Medan-Lake Toba Trip 13-18 Sept 2012

I got a cheap ticket for this trip. This was my second trip to Indonesia. I went to Jakarta and Bandung on my first trip. I hope I will be able to post in the blog about my trip to Jakarta and Bandung before. This time I went with my colleague from the same company that I worked. We took flight from Penang International Airport and about 15 minutes we reached Medan International Airport. This was the old airport and now the AirAsia will stop at Kualanamu International Airport.

 

Tak panas bontot pun sudah sampai :D

My friend and I took photos after we disembarked from the plane, however when we queued at the immigration counter, there were few guys were questioned because of taking photo around the airport. So please be aware, no photos around the airport. We just keep quiet and luckily they didn't catched us. Out from the immigration, we went out to look for transportation to the hotel. Since we reached Medan in the evening, its is recommended to stay overnight in Medan before departed to Lake Toba. We stayed in Hotel Polonia and the hotel provide free transport from the airport to hotel. The hotel was good but not so quiet since the location is along the busy street. We went to the near shopping complex to have our dinner. I found out that there is not so much variety on food in Medan compared to Bandung or maybe I do not know the place well. Luckily the hotel comes with the free breakfast buffet. I stuffed myself with lots of food before the start the journey to Lake Toba. I know the journey will take about 4-5 hours and its not going to be smooth journey. I met few people who just came back from their trip to Lake Toba. All of them give bad review, some said its like 4 hours riding on the horse..Can you imagine that? some even suggested me to cancel the trip. 

After the checkout from the hotel, we looked for our transportation to get us to Lake Toba. They have this private taxi using MPV like Innova (they call Kijal there), use mostly by local to get to lake Toba. After asked around we managed to get the seat. We mixed with local people in the Kijal and the fare is cheap. I cant remember how much was that but I think it was about RM20 or so. 

 

Inilah Kijal yang kami naiki

 

Ni lah rupa jalan yang dilalui, zig-zag all the way

We departed around 12 o'clock from Medan and about 4 o'clock we reached Parapat town. The last boat to Lake Toba was 6 o'clock, so if you reach later than that you will have to stay overnight in Parapat town. It took us about 1 hour and 30 minutes from the Perapat jetty to our chalet. On the way, we observed the beautiful scenery of Lake Toba and praise Allah the Almighty of his powerful event that created this beautiful lake. Its very huge and serene. 

 

 

At Parapat Jetty, all aboard now

 

Me on the boat, cruising over the Lake Toba

 

Beautiful Scenery

The boat will stopped at a few places around the Samosir Island. The Samosir island is the biggest island inside the Lake Toba.  Majority of the people who lived here are from Batak ethnic. There are a lot of Batak house around the island and you can tell then from their distinctive roof shape. The boat will stop right in front of the chalet that you stayed. We boat stopped directly in front of the Samosir cottage where we stayed.

 

Rumah biar buruk, tapi ada astro tau.

 

   I found out it is quite hard to find halal food here. There are few restaurants near the cottage but they serve pork and beer as well. For the dinner we tried this Popi' Original Batak Sauce Grill Fish. 

This restaurant is just a walking distance from the hotel that we stayed. We order the Grilled fish only, and we really need to wait to hours to get our fish. Oh my goodness! We enjoyed the evening view, sunset and after that we were accompanied by the mosquitoes and cat.

 

the 2 hours grilled fish.. pengsan

We take a rest that night before heading for our tomorrow's adventure. Since there are only me and my friend, we decided to rent a motobike only to get us around. If you have move company it is recommended to hire a car. You can go to many places with cars. And its good if you travels with guys too, to be safe. We don't dare to travel very far sue to worry about our safety.  

Our first destination was Stone Chair of King Sialagan. Before we reach this place I stopped at one of their village. The rear pig at the bottom of their house. Their wooden house is made of 2 layer. The top one is for them to stay and the bottom one where they rear animal. I can see piglets running around the house. I quickly move, scared the piglet might come to me.

 

Not in Malaysia

 

Traditional Batak house

 

Tempat untuk di pasung

 

Tempat di mana hukuman di beri dan di jalankan

I went to several places, but I can't remember the name of those place. Since I am running out of time, I just share the photos here and highlight anything from it. After visiting Lake Toba, we went to Berastagi for 1 day. We went to the fruit market and sightseeing only.

 

Merempit

 

Pergi sini

 

Beautiful view

 

Shopping for Souvenier

 

Shopping fruits in Berastagi

In overall, it was nice experience. It is recommended for people who love nature, but not suitable for the kids. Halal food is scarce. And I don't like cigarette smoke which you can inhale abundantly here. Ok, been to Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Lake Toba and Berastagi.. Next destination maybe Bali?? :D