Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: Sumatra

It is very interesting being back in Indonesia after 23 years but this part of Indonesia is very different from Java, Bali and Lombok where we traveled before when Pamela was 4 and Peter 21 was months (duapulu satu bulan).

Our 40 minute flight from KL to Medan was delayed for over 3 hours. We had a tedious wait in KL airport and arrived in Indonesia in the early evening. We caught a crowed and run-down local bus into town then a becak to the hotel. Yes, we were back in developing Asia – crazy transport and horrific traffic on bumpy roads. I was in the sidecar with the luggage and Bob was riding pillion on the back of the motorcycle.

Becak loaded up with school girls

The becak driver didn’t know where our hotel was so we had him drop us off near where Google maps said it was and ‘jalan jalan’ around the block until we found the entrance. The hotel had lovely Wayang puppets decorating the walls of the atrium. It was good to see these iconic symbols of Indonesia.

Wagang puppet figures on the wall

We went out on the streets for dinner and it was wonderfully vibrant. Buskers came to sing in the restaurants and cafes. We had a fantastic dinner of Indonesian food in a fantastic, energetic atmosphere.

Singing for the punters

Sadly, we had to leave Medan the next morning for our long drive to Lake Toba in the middle of the island of Sumatra. Sumatra is a large island with lots of ethnic groups, wild animals (Sumatran Tiger, etc) and jungle; but as is the way of most wild spots is being is being 'developed' and the wild animals are near extinction. The entire coastal fringe has given way to Palm Oil Plantations - it is even worse in Malaysia. However as one moves in land more and more of the jungle survives. We had a 5 hour drive from Medan on very congested roads to Parapat and then a 40 minute ferry ride to our destination on Lake Toba.

Parapat from the hillside

Leaving Parapat

Our ferry

Lake Toba is a huge, fresh water volcanic lake in the caldera of a supervolcano. The eruption of this supervolcano 75,000 years ago was thought to be the cause of the last ice age. The lake is the largest volcanic lake in the world and measures 100 km by 30 km. In the middle of the lake is Samosir Island where we are staying in a small town with the cute name of Tuk Tuk located on a peninsula jutting into the lake. The island itself is quite large (5th largest lake island) and measures 44km by 19 km.

Our hotel, Toba Village Inn

The view from our balcony

One day we hired a motorcycle and drove to the northern tip of the island. It was very scenic; lots of little villages, vistas over the lake, rice paddies, water buffalo and lush tropical vegetation. At the northern tip was a lovely sandy beach. We didn't have our swimmers so had to content ourselves with wading in the shallows. The water was crystal clear and very warm. A tethered water buffalo was wallowing in the shallows along with us.

Lush fields

Batu Hoda Beach

The foreshore was covered in wild flowers

Our fellow wallower

Two days later again we rented a motor scooter and this time circumnavigated the island. We were going to cross over the island through the mountains until we saw the state of the road. It was just much too rough for our bike and our bums. So we took the much longer route around the island. Even staying on the main road for the island the trip was very rough in spots and after six hours on the bike we were definitely suffering from ‘numb bum’. However this was more than made up for by the scenery: wonderful vistas of the lake, green fields, pine forests, waterfalls, steep hillsides, lush fields stretching to the water, little villages and bustling markets.