THE old jeep was leaving Blangkejeren, a small town on Lembah Leuser, when the ground was still wet with morning dew. Aswan, the driver and owner of the Toyota, deftly negotiated the long, winding road. The car he bought in Medan three years ago roared on into Dusun Gajah through the Simpang Badak intersection on a part of the Ladia Galaska road that rises steeply up skirting the ridges of the Leuser mountain.

Now and then the jeep crossed paths w