Our trip started from Medan, the capital of Sumatra Island in Indonesia. It was a long 5-6 hour drive from the city to the world renowned lake, Lake Toba, a crater lake bigger than a Singapore country. From the pier, we took a boat the resort in the middle of the lake called Samosir Island.
Our excursion started the next day, when we explored on motorbike around the island. The first stop was a museum with unique Batak culture, followed by a Batak Village, specifically built for tourism purpose. The iconic Batak culture is shown in the houses with high slanting roof with pointed ends.
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| Unique Batak House |
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| Traditional Batak Culture |
The key highlight in Lake Toba is the mesmerising nature with volcanic greeneries on the hillslopes and the lush wild plants at the edge of the lake. What a wonderful world! The relaxing experience was enhance with the lake view of our rooms in the resort. Our journey then continued to Bukit Tinggi.
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| Samosir Island |
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| Greenery abound |
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| View from lake edge hotel |
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| Sunset in heaven |
Bukit Tinggi is a small town on a highland in central Sumatra Indonesia. As the name Bukit Tinggi means High Land, the weather is cooling with abundant colorful fruits in the local market, one of the key highlights. Besides, it is well known as a gateway to the heaven of mountain trekking.
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| Start of Mt Sibayak trek |
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| The journey continues |
One such mountain nearby is Mount Sibayak, an active volcanic mountain. It took around 2 hours to trek from starting to the vantage point. From afar, Mount Kerachi can be seen. The trek along the way is quite rocky with gradual ascend. Sulfuric fumes can be seen escaping from the volcanic slopes. Upon reaching the peak, the volcanic lake could be seen below. It is a 360 degree view of surrounding nature.
