The world’s largest crater lake Lake Toba is our stop today. We made an agreement with a company that transports tourists from our Medan city to Lake Toba, and we paid Rp 70,000 and settled in an air-conditioned and comfortable car.
Let me tell you about something I noticed on Sumatra Island.. Almost all settlements were established on the road.. We encountered almost no empty space on these intercity roads.. Since the roads are narrow and
crowded as we pass through houses and settlements, we experienced the same traffic problem in the city on the intercity road.. Trucks, buses, cars and motorcycles sometimes present a hazard as they overtake each other on a single-lane road.. It’s not a very safe road, but we didn’t have any problems because our driver drove it very slowly and safely.. A few trucks and buses overtaking us, and some large vehicles coming from the opposite lane, made us go off the road from time to time.. After a long journey of five hours instead of three hours, we reached the town of Parapat, where the ferry pier built on the edge of Lake Toba is located.
In Parapat, we took the last ferry to Samosir Island on Lake Toba Lake.. Ferry fee Rp 7,000. Half an hour later, when it was dark and raining, we landed on the island.. We were just starting to walk when we got drenched by the suddenly accelerating rain and threw ourselves into a nearby hotel.. We were lucky, our hotel named Bagus Bay turned out to be much better than we expected.. The Australian-run hotel had a large and tastefully decorated beautiful garden and a choice of budget-friendly rooms.. We booked a room for Rp 50,000.
We rented a motorcycle with friends from Germany named Swiss Valentine, 2 German teenagers and Liz, who stayed at the same hotel with us the next morning and met at the restaurant in the evening.. While the motorcycle rental fees in Indonesia were 35-50,000 Rp, the price given to us here was 70,000 Rp with a full tank of fuel.. Since there were not many options, we could only reduce the price to 65,000 by bargaining.
After riding our motorcycles together for the first 15 minutes, when they lingered in one place, we broke up with Farid and hit the road.. On this road that extends from the lakeside, you can see the magnificent lake view as well as the Batak-style buildings and churches or churches built every 100 meters.. Although Muslims are predominantly in Indonesia, there are people of Christian and Hindu and Buddhist religions.. But the mentality always seems to be the same; In other words, it was said that there are close to 20,000 temples in Bali, which is Hindu, and there is a temple in the garden of every house.
In areas where Muslims are densely populated, such as Java, Madura, Lombok Island and Sumatra, there is a mosque or masjid every 100 meters. you can see. Again, you can see monuments attributed to religion, signboards, cloth posters and people trying to collect money by putting up signs on the road with flags in their hands and trying to collect money. you can see a church or monuments built in the name of Christianity even if it is not a church. I have never seen such Christian structures anywhere.. Concrete structures with a cross at the top, built in the middle of the field, were built to glorify religion.. Does not have any function. There is a race to build a kind of religious temple in the country.
Batak buildings, on the other hand, are remarkable.. For some reason, I liken them to boats, they have steep and high roofs.. The roofs of buildings made of wood are covered with sheet metal and most are rusted.. High stairs to the top floor from outside and sometimes inside.
It was relatively one of the cleanest places in Indonesia.. We were able to see less here, with most sweat houses and rubbish together. We rode our motorcycles on the road parallel to the lake for about an hour.. Our aim is to go to the natural hot water source called the hot spring.. After asking and investigating, we finally arrived at the hot spring.. There is the smell of sulfur in the air. We reached the source by walking for five minutes.. It is difficult to even dip your hand in the boiling hot water gushing from the rocks from the waterfall style.. Whereas, we were waiting for the pools on Mount Rinjani Mountain in Lombok Island.. For Rp 10,000, we spent 45 hours relaxing in one of the pools.. With the sudden rain, we threw ourselves to a place with a pleasant view on the hill and watched the rain and the lake, and then returned to our hotel.
When we returned to the hotel, we found out that Liz, one of our friends with whom we started our motorcycle trip in the morning, had an accident and that the other friends spent all their time to take her to the hospital. We learned that they spent the day without seeing anything.. Liz, who survived the accident with grazes and scratches on her chin, arms and legs, had to pay Rp 1,200,000 to the motorcycle owner for damage.
While we were having our dinner at the hotel, we watched Batak songs and shows held at the hotel 2 days a week for an hour.. It was quite fun and interesting. I don’t know enough about the Batak culture, but when you see their clothes, songs and dances, maybe the first thing that comes to your mind will be Native Americans or Mexican Indians.. Even the clothing patterns and styles are similar. They took us to dance together. They greet each other with “horas”.
Samosir Island on Lake Toba is an island the size of Singapore, 100 km long and 30 km wide, with magnificent natural beauties.. It is also the largest crater lake in the world.. A lake among the mountains covered with lush dense forests and a huge island on the lake. a place worth seeing. Thus, I saw another “Best” of the world.. When I get the chance, I’ll make a list of these “Mosts” I’ve visited.
Day 396, ID:53, Samosir Island, Lake Toba, Sumatra. Sunday, September 4, 2011
