Unusual TukTuk design in a mid-Sumatran town.
Toba appealed to me for a couple of reasons, one of which is that this is that Samosir Island a very large island in a very large volcanic lake that is located on the big island of Sumatra. Samosir actually has a lake on it too, but I will only go so far to witness curiosities such as this.
While the vast majority of Indonesians are Muslim, inland Sumatra is predominately Christian. There were churches everywhere. Interestingly enough, until the late 1800’s, most of the Batak people around Toba Lake were active cannibals.
When the minibus dropped me off, I foolishly believed the locals when they told me the last ferry to Samosir Island already departed. I found a guesthouse and made the most of my first night. Bright and early the next morning, I caught the first ferry across. It was a leisurely journey. On the route, a tout encouraged me to stay at his sponsor’s complex. It looked OK, so I agreed to go with him. Although I usually do my best to avoid such touts, it turned out to be a good choice as the location was pleasant and the rooms clean.
Samosir island is a tranquil spot to relax
The most interesting part of the complex was one of the young ladies working in the restaurant. Early one morning, as I was setting up camera on a tripod, she wanted to know if I was going to shoot her and her co-worker. I removed the camera from my tripod, mounted a flash and said “Sure!” I chased her all over the restaurant trying to get a picture as she dashed around, still in her pajamas. That afternoon, cleaned up and better prepared, she agreed to actually pose for me.
Photos: 18-Batak Girl 52 53
I checked out the local salon for a shave. My goatee and blue eyes fascinated one of the two women. “Ohhhh, you make me horny,” she announced unabashedly. Oh, reeeeeally? Hmmm, this could prove interesting. I went back the next day for my shave, but my horny girl was not there. Another girl, who was quite attractive in a butch sort of way, sent a friend to fetch her. They set me up on a reclining wicker chair on a terrace overlooking the lake. It was the most spectacular view I’ve ever seen from a salon chair. The two girls then went to work on me. They used two new, but cheap, disposable razors. The result was that I was more clean-scraped than shaved.
The two of them were smoking the whole time I sat there, so when horny girl offered me a massage with a smile and a wink, I chose declined. She was OK looking, and the thought of being eaten by the great granddaughter of a cannibal appealed to me, the smoking really put me off.
An ex-pat living on the island later told me that the salon girls were really looked down upon by the rest of the community. He said that once they gave themselves away to foreigners, no local man would have them. That’s unfortunate.
After a few days of eating, drinking Bintang beer, swimming and devouring books, I dragged myself back to the mainland and caught an all day minibus ride to the horrid town of Sibolga. I’m sorry I didn’t stay long enough to really investigate more thoroughly, but the place has a reputation of really ripping off foreigners. Around the port area, my destination, I heard that gangs of men would swarm a traveler, threatening him with his life if he didn’t pay a hefty ransom. It’s just as well nothing happened to me, as I’m not sure how I would have reacted (I have a tendency to do really stupid things sometimes). As it was, a tout (he considered himself a guide) took me to the place to buy boat tickets.
The boat, I should explain, was not one of the awful metal deathtraps that capsize in the night in Indonesian waters you so often hear about. No, this boat was made of wood. It was completely covered and had two decks. Each deck was lined with broad wooden shelves. These shelves were numbered and intended as sleeping berths with about a one-meter width. It also had a couple of cabins with two sets of bunk beds.
I elected for one of the cabins and paid a premium for the luxury. They tried to get me to pay for four bunks so I could have the place to myself, but wasn’t biting. I doubted there’s be any locals paying that much for a bunk and there were certainly no backpackers on the wharf that evening. I bought some snack food from the port vendors and waited patiently for the evening sailing. Before we left, one of the cabin boys tried to hit me up for more money or he’d put more people in my cabin. “Just so long as they have official tickets, I suppose you can do whatever you want,” I told him. I had the place to myself that night.
In the morning, we pulled in to the southernmost fishing village in Nias Island. I caught a ride on a tuk tuk truck. The driver kept piling school kids in the back, so I decided to climb up on the roof for the journey. The view was spectacular. This was a real tropical island.
The road to Lagundri Bay
I found myself a guesthouse right on the water for only $5USD/night. The days I spent swimming, snorkeling, surfing and walking around the village. I should point out that if you’re a surfer, this is the place for you. A spectacular wave rolls right along Sorake Beach and is ranked in the top ten waves of the world. I managed a boogie board ride that lasted just under a minute!
Guesthouses line the shore.
I even managed to take in one of the numerous traditional villages (a sight not to be missed if you make it to Nias).
Traditional village with its amazing architecture.
Every afternoon one of the fishermen would come by displaying his catch. I would buy one for a couple of bucks and have the owner of my cabin cook it up. Every evening, I feasted on barracuda, sea bass, grouper and a few other varieties. Yeah, life was good.
The only thing the village did not have was an ATM. Locals were charging extortionate prices for exchange, so I lived frugally and managed a week of relaxation and fun. I ran into several surfers who intended to spend a full month there for less than the cost of a week in Hawaii (including airfare).
I left the island by plane, making it to Medan in time to face a dilemma. I could take a boat down the Malakan Straight and visit Batam before continuing on to Singapore (my original plan). That would leave me with a very small window of opportunity to make it back to Thailand for Songkran (the water festival). The alternative was to take a ferry across to the Malaysian island of Pennang.
As much as I wanted to see Batam, I didn’t want to see Singapore (again). Pennang it was, then. I found a backpacker guesthouse for the night and spent the remainder of the day exploring the city. Medan is as sprawling as Jakarta, but no real skyscrapers. In fact, it’s kinda dull.
The ferry left the next morning. I met up with a crusty looking British ex-pat married to a local girl. He’d really, really gone native -- he was a converted, and devout, Muslim. It was fascinating to talk with him about Islam, Indonesia and Sumatra. He was well educated and proved a lively debating opponent as we whiled away the hours to Pennang. When we arrived at the port of Georgetown, I bid him adieu and made my way into the city.
). Sumatra has few tourists, Laos has mostly backpackers.