orangutan feeding place but the bridge had been washed away. I thought of wading across but decided I'd see the waterfall first and maybe so that later so I carried on for a while past an eco lodge and then the path ended and it was quite rocky which became more slippery, rocky and treacherous. I was doing ok for a while until I slipped down and ended up in the river and got my shoes wet and my shorts as well. I wasn't injured so it was ok and I rested until I stopped shaking. Further along I met a group of guides who wanted to know where I was going and when I told them one said ok you I need to cross the river 4 times, and as I had my swimwear I thought ok. So I soon came to a point where I couldn't carry on walking and got changed to cross the river which I decided to do like a fighter, facing my opponent which meant sidestepping which was quite slow but I had my balance. I made it over half way but then the current was really strong and I was struggling so I decided to go back instead of risking it. I made it back a bit tired and walked upstream along the bank looking for a favourable area and then I was able to cross much easier. After that there was another group of guides and and 2 easy crossings and there was a tourist and some tents for him to sleep in (it looks like the jungle tours don't trek so far). I tried to cross again but the river was too fast so I carried on along the bank but that wasn't so easy so I scrambled across the rocks using my 1 day climbing course experience from a year ago to make it. Eventually I found a place to cross which was still a bit difficult. Again there were tents and a woman sitting there and I was going to continue but the guide asked me where I was going and then said the waterfall us there just behind the tents. So I went to see and it was a really small waterfall which was disappointing but the first part of the walk before the river crossings had been good. I headed back and again some parts were hard, others easy and the last crossing I fell and got quite wet and a bit injured and all for a waterfall which made me think of that TLC song, you know, whats it called, creep yeah after all I had to creep across the river. After that I put my shoes back on and the walk back was easier but it was dark and a big thing came out towards me from the shadows, turned out to be a motorbike. I got back and had a shower and Ray was at the hotel again trying to get me to do the one or 2 day trek but he only offered a small discount as they have to pay fees to the park for the trek apparently whcih is why the cost is so high. I declined the treks and went looking for dinner and as the hotel food cost more than it should, I went elsewhere and had chicken and rice for 15,000. I wanted to see how the bars were and if anyone was out when I ran into Smiley my guide from earlier who wanted to know what I was up to and if I wanted some weed or girls. I said I prefer alcohol so he said he can get a bottle of brandy for 50,000 (£4) so we did that and sat by the river. For a man who wants money from people he really isn't very charming but we wet to a place where they gamble on rolling 3 dice whcih are hidden under a lid and you have to choose numbers like in craps or roulette. I didn't really understand the odds and the betting but I lent/gave Smiley 10,000 and he won so I took 10,000 back and he had 20,000 which he lost with, won with, lost with and had 10k left when we moved on. We went to a couple of places before sitting with two women one of whom was offered to me for sex which I wasn't interested in. We went back after and he got me a bag of rambutan fruit for 5,000 which is good value. I gave him a tip before going to my hotel which was pretty quiet and went to bed after a few emails. We arrived in Medan (capital of Sumatra) around 6am and the bus station was a bit further out than I was hoping for, as usual there were no local buses or information counters (I do miss South America) and there were lots of people with taxis that wanted me to use them. I grabbed my suitcase and crossed the main road and found a minibus who said they were going where I wanted to go which was 3km to the Amelia 2 guest house.
Some other people got on the bus as we went down the road and then we turned towards town which was not the way I wanted and the hosetl was too far so I stayed on the bus and found another more central hotel which we got to 400 metres from and turned so I shouted and then got off. I had a look at some other places nearby but they were expensive so I walked into the Residential hotel which was 44 ringitts a night on the internet but it was at least for a room. When I got there they had a walk in rate of just 80,000 rupiah for the night (less than 30 ringitts), but I had heard bad things about the toilets so I looked at 2 different priced rooms. The more expensive one had a double bed and a TV but the bathroom didn't have a handle to turn the shower on, while the other looked okish but had 2 single beds and as it was cheaper I got that one. I thought about catching up on sleep but decided to make the most of the cooler morning so I had a cheap nasi goreng breakfast with tea for 10k and then went to the grand mosque which was almost next door and I had seen from the roof terrace. The mosque was good but had some construction work and I next went to the grand palace as that was listed in the top things to do in Medan. It looked ok from the outside and as it was 8am I thought it would be closed but it was open so I had a look and it cost 10k entry. I'd seen a church that was unusual on the top things and it was a long walk away so I decided to go there and come back here later, again trying to avoid the midday heat. So I headed off away from the main road and came to a river where people had wooden houses next to and seemed to live basically. One guy was making to pull down his trousers and go to the toilet in the river so I did my best to not look at him as I walked by. Then I wandered through some alleys which had very basixc houses before coming to a main road which I walked along although it was often without a pavement or the pavement was blocked. There were some mosques and a university on the way and as I was walking down one road listening to music there was a girl acting strangely throwing something into the road. I walked past and then suddenly I was surprised and jumped as something big was next to me, it turned out to be the girl who seemed amused that she'd startled me and held my arm briefly as she laughed before skipping away. There were some guys watching and as I walked up to them one tapped the middle of his forehead before saying gila and then translating to crazy. Seems they use the front of the forehead instead of the temple like we do. Near the church on the main road there were people selling second hand shoes. There were lots of them and they put out the shoes on a tarpaulin and then motorbikes would stop to look at them. I got called hey mister so I waved as I walked past. The church was nice, an unusual design said to look like a hindu church but not to me, it had 2 entrance ramps and was nicely decorated and I would say it looked like something you'd see at a theme park. There were lots of people there taking photos but at least no tour buses. I left and headed back walking a slightly different way but there was nothing special and I got to the palace around 1.30, a bit later than I planned. As I was walking in a boy and a girl wanted to talk to me and asked if they could record the conversation, so I said yes and the girl took out her notebook and then asked me a few question like where are you from, why are you here, and the last question I think was what do you think about banking (??). I answered and they took some photos and thanked me and I went to go inside. There was a lot of people there now and for some reason the ticket was 5,000 instead of 10,000, maybe they forgot to charge the foreigner rate. Thr palace you can walk around is pretty small, but there was some information boards so I read them and a girl said hello, where are you from etc. I read a few more boards and was about to leave when the girl came back and wanted my phone number so I gave her my Indonesian number. I went back to the hotel and had some food before having a rest, it was probably close to 3pm by now. I got up around 5 and had a missed call from an Indonesian number but I only had credit for data so I went out to see a museum/mansion I'd forgotten about and was in the top 5 things to do but it was closed and I went to see some other things on the map and headed towards a park. On the way on the other side of the road there was a church with lots of flowers on boards which wrote out messages. Then on my side of the road there was what looked like a married couple signing the marriage resgistration book, so maybe the flower boards were for the wedding. I got to the park and it had peoole playing football and looked ok with flowers and monuments. Then I got stopped by 4 boys, 3 of them called Arif and the other had a different name and they wanted to video me while they asked similar questions to the earlier children. Seems like a local school had set the assignment to interview a foreigner in English so tomorrow I'll be mentioned a few times in class. I went to a shopping mall next and they had some discounted fruits so I tried a mango for just 1,700. I was walking down the road peeling my mango and throwing the skin into bins when out of one of the bins right next to me a big rat jumped out and ran away. I got to another shopping mall opposite a couple of churches and there was a food place I thought would be good for dinner. I went in the mall to see what they had and they had an arcade with some games that were a bit old and they cost 3 to 4 thousand to play which I suppose is ok but it seemed a lot at the time. On the top floor was a stall and they had powerbanks so I bought one which meant I now had 3. I went back outside and the food place had closed even though it was only 8 or so. I headed to a monument which was ok but the area was dark and did look so nice. I headed back looking for food on the way and eventually got some nasi goreng from a stall for 10,000 and I ate it at the hotel. There were no internet places I could find nearby so I tried to plan the next few days on my phone before reading and going to sleep. I got up at 7 and went to the ferry terminal to buy a ticket which I did and they told me to come back before 9.30 at the latest which would make it hard to go to any museums in town as they only open at 9. I went back to the hostel and used the internet a bit before having breakfast and getting all of my things ready. I realised I hadn't sent my postcard yet so I left to do that and by the time I got back it was 9.20 so I got my suitcase and rushed to the ferry terminal.
It was fine that I was a little late and passport control and immigration went ok and the boat seemed empty when I got on. I tried to get a seat with a view but it was really cold from the air con and we all had to fill in Indonesia immigration forms which were written in Malaysian (I think) but the steward helped. The crossing was fairly smooth and they showed some films including Dr Strangelove but the volume was too low so I couldn't follow it. They showed another movie afterwards called the bodyguard but I read and finished my book around the world in 80 days instead. I got my last book out of my suitcase and swapped them and we arrived at Dumai around 12.45, a bit late. People were in a rush to get off and then they were all in a queue but I saw someone go a different way so I followed himand probably could have just walked into Indonesia without getting my passport stamped. As I wanted a 60 day stay however I went back and it seemed I had to queue up which was annoying as I hate queues. I got through and when I said I wanted to stay longer they took me to a separate office where I had to pay the 35 USD for the tourist visa so I paid in ringitts and at least had some change in rupees, 120,000 as it happens. Indonesia is the 50th Country I've been to according to my list. I left through customs after my bags were scanned and there were load of people crowding around trying to get us tourists to take their taxi. A French man on the boat had agreed to 50,000 to take him to town. A motorbike taxi wanted to take me to the bus station but he wanted 300,000 which is way too much, I eventually succumbed as my map didn't show me a bus station and agreed to 10 ringitts to take me to the bus station, I think the other guy also wanted 30,000 Rupiah which is the same as 10 ringitt, but I couldn't tell the difference between 10000 and 100000 as they don't have commas on the notes and I wasn't used to the colours. So I got onto his motorbike with a sidecar and off we went driving on the left whcih was a suprise to me. At one point he was overtaking a slower vehicle similar to his and at the same time a motorbike was overtaking on the left and a car overtook us on the right and this was a two lane, 2 way street. The journey to the bus station turned out to be quite far and his bike broke down when we were 40 metres away but he got it fixed and he drove me to a ticket office where the guy opened up and was selling either a 4.30 or a 7pm bus ticket. I didn't have enough to pay his inflated possibly made up price of 230,000 or 270,000 so I asked for an ATM and the bike driver borrowed a better bike to take me there and I left my suitcase at the office. The ATM was fine and I took out 900,000 so that with my 120,000 I had over 1 million rupees, I was a millionaire. I said I wanted a sim card and we drove on to a shop were I bought an Ooreedoo sim with 1gb of data for 25,000 which meant I now had 995,000 and my 15 minutes of being rich were over. We went back to the bus station where I paid 270,000 for the bus, I should have looked on the internet and got a better deal but for some reason I was feeling generous, I can't explain why I think it happens every time I go to a new Country. The bike man wanted more money and I should have given him less than I did then soon after the bus ticket guy took me on a motorbike to the main road and a shop where the bus would come. I bought some peanuts and had some lunch next door and after I was sitting and was going to read my book but I discovered I had lost it so I got out my kindle instead. Some people sat on the table outside the shop and later they were playing chess so I went and watched and after 2 games I played the winner. It wasn't a good game but I won (appendix 2 to come). The bus came on time at 4.30 and had space for the first hour but the conductor wasn't nice enough to let people sit where they wanted, again I did it anyway. The bus filled up so I moved back and there were people smoking, kids sitting or lying on parents laps including an annoying one behind me and the bus played rubbish music videos way too loud although the locals seemed able to sleep through it. It really wasn't a nice bus ride but it wasn't over air conditioned like Malaysia and neither was the immigration place at Dumai so either they don't like ac as much or they don't have the money for it. The bus switched off the lights later on but kept playing the music all night long so I hardly slept at all especially as there was someone next me, someone sitting in the aisle for a while and a kid behind with grabby hands. We stopped for dinner somewhere but the woman with the food didn't understand the question how much instead she explained what it was. Now if you are ever selling something there is usually 2 things you need to tell people: what it is (they may know) and how much (you could just label it) but I had eaten enough anyway for lunch. The bus was really slow averaging about 30km or 35km an hour and thats not including stops which is how the 500km journey took 13 hours. |
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