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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hot Spring @ Lake Toba , Indonesia

Lake Toba itself is a beautiful island in the middle of a crater. It's no surprise to me that it has beautiful hot spring too. To get to the hot spring, one has to pass by a restaurant. Unfortunately, we were scolded for not purchasing anything to eat or drink at the restaurant. Well, it didn't mention that we have to..
                Let's have a bath together..
                                                      The water is very hot... beware
Not forgetting the view opposite the hot spring... Not many places in the world where we can have a picturesque view like this huh..?


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Berastagi Volcano & Mount Sibayak

 I went to Medan and Lake Toba for my New Year with a few friends. In the journey, we visited the famous Berastagi town which is located near two semi-active volcanoes n( Mt Sibayak & Berastagi ). We were quite hardworking.. woke up at 4.30am to prepare ourselves 'climbing & trekking'. It was very cold up the mountain so be sure to bring along a light jacket to keep yourself warm if you are going there.
 Landslides happens all the time so we were no surprise to see it at all. The only downfall was we had to walk through the ruins to get to the top.
 Nice morning sun rising from behind us. We needed it as it was so cold.

 I have forgotten how much time exactly it took us to get this place.. i think it must be around 35 minutes. I believe the picture below must be something which was spitted out by the volcano years ago though I don't think it's lava.
 Worth to get up at the wee hours in the morning for this.
 Last but not least... the semi-active volcano which is still giving out smoke..

Sepiso-piso waterfall

 There are many attractions at the Northern part of Sumatera , also northern part of Lake Toba. Air Terjun Sepiso-piso is famous among the tourists and the locals. It's one of the most fascinating waterfall I have ever visited. When I was there, I stood and wondered where the continuous water came from. I was just so amazed by the mother nature!
 Sepiso-piso waterfall is a magnificent waterfall where one must visit when they go to Medan. One can get down to the foot of the waterfall but must be very careful of the steep steps. I didn't go down as I was extremely scared.
                                         The view opposite the waterfall. Breathtaking!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Cloth Weaving - Lake Toba

Ulos or local woven cloth is very famous in this island. It is the traditional cloth of the Batak people and is normally worn draped over the shoulder in ceremonies. But due to the inventions of  cloth weaving machineries, hand weaving 'ulos' is no longer in high demands as they may take up to 1 month to finish a single piece of it and the cloth produced with machines costs only a fraction of its price..Quality is of course not compatible with the handmade ones..  

 Bit by bit...
 I wanted to buy but unfortunately, I didn't have enough money with me..

The completed Ulos.. Beautiful!
On the way from visiting the Ulos weaving, we saw a lot of these trees.. have a guess..

Coffee beans! Delicious!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Simanindo Batak Village , Lake Toba



 Tombs of ancient Batak Kings of Toba at the entrance to Simanindo Batak Village. Please check the schedule before going. Do not miss the starting time as we missed half of the dance and joy.
The entrance to the dancing area.
Didn't forget to take a picture there.
Musicians playing the traditional instruments while the dancers dancing away..
  Everyone is invited to join in the dance.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Hutasiallagan Ambarita ( Stone Chair ) - Samosir, Lake Toba

Hutasiallagan Ambarita is one of the must go places in Lake Toba. It has a great story behind this 'village'. One has to enter via this narrow path.

The houses above is the Batak house. The Batak is the most found race in Samosir Island and they were known to outsiders as the race of cannibals though now they don't eat people anymore. 

                                             The Bataks used this to cook their food.

                                                 Front view of the Batak house.

The Stone Chairs - This was where the King and his people had meetings.

The prison.
                According to this man , also a Batak, criminals had to face mandatory sentence if       found guilty. The 'bomoh' then had to cast a spell using the booklet above before beheading the criminal. The internal organs were then marinated with lime and herbs before eaten by the King.
 
The beheading stone.
    This is the stone where the criminals had their body cut. It was a bit eerie standing there listening to the story. But it was interesting.

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