Lake Toba Day 2 (part 2)

And so we were headed towards Berastagi. Recently, it dawned on me that I've actually heard of Berastagi before! Guess where? .....From the potatoes in Fairprice! Haha I remember it from grocery shopping with my grandma previously. My grandma has this tendency to ask me where the particular vegetable or fruit is from. I remember seeing Berastagi and, oh..no idea. But now I know it is a part of Indonesia. Random bit of information that I'd like to remember.

Munching on cashew nuts now. How can they taste so nice that I can't stop munching on them. I guess it's cashews over chocolate or chips but it's still unhealthy to overindulge.

We were driven about in a car and not a bus, probably because the group was too small to rent a big bus, so 2 guides drove us and another group of 9 from Singapore around in 2 separate cars. Which was quite a good idea because it was rather comfortable if you exclude sitting on the seat belt buckle.

We stopped at a few points along the way. First up was Simarjarunjung, where we had afternoon tea of goreng pisang and tea.

Here, their rendition of goreng pisang. So different from Singapore's. I just had a small bite and gave my share to my colleagues because I don't really fancy deep fried food anymore. Can't take the taste of oil and my mouth feeling so greasy. Crispy, no doubt, but it was quite a lot of flour added. So I would say I prefer Singapore's version. Trying to think if I still like any fried food so I don't have to end up eating my words, lol. Still can't think of any.

Just had to upload this in light of the current hazy situation. This, I am very sure, was due to the cold and chilly temperatures higher up the mountains, and not due to ehem, slash and burn tactics. The weather was so chilly that I had to don my cardigan, and even that was not enough to keep me warm.

The next destination on the itinerary was the Sipiso Piso Waterfall. To be honest, the waterfall was the thing that made me want to go on the trip. But when we arrived at the waterfall, my expectation literally smashed into pieces. And you'll see why.

This is the waterfall that is considered an attraction to them. Words couldn't describe how disappointed I was. My colleague also felt the same way, cheated to the max. We were practically feeding the huge mosquitoes there. I was all gung ho and decided that I didn't need to buy mosquito repellent spray, but I gave in and borrowed it in the end.

Passed by many plantations such as corn and cabbages and saw many lorries transporting cabbages and other vegetables as well as warehouses storing those vegetables. It was an eye opener, really. I wondered how people living in those areas lived, with the nearest supermarket so far away, think high up the mountains and to get to the city, a long drive is required. What would they do day to day? The roads were so uneven that at times, it felt like a rollercoaster ride in slow motion.

We asked our driver to stop to let us take this photo of the sunset. If you recall, we saw the sunrise, so that makes two! We were really lucky to be able to catch both the sunrise and sunset.

I spent the rest of the journey trying to sleep or pretended to sleep in the hope that I'd really fall asleep. At other times, we bugged the driver to tell us how much longer we'd take. Every time we opened our mouths it'd be 'How long?' Haha and our driver would give us the patronising laugh when it was still quite a distance.

At long last, we reached Berastagi. Our driver dropped us off at the fresh fruit market first.

Super fresh fruits! I bought 500g of strawberries home. I can't remember how much it cost, but it was really cheap. I think at most SGD $3 or $4. It was my favourite place, to be surrounded by so many fruits! We bought 300g to share as supper, and I bought cherry tomatoes to snack on in the car. I loved the temperature in Berastagi. It was rather cool because it was higher up compared to Parapat.

We had dinner right after we reached the hotel. Buffet style so no prizes for guessing what I took most of. Hahaha.

Our hotel room was really big and nice with a high ceiling. I preferred the Berastagi hotel more because there was air con, or was it the natural air con? I really can't remember now.

So this marks the end of day 2!

Lake Toba Day 2 (part 1)

On a holiday like such, you'd think one would be able to wake up late, laze in bed a little before getting up for breakfast. But nooooooooo! I have no idea why I woke up at the crack of dawn without the aid of an alarm. It was probably because the weather was too warm in the middle of the night. I remember myself perspiring, yet in the morning, it was so cold. Anyhow, since we got up early, we got out of our rooms to catch the sunrise!

At the risk of sounding like a noob, I'm actually not very sure how a sunrise should look like. The sun kind of kept disappearing, so we just saw the orange streaks of light through the clouds. There was another area that was better for watching the sunrise, but it's quite a distance from where we were so we decided to make do with what we could see.

What I managed to capture. It really was quite amazing, watching the sky turn from pitch black to what you see in the photos. The only thing was that it was really quite chilly, and I regretted just bringing a cardigan instead of my very warm jacket.

Took a bath and headed for breakfast.

The breakfast table. No fancy waffles or croissants, just plain white bread, noodles, fried rice, fried eggs and jam.

Skipped the rice and noodles and settled for the bread and fruits. The bread was a little denser compared to Singapore's. I don't know if that's the standard, but I wasn't really used to it. Had lots of fruits during the trip cos they serve fruits after every meal. And for breakfast, it was unlimited so..muahahaha.

Admiring the view of the once-used-to-be volcanoes. Can you believe those mountain-like hills once used to be part of a volcano? I never once ceased being amazed at nature while I was there.

Just the outlines because the sun was shining so brightly. I thought this was a nice artistic shot.

And it was time to set off for our day tour to the other parts of the island. We arrived at Tomok village. Thankful to have a guide who was so entertaining. He could speak English well and he speaks a little Mandarin. He told us so many jokes. I was really impressed and entertained!

At the entrance of Tomok village. There were 5 types of Batak people. I can't remember the names of all of them, but one type was called Batak Toba, another was Batak Ppak Ppak or something like that.

And the distinct roof of the houses in Lake Toba, or Samosir Island, I should say. It looks like a sampan right? It is to remember their ancestors who arrived on sampans. Hahaha the guide was saying that in future, the roofs will look like aeroplanes because people arrive on airplanes now. And he said it so convincingly with a poker face, which made it all the more funnier.

Trying to stand like the man, obviously not succeeding. The pieces of cloth at the back are to be draped on the right shoulder as a form of respect when visiting tombs, like we did when we visited the tomb of the kings.

There, we visited the ancient tomb of King Sidabutar (got it from the itinerary, you didn't think that I memorised it right! Hahaha). But no photos because I was afraid of taking photos of tombs. According to the guide, they carved the king's face onto the stone. If it's true, the kings really had nice features. The tour guide was so entertaining that he made such a seemingly ordinary visit quite an enjoyable one.

Then it was souvenir shopping time. I really didn't see anything that was worth buying. Keychains tend to be the norm for souvenirs but I kind of find it pointless. Yes it shows that the person thought of you while overseas or just simply included you when buying in bulk. Also, it becomes an obligation since others know that you'll be going overseas and expect something. I don't know what my point is here but I just want to say that I won't buy things in excess just to give away. It's only when I see something and know that the other party will like it that I buy it for them. Yet, I also understand the disappointment when one doesn't receive any souvenir, that's why I'm always in a dilemma, to buy for the sake of buying or to just not give?

Okay end of rant.

I guess I was probably overdressed in a midi skirt but I was afraid of getting stung by mosquitoes and some colleagues told me that it could be could so I packed long dresses and long skirts. And there, the glorious sun was with us most of the time. I was thankful mostly, for the warm weather because it beats having rain and the hassle of umbrellas. Anyway, it was my favourite midi skirt from ttr! I love the row of buttons at the side though it might not be obvious to anyone but yours truly. Hahaha.

Next stop was Ambarita Village to see the stone chairs and execution place of King Siallagan. Well, the chairs didn't seem like anything special, just that it was the place where the people of authority sat to mete out punishments to the criminals.

The stone chairs

At the execution site with the stick. It's a stick only held by the people of authority okay! Haha but now its just an intricately carved piece of wood. The workmanship is really superb. I saw a man carving it by hand along the streets.

It was really a sad sight, villagers peddling their tourist wares like tee shirts, key chains, bracelets of sorts, really begging you to buy it from them, coming onto our ferry to peddle their goods to us. I touched a bracelet randomly without any intention to buy it and was quoted 20,000 rupiah if I remember correctly, I refused politely and the owner told me, 10,000 rupiah. I refused again, and the owner, thinking that I found the price too steep, reduced it to 8000, and gradually to just 5000 rupiah. At that point, I simply walked away because I didn't know what to say any more. I keep finding excuses for myself such as right now I'm not well off financially, have a lot of debts to pay off, many commitments. But at the end of the day, the bottom line is that I refused to help them, thinking that one day, when I earn big bucks, I will be able to give without feeling the pinch. Thinking back upon that incident, I really should have just bought the bracelet, though I had no practical use for it at all. All I could do was shake my head and give them an awkward smile, leaving them disappointed.

Ended the tour and we were driven back to Parapat for lunch. Lunch was the usual. Our guide told us we'd be having lunch in a restaurant that served Chinese food, so we expected something different. But when the tomato fish came out, we knew it was going to be the same old, same old. After lunch, we proceeded on a 5 hour drive to Berastagi. The thought of sitting in the car for 5 hours was crazy.

I'll end day 2 part one here and do part 2 in a separate post because this is getting a little too long. Not that many pictures but I really took super long to complete this post.

Lake Toba, Medan Day 1

During the Good Friday long weekend, I went to Lake Toba with my colleagues. We bought a groupon deal so everything was already arranged for us. We just had to be there physically. Actually honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the trip since it isn't the typical tourist destination like Korea, Japan, or even Thailand. It's Indonesia and not even the more touristy islands like Bali. I was just looking forward to having a break and looking at nice scenery. I was happy to be taking a plane, even if it was only for an hour. Somehow, taking a plane makes me feel like I'm really getting out of Singapore, unlike taking coaches or ferrys.

Our flight was in the morning at 7am, so we had to be at the airport at about 5. Thankful to my parents for waking up at such an unearthly hour and driving me there and waiting with me till my colleagues arrived. I felt really blessed and loved.

We arrived in Medan at about 9am, there is a one hour time difference between Singapore and Indonesia, as in Indonesia is one hour ahead of Singapore, so I always felt that we have more time over there, and that it's still early even when the time was 11pm on my phone.

It was a first for me to arrive at an airport that doesn't look like an airport at all. We had to take a bus from where the plane landed to the immigration counters. It was such an experience. To get to lake Toba, we first had to travel to Parapat, which is 3 or 5 hours by car. I was shocked at the amount of time spent travelling. Moreover, there wasn't much that can be done when you're in a car. I was really terribly bored.

Stopped by a restaurant for lunch. Food is important to me, I guess my mum knows this very clearly. I'll always tell her that food that is not nice will just be a waste of stomach space to me. And I realised, in Medan at least, once you've eaten it once, you've tried it all. Every meal, it's the standard fare and I can predict what we will have every meal.

Our first meal. I think I ate the most fish among all of us the entire trip. It's always the usual vegetables, fish in tomato sauce and fried chicken.

Old school glass drink bottles which we seldom get to see in Singapore, but such commonplace overseas. More environmentally friendly but less hygienic I guess.

After more time in the car and driving past rubber plantations that I didn't get to take photos of, we finally arrived in Parapat. It's not touristy or anything, just people going on with their daily lives. We then learnt from our driver that we have to take a ferry to Samosir island which is in the middle of lake Toba. There was a queue for the ferry that ferries the cars over and we would have to wait 3 hours in the queue. I almost fainted from the thought of waiting another 3 hours, but he was nice to give us the option to take the ferry across ourselves. He paid for our tickets across and communicated with the people to bring us to our resort.

Our ride across the lake! It's painted with such bright colours.

Children singing to provide entertainment. At the end of their performance, they came around with open palms asking for tips. It's actually very sad, these kids with bright futures ahead of them having to ask for tips. Something that was always on my mind the entire time was what would I do if I were in their shoes. If I were in their shoes, I'd probably wallow in despair because of the situation I was in, trapped in the cycle of poverty and unable to change that fact no matter how hard I work or how hard I study.

What I went there for. It's nice to look at these photos now, now that I don't remember exactly how I took the photo. We were seated at the open deck, which was unfortunately also where the smokers were seated. We had to endure the cigarette smoke for the most part of the journey. See the lush mountain looking thing in the background? That is part of the volcano that erupted. Can you imagine that? lake Toba was formed when a volcano erupted, and that lake is so wide, so huge, so can you imagine how huge the volcano was? So amazed by nature that it was actually unbelievable until I saw it myself. I understood what my friend said when she 'wow' was the only word she used to describe her experience.

The land and the lake.

Approaching our lodging, Samosir villa resort. I was surprised by how nice it looked. It does sound like I'm kind of cynical because really, I didn't know what to expect after travelling for 4 hours by car and taking in the sights. Exceeded my expectations by so much.

They stopped by this 'pond' to let other passengers alight. I actually spotted small fishes in the pond.

The leaving ferry with the children who I assume live on Samosir island or Parapat.

Happy to finally reach our destination! I think it was already 4pm. The weather is just like Singapore's. I wore jeans in case it'd be cold but it wasn't at all. And yes, that was all I brought! A backpack and my red longchamp tote.

Swimming pool that I couldn't swim in because I didn't bring my swimsuit. My colleagues decided to go for a swim after checking in.

The dining area which was bright and airy.

Our room was huge and we even had a balcony (that we didn't use at all).

This looks like an alternative exit but the it was blocked.

While they took a swim, I took a walk outside the resort with another colleague who didn't want to swim as well. The roads are comparatively unsafe because there isn't exactly a pavement, and cars can come very close to you, in both directions if I recall correctly.

Dinner! We were served chicken soup but I barely touched it. It was soaking in oil and my colleague kind of liked it and offered to finish up mine for me so food wasn't wasted. Muahaha and you see the familiar tomato fish again, strategically placed right in front of me (no it was just a coincidence and by pure luck, haha)

Took a walk again after dinner and had magnum ice cream. It's so cheap in Indonesia. If you're in Indonesia and have very high metabolism please eat this everyday! As usual, I chose the one with the lowest calories, which was the chocolate truffle. Explored the area around our resort and I also found shawls in the nicest colour combinations which I bought without hesitation for my mum and grandma.

There, the vibrant colours of the shawl. I was tempted to buy one for myself too but I knew it would have been a waste since I don't use them at all. After all, I can borrow it from my mum or grandma, right?:)

This marks the end of day 1. We spent the rest of the night playing Saboteur that I brought. It's my new favourite game. I like that it's secretly scheming, and how you need to look at all aspects, how the others are behaving, their facial expressions, the cards they view, the pathways they build.

Day 2 is coming up soon!