Lake Toba, May 9 & 10

As usual, I woke up early. This time, a cat starting meowling (sic?) and made scratching sounds on the roof outside my window. Here's a picture of the front of the hotel.


The hotel was located at an altitude much higher than Medan, so the morning temperatures were quite pleasant--cool and dry. We had a leisurely breakfast and we walked around the hotel grounds, taking pictures. Here's a picture of the volcano that towers above the town. A cloud of steam was issuing from its caldera.



Ferry, Iva and I standing in the central green area of the hotel grounds. Our picture was taken by an old Muslim man who was vacationing there with his wife.

We drove for an hour and a half to Taman Simalem Resort, a 500 acre plot of land overlooking Lake Toba. This property is owned by the hotel we spent the night in together with a Singaporean investor. It proposes to be a site for sustainability, doing research on organic agricultural methods. All construction materials were brought in so as to minimize negative effects on the landscape.


This is the road leading up to the resort. As you can see, sustainability is a highly interpretable term, as the landscaping is reminiscent of 18th century French chateau and involves heavy cutting into the land and implantation of numerous landscaping plants arranged geometrically.

One of the dramatic views of Lake Toba, whose surface is 3000 feet above sealevel. We are probably standing at about 5000 feet. Lake Toba is 60 miles long by 18 miles wide by 1666 feet deep. It fills the caldera of a volcano that exploded 75,000 years ago and killed off most of humanity, leaving only a few thousand individuals left. The volume of that explosion was 3,000 times the total eruption of Mount St. Helens. Currently, the island in the middle of Lake Toba is rising and the lake is heating, so there is evidence of renewed activity. A similar explosion would wipe out 99% of the 7 billion people currently on earth, producing a nuclear winter that would cause mass starvation and chaos. Dramatic words for a dramatic geological feature.

Example of slash-and-burn agriculture. In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, Indonesia ranks as the 3rd most polluting country--after China (1st) and the U.S. (2nd). Most slash-and-burn is being practiced on rainforests that are being cleared in order to produce palm oil, a major component of soap and biodiesel.



We ordered some french fries to go, as we needed to leave in order to arrive in Parapat soon enough to catch the ferry before dark. While we were waiting, we checked out the bathrooms. This must be close to the most scenic bathroom on the planet, as large windows look out over the lake.

The restaurant is perched right along the edge of the drop-off, making for beautiful views. The investors are clearly hoping for future business, although everyone we talked to said that the season is starting very slowly--probably because of the Bali and Jakarta bombings and the price of oil.

We drove toward Parapat, the port on Lake Toba from which the ferry leaves. Unfortunately, we missed the 2:30 PM ferry and had to wait for the 5:45 PM ferry to Samosir island. Here you see a defunct ferry used to replace bad parts.

Since we had a good 2 hours to wait, we started driving through Parapat. We found this fancy resort, Hotel Niagara, which overlooks the lake. It was at 25% occupancy, a very low level for that time of year. We enjoyed the scenery, although the food was not good. It was fun watching kids splashing around in the enormous pool.

We drove back to Parapat Port at 5 PM and backed our car onto the ferry. It left at 5:45 PM and took 45 minutes to reach Samosir Island, the enormous mound of collapsed volcano on which the Batak people have long lived. Today, this island is a popular tourist destination, with lots of little stores and restaurants. The Dutch are particularly fond of vacationing here because many were born in Sumatra and vacationed on this lake as children.

The walls of this volcano are quite steep and covered with some sort of vegetation. There are periodic pine trees and in the moister areas grows the rainforest. In the back of this picture can be seen Samosir Island. Imagine the enormity of this volcano, which is currently 5000 feet high and which was probably double that height before the explosion!



Many people (like us) just hang around on the deck. This family of Samosir islanders (Bataks) is eating their dinner of rice and fish.


Once we arrived, we drove for about 20 minutes, asking periodically for the location of the Toledo Inn, our destination. People kept telling us to keep going, but there were no signs. Eventually, we arrived, and we checked in. While we waited at the front desk, I took this picture of a map of the island.

We cleaned up and went out to dinner, walking down the road a few hundred feet until we came upon this sign. Figured that anyone advertising Magig Mushrooms and Lake Toba Wine must be interesting. There were no other clients, so we should have taken that as a bad sign. The meal was mediocre at best. I asked about the magig mushrooms and she told me "if you wish, in an hour."

SATURDAY, MAY 10



I took a bunch of pictures before we ate breakfast. This picture is oriented up-lake.






Another view looking along the island and up the lake.






Below the hotel (Toledo Inn) is a small harbor where two boats belonging to the hotel are docked. Steps descend into the water, and dozens of minnows cavort in the shallows.



Along one side of the mini-harbor is this small island, large enough to fit 15 people and accessed by a bridge. Really cute.






We ate breakfast right in front of the hotel's dining room. There were about 10 Dutch people eating breakfast there.



We drove for about a half hour to come to a living history museum--an old Batak village that was the site of a local king. This is what the country looks like in that area.






The entry to the village where the old Batak museum is located.





We parked outside the stone wall of the Batak museum. This house, which probably dates back to the times when Batak were still cannibals (1930s) is still occupied, although the underneath is no longer used to keep animals.




The old houses of the village. They have been kept up. This is the capital of the local kingdom, the chef-lieu.




Note the intricate designs on the fronts of the houses. You can bet that there is nothing here accidentally. Every detail has a mythological explanation.




The king's house. Note the stone steps. There are three levels: one, for the animals--usually a water buffalo and some chickens. The chicken is native to Indonesia.


Our guide points out the following: The raised mounds are pairs of breasts, indicating how many females reside in the house. In this case, four. Note the stairs, which are difficult for a tall person.