Danau Toba

Tuesday 28th July 2009
Day 31

We woke up today with no clue of how we were going to get to Lake Toba, we just knew we wanted to get there. Speaking to the Spanish couple, our travelling companions from Medan to Bukit Lawang, we decided to share a minivan all the way to Lake Toba, an eight hour journey.

We would be dropped in Parapat where we would catch a ferry to Samosir Island which overlooks Lake Toba created by a volcanic eruption around 70,000 years ago. It left behind a lake situated at high altitude with an island the size of Singapore in the middle.

The journey was pretty cool driving through various plantations starting with palm oil, through to rubber which brought back distant tyre memories and onwards to coffee which Layla was particularly impressed with.

The road was pretty poor quality and the traffic in parts was horrendous. However, our driver was superb using his horn and indicators like I've never seen before. Crazy overtaking manouvres become part of the course as our driver swerved out of the way of oncoming traffic in the nick of time again and again.

However, we made it and got a good tip for accomodation with a lovely view of the lake. Back in its heyday this place was as popular as Hat Rin or Kuta but had fallen of the traveller route. However, when we asked the receptionist with a Dwight Yorke smile about motorcycle helmets for a trip the next day and his response was "You want magic mushrooms?" there still seemed to be a hangover from full moon parties of yesteryear.

Luckily for us in 2009 there was hardly a soul here.