| Day 40: Thursday 7 March - Medan - Prapat (Lake Toba) |
...and he was at the guesthouse before we had risen at 8:30am. We took turn packing and eating breakfast and talking to Zebar. We gave him 6 superfly-guys pictures of us (a trick-photo we had had taken in Penang of the three of us flying) for him and the girls, signed of course.
We had the pictures collected on the way to the bus station. Very good memories. We bought tickets to Prapat (rs3000/person (1.66$)) and were quickly on the bus. While waiting for departure, Zebar helped us getting supplies at reasonable prices. Departure at 11am. The trip was actually very nice; we passed some very big rubber-plantations, went through jungle, small villages and finally we were in the mountains again. The mountains were a bit different than the 'usual' ones. In the area of Prapat, the landscape was a bit like e.g. Switzerland (the vegetation) and so was the climate (not so humid and hot). Lake Toba is the biggest lake in south-east Asia, the deepest (523m/1687ft) and the highest situated (600m/1935ft). Our book said that there used to be a waterfall at one end of the lake, but they turned it into a power station. Since then, the water level has sunk 2 1/2 meter (8ft). Well, we did not notice. Our friends in Medan had also been here; it is a popular excursion place for the Indonesians; also because of the comfortable climate.
We had had several offers about transportation for the next stretch and we considered them over a Fanta at the bus station. Fanta here equals red strawberry soda and what we usually calls Fanta is called Orange here. We accepted an offer for a room at the bus station. We walked down to the lake where we relaxed and made plans for the next couple of weeks. We watched some rats running by the water. Meanwhile some obtrusive person tried to rent us both a waterbike and a water-scooter. He wanted rs20.000 (11$) for the bike and rs35.000 (19$) for the scooter. We ignored him and after 20 minutes, we had got student, family and group discount and the prices were now rs5.000 (2.80$) and rs15.000 (8$). We left him and ended up in the harbour (from where there are ferries to Samosir Island). We got dinner in a Hong Kong restaurant. You could get shark fin soup for rs27.000 (15$), but we had steak and potatoes instead for rs4.500 (2.50$). A bit expensive, but we could not find a 'medium' restaurant.
Back at the 'hotel', we wrote some letters and talked to a girl who worked here about the language etc. We think she might have kept our Maimoon picture, because we could not find it later on. We were very sorry for the loss. Before we went to bed, we were offered the key to her room. Well, we did not take the offer though, we are good boys, you know. In our room, a very unpleasant surprise waited for us. The room had been invaded by thousands of ants - and they had also found parts of our luggage. My water bottle, which smelled of soda, and my handbag, where I had some biscuits. Fortunately the bed was ant-free.
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| Day 41: Friday 8 March - Prapat-Tuk Tuk (Samosir Island) |
We ordered tickets for Bukittingi for monday morning, that would give us a few days on Samosir Island. We took a mini bus to the harbour where 10 ferries waited to sail to Samosir. We were told that one of them would leave at 11am, but it was probably more likely when there were enough on the boat. It was also different companies which sailed and they were fast to get you when you arrived there. The one we got on could take us to the place we wanted to go to, but we had time to get off several times to buy sodas and bananas before it departed (at 12am). A couple of others had left meanwhile. The book is also correct when it states that you should never ask an Indonesian a yes/no question, because they would always answer what pleases you. We had asked: 'Do this boat sail at 11 o'clock ?'. And the man had answered, hesitating a bit, 'Yes'. Well, we were not in a hurry. The sail trip was OK. Beautiful.
We were recommended 'Carolina's Cottages', so that was where we went. It was a very fancy place (the book told us that too), it had everything: beach, diving board, satellite tv, telephone (only two on the island!), good restaurant, nice personal. We had to pay rs17.500 (9.70$) for a cottage, but it was a real Batak cottage and it had a REAL flush toilet!!! and a balcony. We relaxed on the beach until about 4pm and we met three Danish girls there who we talked to until it was time for News in English (from Malaysia). We met another 3 Danes, so we were a total of 9 Danes in one place, what do you say ?! A nice evening too, about 24o (75F) outside.
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| Day 42: Saturday 9 March - Tuk Tuk |
After breakfast it did us good with a morning-swim. The water was supposed to be 25 degrees (78F) constantly and I guess it was right.
Our plan was to walk around the peninsula, Tuk-Tuk, and then south to Tomok. We left at 10:30am. The sun was high in the sky (so it was pretty hot too). A lot of building houses was taking place but did not in any way overshadow the beautiful surroundings and the many nice things along the roadside. After some time, we passed a protestant school with a church next to it. 50 school-children in uniforms stood lined up outside - it is just like us students at the university where we also have to study saturdays. They were singing a couple of songs and it ended with a salute for the teacher and then rush home.
In the village of Sailagan we saw dozens of small booths where you could buy wood-carvings and hand-weaved belts etc., but not one single tourist was here. We had heard of this the day before from a Dane who had experienced the same. In a way a sad sight, but the people looked happy anyway. Around noon we took a couple of pictures of our shadows (or lack of it). A very funny phenomena.
Continued on to Amberita where it was time for a little lunch. We saw a cozy place and asked: 'Can we have lunch here?'. 'Why not ?', was the answer. While we had the best fruit salad and fruit pancakes ever, a volleyball match was taking place on the field close by. After the meal we went over there to look. We later found out that 100 of the pupils playing and watching, were visiting the town - an excursion. There were also supposed to be some adorned stone coffins but we could not locate them.
Went back to Sailagan where we knew a stone-table would be. Some time ago, they used to behead enemies here and eat them. The 'table' was surrounded by Batak-cottages - cottages on poles with curved roofs. We had hardly gotten there before a girl from one of the cottages called to us. We were dragged into the cottage where 12 boys and girls were drinking tea and we got a glass too. Why did they want to talk to us ? They turned out to be from a high-school from Pem Siantan (further north on Sumatra) on an excursion and they were told to catch some tourists and practice their English. They started with 'Where are you from?' and 'What's your name ?'. A nice bunch of students. Here we were sitting in a 100 year old wooden cottage (even the nails were made from wood), drinking tea and answering all the questions they could come up with. We were split up in 3 'camps' and I talked to 5 of the girls and we ended up singing a lot of Christian songs; they even had a guitar. We followed them to the harbour. On our way home we only made a stop in a 'cafe' where you only could get coffee and cake. There were also supposed to be a lot of music saturday evening - why could we not find any ? Day 43: Sunday 10 March - Tuk Tuk-Prapat
Sunday: church day. We were told that is should be a very good experience to go to church here. In this area, 80% is Christian. They show their faith in many ways, for example, one of the workers at Carolina told me that my face looked like the face of Jesus and you often see bibles and songbooks in cafes and other places.
We walked towards Tomok, south of Tuk Tuk. We had heard that the service was held at 9am. We had hurried there and arrived at 9:05am, but only Sunday school was in progress. The service was not until 10am, so we had some time for the sights. A lot of turists here - Indonesian tourists, that is. At one time, we had to step aside for a delegation of important men and women. We later found out that they were from the government in Jakarta. The special thing in Tomok is the old stone coffins which are carved and ornamented beautifully. Then it was our turn to be taken pictures of: within 10 minutes, two flocks of girls wanted a picture taken of them together with us. There was also time for a chat with them.
Then it was time for church. It was a protestant church. We were lucky to choose the right side when we entered. The middle and right rows were for women. The church was 3/4 full and the women were all dressed in beautiful clothes - basically a dress with flowers and a kind of 'belt' over their right shoulder. The older women wore their hair in a knot. Then men wore a white shirt and were not so colourfull as the women. The songbook was fairly easy to use. It had notes and Indonesian is pretty easy to pronounce. It was 3 different persons who held the service: a cantor, one who prayed and read the texts and a preacher. The liturgy was very normal, but they only sang 2-3 verses of each song. I even knew one of them. A collection was held and the contribution was rs100 (5c). Then 20 of the women performed a part-singing hymn. The sermon was held from a high pulpit and lasted 15 minutes. Next, everybody walked past a bowl and when it was our turn, we discovered that you were to give money again. We did not expect that; actually, I have never experienced two collections during one service. We gave a little extra - we could afford it. After the service, the women walked through the town. It looked very nice.
We had walked the 5km (3.1miles) down here and kind of wanted to get a ride back. We had not walked long before a van wanted to give us a lift. How much ? He asked rs1000/person (55c). No, but what about rs500 ? He did not like that. We walked to the door. Then, what about rs1500 for the three of us ? OK, get in! They are sometimes strange to do business with. A short intermission: A French-American we met in Thailand had wanted to buy a towel (in Thailand): 'How much ?' - '80!' - 'No, I'll give you 10!' - 'OK, but I tell you: I make no profit!' When we got back to Carolina, we found out that two of the Danish girls had been at a service too in another church and they had also noted that people sung very loud.
The last boat left at 4pm, so we had time for a good lunch and 1 1/2 hour on the beach. The sun disappeared in clouds when we left. When we got back to Prapat, we went directly to the bus company. There were problems. The bus had been fully booked faster than usual and he had had a man on Samosir to look for us (I don't know if that is true). He had booked us for a bus tonight instead and we would get rs2000 back each. No problem for us. The bus was scheduled to leave around 8pm. The bus company had a small restaurant, so we had dinner and bought supplies. The trip to Bukittingi would take us through mountain areas and would take about 13 hours. |
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