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Published: June 23rd 2013
Gunung Sibayak Summit
Beckoned in the distance, but after reading some horror stories about tourists lost in the final climb, I decided to skip it.After making the difficult but inevitable decision to leave beautiful Toba, I continued northwards on a 4h ride to the hill-side town of Berastagi. Like many hill-side towns that I've visited the past year, this one was also established by former colonial rulers looking to escape from the searing heat of the lowlands. In this case, it was the Dutch of course.
And as far as hill-side towns go, Berastagi doesn't seem to be that different from the rest, especially with regards to its pleasant, temperate climate. A small town essentially centred along just two main streets, Berastagi nevertheless packs some kind of buzz from a busting local Karo population, as well as Medan-Chinese weekenders, whose presence becomes increasingly apparent as we venture closer to the regional capital. The uniquely-accented Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) very similar to that spoken by my relatives from across the straits in Penang, Malaysia is also quite noticeable here.
Most tourists who do make their way here, have only a climb up one of the nearby volcanoes in mind, in particular Sibayak. Now if you have the image of a moon-like, crater-filled, barren-sloped active, lava-spewing volcano in mind, well you couldn't be further from
the truth with regards to Sibayak. Most parts of it is covered by lush vegetation now, and only closer towards the summit does the vegetation thin out. But not completely either. While a well-paved trail leads to just under the summit, the last couple of hundred metres are a tough, trail-less hike, confusing enough to have apparently claimed the lives of several lost guide-less tourists over the past decades, as the local police kindly remind. I decided to skip the ride this time.
Stayed at Mexico Fried Chicken House (I'm not making this up).
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