Blogs from Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 6

Andere Länder, andere Sitten. Und andere Taxifahrer. Ich habe ja in den letzten Monaten schon so einiges erlebt. Aber der nette Herr Taxifahrer aus Medan ist schon einer meiner Favoriten. Auf den Philippinen wird man als erstes oftmals gefragt, ob man aus den Staaten kommt. In Indonesien fragen sie lieber gleich mal, wieviele Kinder man hat.... das war wirklich eine lustige Situation. Es war ganz still im Taxi, ich bin vom Flughafen zum Hotel gefahren. Und plötzlich fragt mich der Taxifahrer wie ich denn heisse? Und ich antworte also: Celine. Und er: Ahh, Celine!! Wieviele Kinder?? Ich hab dann gleich mal zurückgefragt, wieviele Kinder er denn hätte. Mein Flug von Hong Kong über Kuala Lumpur nach Medan verlief ohne grosse Zwischenfälle und so bin ich am Sonntagabend heil in Medan angekommen. Weil es leider schon zu ... read more

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Tuk Tuk, 25-02-2009. As usual during my evenings here in Tuk Tuk I have moved over to Peter Nit Noi Chang's guest house, not to hang out with Mister Fatso the presumed child molester but to have a cold Bintang together with Mama Cesca, his landlady. There is usually no mistaking Peter's bulky shape sitting outside the guest house enjoying the last warm rays of sun of the day, his long goatee hanging down on his sweaty chest disappearing in the layers of human fat, always trying to strike up a conversation with me - a lonely man liked by nobody on the island according to Mama Cesca. No Peter today though and having our usual evening bottle of cold Bintang she tells me Peter has taken the ferry to Parapat for ... read more

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Tuk Tuk, 23-02-2009. Though I've for a change moved into a top-end hotel in Tuk Tuk, still my room is in a serious state of neglect with an army of red forest ants marching right through the middle of the room coming out of a crack in one wall and leaving my territory again through a hole in the opposite wall. They start there endless trek at early sun-up and finish it at late afternoon sun-down, two neat lines never bothering to check the rest of my place, just up and down they go with me accepting their obnoxious presence as INEVITABLY NECESSARY and with the same quiet acceptance as the Thais use to put up with bad luck. Then there is this clan of dark brown cockroaches that seem to have ... read more

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Tuk Tuk, 21-02-2009. According to Mama Ceska untill about twelve years ago the Dutch airline company KLM used to fly into Medan three times a week with big Boeings unloading up to 350 Dutch and German holidayers all making it to Lake Toba, the number one tourist destination on Sumatra. However the Muslim autorities in Medan realising that the Christian Batak people were making tons of money while the rest of Islam oriented Sumatra could only watch the big line of tour buses loaded to the max with hard currency packed Europeans fast tracking it to Lake Toba leaving huge clouds of dust behind but pas d'argent. KlM's landing rights for Medan Airport were doubled and doubled again while the Batak people in Tuk Tuk were busy turning their houses into hostels ... read more

(Day 388 on the road)Many years ago, back in high school, I used a deodorant called Sumatra Rain. If I was to device an advertisement for this product, I would set it here in volcanic Lake Toba. The lake is absolutely enormous at over 17.000 sq km - it is the largest lake by far in South East Asia. In the middle, there is Samosir island, about the size of Singapore that was created during the last volcano eruption, but with less than 10.000 people living there it is hardly crowded. The lake is also rather deep, reaching 450 metres in places. Watching a fisherman in his canoe go about his catch in the heavy but short rain one afternoon, I was wondering how long it would take to fill a lake of this size. There ... read more