Blogs from Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 9

It was probably a sign of the times and we didn't want to find fault with our hotels - after all, we were staying at the cheaper end of the market and there were precious few visitors around. But the fact was, there were often times when we felt that someone ought to be paying us to stay in them - not the other way around. Despite our best efforts to find something that would redeem our hotel in Bukit Lawang, it was the bed bugs and extremely smelly toilet (that blocked regularly and could only be emptied by tipping a bucketful of water down it each time we needed to flush) that finally drove us away. Of course, the "Wisma Sibayak" had not escaped damage from the flood that ripped through Bukit Lawang in 2003 ... read more

The journey from Bukit Lawang to our next destination was long, bumpy and hot. After two long bus rides, a minibus, and a ferry, we hoped that there would be a decent pay-off at the end. We were not disappointed. Danau Toba, the largest lake in South-East Asia, was perfect. The island (not technically an island, but very nearly) of Samosir sits in the middle of this lake, and the main village of Tuk-Tuk has stunning views over the water. This part of Indonesia used to be an extremely popular location for young tourists, but with the tragic decline in numbers after the Bali bombings, and various other catastrophes, the potential hoardes were flocking to nearby Thailand instead. After a small amount of fuss, we found some gorgeous accomodation in a traditional Batak house (Bataks are ... read more

(Matthew) So, after almost a month the the island of Borneo, the Malaysian part of it anyways. I was ready to move on to new things. we were supposed to fly out from Khota Kinabalu (K.K as the locals call it) through Air Asia. we had already booked our flights and we thought we were supposed to fly out at 11:00 am. but it turns out that we were supposed to leave closer to 9:00. so, we missed our flight and had no good excuse. we were all kicking ourselves, especially when we realized their was absolutely no way we could get our money back. so, we had to spend another night in K.K and left the next morning. we flew to K.L and then to the City of Medan in the Indonisian province of Sumatra. ... read more

Our sightseeing trip from Bukit Lawang to Lake Toba was undertaken in a minibus, which by itself was not really uncomfortable but we felt the bad road conditions (potholes etc.) much more strongly. The first part of the trip led us back to Medan, crossing wide plantations of oil palms whose fruits were just being picked and transported to oil mills, and huge plantations of gum trees. The crossing of Medan did not consume too much time, there were relatively few congestions. Our next stop on the way to Lake Toba was Brastagi, a hill resort town established by the Dutch in the early 20th century as a retreat from the heat and humidity of the lowlands. Although the town does not have many specific points of interest, its position, surrounded by active volcanoes, is memorable ... read more