Berastagi and Lake Toba

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Onwards to Berastagi seeking some peaks.. We lugged our bags back downstream to the main part of the village ready to leave the amazing Bukit Lawang and yet again stopping for a photo with the locals! We had to take a "opolot" (motorbike and side cart) to the local bus station where we then opted for a public minibus to Medan. The minibus was hot, cramped and literally falling apart on the bumpy pot holed road. In true Indonesia “Chicken bus” style it was drastically overloaded as we picked up various aged locals from 5 to 105 years old!! At one point we had 17 people cramped into the rusty 11 seater minibus! Still it was a fun experience and we soon arrived in Medan’s Pinang Baris bus terminal where we changed for a large public bus. We expected another close encounter with many of the locals but fortunately we had a bit of a spacey journey up the Kapo highlands to Berastagi. As we have found in many places in SE Asia, Indonesians too have problems understanding personal space with the guy behind Nik shoving his worn feet through her chair and constantly prodding her back! Nik, calm at first, but gradually building in anger politely told him to move his feet but that didn’t stop him poke his piggies into her back. Consequently we swapped places and he soon hid his feet when I sat there!. We arrived at Berastagi’s Cabbage Monument and soon headed to find accommodation. Berastagi wasn’t that pretty with a main high street of crumbling buildings and not really much there other than numerous curious locals. Still though we found accommodation and took a quick stroll around a market close by. Possibly the people of Berastagi hadn’t seen a Ginger woman before because throughout our short trip in town Nik was constantly stared at! So much so it did make you feel a little uncomfortable but I’m sure it was only curiosity. It sort of felt like we were well known celebrities as people stopped, stared and nudged the pal urging them to stare too! We put our best smiles on for the locals who happily smiled back. Yet because Berastagi town itself isn’t that entertaining, we chilled at our hotel for the evening, recuperating ready for the areas real entertainment the following day.. To climb a volcano!

At 2094m abs Mt Sibayak is Berastagi's second highest peak, one of the many active volcanoes in the Karo highlands of Sumatra and visible from Berastagi's main strip. We set off early morning to scale it with only a hand drawn A4 map of the route! The route to the top was quite simple because you follow a hilly and winding road up for much of the way. Nik would say otherwise because she struggled to get going, still aching from our trek in Bukit Lawang! The further up our ascent the better the view over the surrounding peaks of the Karo Highlands and agricultural land. We had heard of muggings along the remote paths and were hesitant to follow directions from a local halfway up, but after a quick look at our basic map we took the steps to the top that he suggested then soon enough we were at the peak. We expected it to be cold so we bought our fleeces, it was anything but with the sun shining strong at the top. The eggy sulphuric stench was strongest here with the open crust bellowing out smoke in various spots. Once we had passed the vegetation line we could see the yellow sulphuric stains on the volcanic rocks. The crator lake was incredible, its chalky looking pale blue waters was the centre-piece of the smoking giant and we couldnt believe it when we saw a local walk passed us with white stained clothes and carrying a bag of sulphiric mud from the lake! We met a German guy called George at the top and shared the views with him over some lunch at the highest accessible point. The view was definetly worth the trip as we could clearly see the larger Mt Sinabung puffing away in the distance as well as steep hillsides moving the eye to the lower cultivated farmland. We relaxed at the top, yet cautious of the thick cloud attempting to climb over the valley and volcano side. We opted for a difficult route down for a change of scenery which was at times slippery, overgrown and longer than we had expected. Neverthless it was a nice change to duck and dive through the vegetation and down some 2600 old steps compared to a walk back on the tarmac road! Nik enjoyed photographing the bamboo forest near the bottom and soon after we had successfully and safely scaled Sibayak. The hotsprings at the bottom offered a very welcomed relax and a perfect reflection of our achievement with a good view of the peak starting to cloud over from the hot waters. We were met by our Dutch friends at the hot pool and managed to get a free lift to the main road to Berastagi. Here we signalled down a public bus and bundled our way on and sat squashed for the short ride back to our hotel.

7th May
Quickly on to Lake Toba and back in the cramp and sweaty public buses for our 7 hour journey including multiple changes. Sounds like fun!?!.. Well its either that or pay 5x the price to charter your own bus. We opted for the cheaper bus to save money, besides, its part of the Indonesian experience! So we set off from Berastagi with fully stodged bellies from crumpet-like pancakes with peanut butter bought from the local market and plenty of stairs from locals waiting to be picked up by dumper trucks for work. We took a short hop to a place called Kapanjahe where we immediately changed to a small public bus and sat cramped on the backseat with windows wide open. Lots of men walked passed and stared at Nik, one even grabbed her arm as we left! The journey was hard, we were stuck in the same position with zero leg room and heating up from the lack of air every time the bus stopped to drop off and pick up passengers. the "road" was particularly terrible for about an hour with the area of potholes out numbering useable road. Still we made it to our next change at a place called Sientar. The town was very dirty and when disembarking the bus we were confronted by numerous men asking "weh you goh in"! Fortunately a local on our previous bus helped us to the correct stop. We waited for 45 minutes in grubby Sientar where poor Nik had to put up with bum pinching, a man sitting right next to her just for a stare and other locals begging for money, her necklace and eventually Nik gave in to let them have some snacks/transport rations! We got in a tiny minibus for our final leg to Parapat with myself Nik and our German friend George squashed on the back seat next to an old Dutch lady, all dripping with sweat. unfortunately the old lady who now lives at Lake Toba could speak English and didn't stop talking throughout the journey. By this point after the long tough trip I struggled to make conversation and so politely grunted or looked away so she stopped talking! She didn't! And continued to give us useless information about "fax machines" at the post office or something! Only an overturned lorry spilling its logs kept her quite for a minute! Finally we travelled on the lakeside road with a view of the very beautiful lake Toba and soon enough we arrived at Parapat. Lake Toba is a super volcano crater lake. Its eruption was similar in size to that of Yellowstone in the US. Large forested crater walls surround the lake and the centre point "island" (Well ok, slightly connected to the mainland) Samosir, is the remains of another large eruption over 100,000 years ago. We planned to stay at Tuk Tuk on Samosir and so took a ferry there from Parapat. On the ferry hotel workers offer there accommodation in an attempt for your money. However still bruised from the bus journey we were happier just to relax and enjoy a bit of leg room! Once a travellers hot spot, Tuk Tuk is now a peninsula of Samosir with empty hotel rooms offering an eerie feel as we arrived. Nevertheless there was life further eastwards along Tuk Tuk and we stayed at Samosir Cottages to relax and enjoy the beautiful lake surroundings for the next few days. The rooms were dirt cheap, costing 40,000/2 pound 60 a night. A luring price, but the hotels actually make there money from expensive food, internet and laundry, so we used such amenities outside of the resort. We relaxed by the lake early evening and me and George went for a swim in the choppy waters. As the sun set the sky became a disco light, with clouds continuously projecting various colours such as green, red, purple and orange. It was absolutely amazing! The rest of our evening was used to wind down our battered bodies from the journey with some good grub and Batak (local culture) wine.

The following day Nik and I just relaxed in our resort, spending much of the day enjoying the clear lake waters, green hill side and explosive white clouds float passed. We watched yet another wizardry sun set display with an illumination of colours fading into the night sky and then went for dinner at a fish farm with all our friend from Berastagi. We shared a "!Goldfish!" and a Lake Toba fish full of spices. The cook meticulously barbecued our fish for almost two hours! The result, a lot of time playing cards hungry for food and then a succulent goldfish similar in taste to Cod!

9th May - The story of Ben, Nik and George's Moped Adventure.
Ok... parents and loved ones - before you read this, safety was our main aim. We were unhurt and you shouldn't be alarmed by this this story!!!
...It all started on a warm sunny day at Lake Toba. Nik George and I took out 2 mopeds together for exploring the sights around Samosir and Lake Toba. Having never ridden a bike before we slowly and carefully made our way along the beautiful lakeside road with hills to the left, rice fields below and the tranquil morning waters of Lake Toba to our right. On a relaxed ride we stopped at numerous places such as "stone chairs," where Batak elders discussed important matters 100's of years ago, a Batak museum where day tripping Indonesians were more concerned about photographing us than exploring their country's heritage and also a nice stop for a drink at a cool lakeside location. Afterwards we slowly made our way to the west of the island (so slowly infact that 13 year old girls wizzed passed on their scooters) for lunch. We all seeked a better view of the lake and made a decision to head for Samosirs peaks for some panoramic views over Lake Toba and so set off uphill on roads that were completely ripped apart! The ride was incredibly bumpy and Nik on the back of my bike often jumped from her seat. Along the terrible roads we found the panoramic views that we had wished for and headed further uphill and eastbound back home to Tuk Tuk. However our handrawn map of the island was an insuffient resource for understanding the complex routes at Samosir's summit. Subsequently we took numerous wrong turns down worsening roads and with only buffalo or boar to ask of a direction we had no chance fo finding home! My petrol was also dwindling from the steep climb and so Nik swapped onto Georges bike to save some vital feul. With no indication of a correct route we resorted to tossing a coin at cross roads and ended up heading further in the wrong direction. the roads turned into boulder and our automatic moped struggled to rev over them. Lost on a desolate hillside with an empty petrol tank and no way home, we decided to press on hoping to find a trail and still in good mood with enough time to get back, but unfortunately taking wrong turn after wrong turn! We ended up down a swamp like road used by logging trucks, so the deep muddy tracks were the toughest terrain yet and at numerous points we had to get off our peds and drag the bikes through the wet earthy mud! Still at half 4 it was a laughable situation particularly when Nik broke her muddied flip flops in a deep squelch. However time soon passed and our moped was supposed to be back by 5pm. With the sun starting to fade and no sign of civilization only the Mekaks swinging in the trees and howling seemed to be finding our situation funny! I was the first to panic!.. We had a glimour of hope when a logging truck went by as we struggled to drive our moped through the mud. They told us we had 15km to home so there was no point in turning back. We thought we were on the correct track taking a better road rapidly down the hill side, thinking we were saved we briskfully rode down, enjoying the views as we went and with our engines off to conserve our limited petrol. Yet when turning a corner a gate blocking entry to a quarry prevented any escape. We turned back into the jungle finding what we thought was a sign left by the truckers for a correct route back. Only this lead us deeper into the jungle on a smaller trail. At around 6:00pm Nik and Geroge slipped off their bike but werent hurt as they were going very slow over the rocky road, but they were just a little more panicky of our exacerbating situation. My petrol was below the red and even under the E sign for empty. It beckoned on us that we were going to have to spend the night in the jungle.... Then a miracle happened. After not seeing anyone for hours an angel appeared on a moped! A messenger from god - by the name of Arianje! This kind Indonesian man who spoke good English found us in the middle of a jungle trail, he syphoned is full tank of petrol, gave some to us and was happy to show us the path back to Tuk Tuk now 30 km away. He stopped at every junction for us to show the correct route off the hillside. We were so lucky because one minute we were preparing for a night in the jungle, the next we were on our way back to civilization! We made a long, winding descent taking it very slowly on the terrible terrain and night time conditions. 10 meters before a better road Nik and I toppled our bike, but were barely evening going so werent hurt at all. Finally we saw people! and were semi-relieved that we might just be saved, by our angel! On the long journey downhill we sarcastically admired the beatuiful "night time" views of which we had craved for in the day time. The 12 hour ride of which 7 was on terrible roads was taking its toll, particularly on Nik's bum, but we were getting closer to home.! Back on the flat we found our "angel" Arianja and gave him 100,000 ruppiah of which he replied "This is too much" overwhelmed by our offer. It was only 6 pound between us and we were just relieved to be back! At 8:30pm we finally arrived home safe and completely fine. We had to pay extra for being back late and making the bike very dirty but the owners were very comforting and understanding especially as Nik had no shoes and was covered in mud and we were both slightly shaken from it all .. We laughed about it over food in the evening, thinking about where we could have been sleeping had we not have been saved.!!!

The next day we recouperated from our journey by the lake. We also walked to a few shops and were mobbed by numbers of teenagers wanting to practice their English with simple conversation. A few asked what religion I was and were shocked with my answer then tried to convert me to a Batak Christian! The tarmac road was hot and with no flip flops and shoes drying from a muddy wash I had to sooth my boiling barefeet. Nik however continued to be mobbed having to take a picture with each person seperately and taking ages! In the evening we had our last meal with our friend George having shared a lot with him over the past few days. I tried catfish, fresh from the fishtank at the front of the restaurant. 3 days of travelling to come.

Pictures to follow when we have time to put up. They are a must see for the bike riding conditions!!!

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