A Batak Birthday at Lake Toba

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Our journey to Lake Toba was like most in Sumatra, long and uncomfortable. We had to get a tuk tuk to the bus stop in Bukit Lawang, then a bus back to Medan, then a minibus to the main bus terminal in Medan, followed by another bus to Parapat which lies on the shore of Lake Toba before finally getting the ferry across to our destination, Samosir Island in the middle of the lake. On the bus from Medan to Parapat we were sat next to a very creepy gentleman who asked if he could read Lils journal and he then declared that he loved her. Strange!

The journey was worth it though. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world at 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point and sits at 900 meters above sea level making the climate pleasantly cool. The lake was created by a supervolcanic eruption about 75 000 years ago when the crater it created filled with water, it was the largest eruption in the last 25 million years. It was a massive climate-changing event that scientists believe might have wiped out much of humanity at the time. These days however the lake is very peaceful and calm, it is a deep blue colour and at certain times of day the lake appears to blend with the sky causing a blurred horizon. It is surrounded by lush green volcanic mountains which seem to permanantly have low lying cloud clinging to their peaks. It's a very beautiful and dramatic place.

Samosir Island, where we were staying, was created many years ago by further volcanic activity. It is roughly the size of Singapore. We stayed in the town of Tuk Tuk in a lovely guesthouse, our room had a balcony overlooking the lake. The town used to be full of tourists but these days the place is nearly deserted, the result is that there are lots of guesthouses, restaurants and shops just sitting empty and many have had to close down altogether. It is sad to see but it does mean that it is easy to get a bargain and our lovely room cost us the grand sum of 3 pounds a night.

On our first night we went for some dinner, the food on the island is delicious and dirt cheap. Afterwards we went into to a shop which was full of wood carvings. The shop also doubled as the families home and when we came in to look around they were sat at a table eating some dinner and playing music. They invited us to sit down and they poured us a glass of Palm Wine and sang songs for us. The music they were playing was fantastic but the wine was not, it is unbelievably horrid. It's warm and cream in colour with a taste so bad that it can't adequately be described with words. Of course we drank it anyway trying our hardest to hide our disgust everytime this foul bevarage passed our lips.

The music they were playing was Batak music, the songs were beautiful and heartfelt. The whole island is obsessed with music and instead of wasting their evenings watching Eastenders they all gather together and drink, play music and sing. One of the instruments they use is a strange two string guitar type thing unique to this region, they also use home-made drum kits made out of tins. Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks, they have inhabited the area for centuries and are very pasionate about their traditions which they love to share with people willing to listen. They are known for their weaving and carvings which all have certain meanings, for instance a gekho is for good luck. They have their own language and some still live in traditional Batak houses dotted around the island which are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colorful decor.

We stayed for a couple of hours listening to their songs and the stories that went with them. At the end of the night i had a little jam with them and they then asked if Lil and me would perform a western song for them. Neither of us are singers but we managed a terrible version of Rod Stewart for them, i improvised what i thought the chords were and i left Lil to do the singing. Before we left we told them that it was Lils birthday the following day and the owner of the shop, Rony, insisted that we return the following night for a Batak celebration. We accepted the offer.

The following day was Lils 27th birthday. We had breakfast on the balcony, opened her cards and then went for a walk to the other side of Tuk Tuk. We got a taste of the scenery that the rest of the island has to offer so we decided to we would rent a mo-ped and go for an explore. We both had a little go at driving the mo-ped and decided that Lil was slightly less terrible at it than i was and less likely to kill a child so she took on the role of driver. So we hopped on and headed off rather wobbly to some natural hot springs on the other side of the island which we thought sounded nice. After a shakey start Lil got the hang of it and pretty soon we were cruising, cautiously, along the road. The scenery was beautiful. On one side there were huge cliffs covered in green vegetation with a waterfalls spilling over them and on the other were specatacularly cultivated rice fields with water buffalo working in them. As we got further round the island we passed through some small villages with traditional Batak houses. The roads were quiet although we did have a couple of near misses. When we reached the town where the hot springs were located we panicked. There were too many vehicles and the road up the springs was steep so we decided that even though it had taken two hours to get there we should turn around and head home. On the way back we bumped into the guys we had done the Bukit Lawang tour with and we agreed to meet later for drinks. We started to go a bit faster as Lils confidence grew and after about an hour we made a stop to admire a nice view of the lake which was shimmering in the sun. Just as we were about to get back on the bike Lil said "i bet the lady we rented the bike from will be surprised when we get back in one piece", this was the kiss of death.

We set of again and after about ten meters we lost control of the bike and fell over, skiding across the road. Just as this happened another bike sped past us but didn't stop. We cursed him and i dragged the bike to the side of the road and we checked our injuries. Lil had scraped her knee to bits and i had got away with a small graze on my toe, luckily no broken bones especially since neither of us were wearing helmets. Then we saw the man we had just cursed coming back with an entourage of people. There was a mechanic who made sure the bike was ok to drive, a nice women and her husband who rubbed some leaves on Lils knee, two other villagers who watched, a couple of children and two dogs.

The nice lady and her husband drove us back to town, she drove her bike with Lil on the back and i went with her husband on our bike. As we drove into Tuk Tuk our bike got a puncture so we had to go to a mechanics to get it sorted while Lil continued with the lady to her restaurant where she was given massages and a drink. Once the puncture was mended me and this nice man took the bike back to its owner to face the music. They weren't best pleased and because the bike wasn't insured we had to fork out for some repairs. We had smashed a light, a mirror, a handle bar and the wheels weren't straight. Ooops. At least we were alive.

That night we headed out for Lils Batak birthday celebration. We arrived armed with a bottle of rum so we wouldn't have to indure the palm wine again. The show they put on for us was amazing and so special. Rony and his vocal group were all wearing matching shirts and the whole family was present. They started with a welcome song and then did a version of happy birthday and made Lil blow out a candle. They then performed a beautiful love song and placed a rose in Lils hair and then Rony presented Lil with a carving which said ' To Elisabeth, Happy Birthday from .............???????. Lil was very touched and did infact cry. It was an amazing evening and we felt so lucky to be invited in these peoples home and see this exclusive performance, they had gone to so much effort. We just aren't used to this sort of hospitality in England. Everyone we met on the island was extremely friendly and like in Bukit Lawang we couldn't walk down the street without being stopped by the chatty locals.

Afterwards we headed to only club in town, Brando's Blues Bar, and had some drinks and a dance with the guys we had been in Bukit Lawang with.

The next morning i went for a refreshing dip in the beautiful lake, it was so warm and clean. Unfortunately Lil couldn't join me because her knee was pretty bad. We didn't do much the rest of the day. We went for some food at the restaurant of the lady who had helped the day before and we saw some amazing puppies, the island is full of them. We also considered renting a canoe but we figured with our current luck it would most likely sink so we stayed on land and relaxed. That evening we went back to see Rony and bought some souvenirs from him and gave him some money for what he had done the night before. We then met up with our friends again from Bukit Lawang. We haven't mentioned them much so far considering we spent a fair bit of time with them in Bukit Lawang and then Lake Toba, this is because we want to forget them. They spent the whole evening reminising between themselves but for our benefit, they would keep checking that we were listening to their stories which they thought were outrageous but infact were not. At one point one of them asked me if they were the craziest people i'd ever met, i simply replied 'no'. I know people who would really scare you you twurp. They spoke for hours about various people we hadn't met and after a while, just before we were about to slip into comas, we left.

The next day we left to make the grizzly journey back to Medan where we spent one more sweaty night at Bobs before getting the ferry back across to Georgetown. The ferry crossing was awful. We were all sat below deck and the sea was rough. Most people spent the whole six hours vomiting into little black plastic bags, the chorus of wretching and gurgling was the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully we were absolutely fine.

Sumatra definitely ranks as one our favourite places, it isn't an easy place to travel to but if you make the effort it is extremely rewarding.

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