Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia

267 days ago
	After living in Indonesia for 3 years, there still remains many places that I have yet to visit. On the top of the list was Danau Toba (Lake Toba), in Northern Sumatra. I had heard of this place long before I ever thought I would live in Indonesia from a friend who lived in Malaysia for a year. It is an easy hop over for Malaysians, however when I went I was surprised at the lack of tourists at such a beautiful and temperate place! So before I left I deterimed this was the place to visit. An early morning flight got us to Medan, the closest airport to the lake. although we originally wanted to take public transportation, our plans were changed by a psychotic Taxi driver who through horrible driving changed our minds about going the extra distance to the station. I have never been in a car where the driver actually seemed to want to hit other cars! So we ended up getting out at the first tourist bus stop. The four hour drive was rather uninteresting save the last hour, where you entered the mountains, which broke away abruptly revealing a massive lake with castle like walls of stone surrounding it. Winding down the sinuous roads led us to the nice resort town of Prapat. From Prapat we took a water taxi on a lazy ride to the large island that dominates the centre of the lake. The island is Samosir, home of the Batak people, a proud ethnicity which took refuge in this wilderness hundreds of years ago. The first thing that struck me about this culture is their likeness to the Torajans of South Sulawesi. Although separated by great distance, they both have very similar architecture, both have strong Ikat weaving heritage, and both eat pork and enjoy drunken revellry. We meandered across the lake to Tuk Tuk, a small peninsula which holds the vast majority of the hotels and hostels on the island. Although my friend gave us two huge thumbs up on Bagus Bay Homestay, we opted for Samosir Cottages, due in part to the cleaner swimming area in front of the hotel. Tuk Tuk is renkowned for its cheap rooms, and we were not dissapointed when we paid 6 dollars for an excellent suite overlooking the lake with hot water! However, strangely enough you did have to pay for each roll of toilet paper used! The week we spent in Toba could only be summed up as relaxed. I think I would have got around more had I not fallen ill on the third day there. The flu incapacitated me for a day and following that the severe hand of Kiky, my partner, kept me from stretching my returning health. I think that my parents are silently thanking her for that as they read this. So what exactly did I see around Toba? Well, I witnessed the amazing voices of the Batak people. They were singing classic rock tunes with the occasional Indonesian song and while listening my hairs stood on their ends in awe of the pitch perfect voices I was hearing. The Batak are also very laid back and know how to have a good time. It was in part these people which made the trip so nice. A week of doing nothing passed fairly quickly, and as the end of our time in Toba was approaching I realized that although I was only here for a short while, I would miss this place nonetheless. As we cruised across the lake I was planning in my head what my house on Lake Toba would look like and scanning the shoreline for good lots. My heart and mind both gave me a clear message that this parting with Lake Toba was a "see you later" rather than a "farewell".