Next Stop: Unknown

Since we had 3 days before we were supposed to meet up with Joey, we figured we’d try to get someplace relaxing rather than in the hustle and bustle of KL.  So, From KL, Jenn and I took a quick side trip up to the island of Pangkor Pulau.  It was a 5 hour busride, and then a 1 hour boat ride, and we arrived a a sleepy little beach village and checked into our hotel.  For the next day and a half, all we did was sleep, eat, and walk on the beach.  It was perfect!  The ride back to KL however took forever, and we didn’t get to our hotel until around midnight, just barely enough time to get to sleep before waking up at 4:45am to catch our taxi to the airport.

The airport, holy cow, talk about a long freaking journey!  The taxi ride costs as much as our hotel!  It’s just over a 1 hour journey there, with no traffic.  It’s like 60km outside the city.  I have no idea why it’s so far away, but you’d think they would have a metro rail there or something, as many trains as there are around the city.  We made it with just enough time to spare, and boarded the 1 hour flight to Medan via Air Asia.  When we landed, they had us exit the plane and walk through some chemical decontamination machine, just like something out of the movies.  It was a bit strange I must say, but they are taking the new flu outbreak pretty seriously here.  We met up with Joey while still waiting to go through customs, then zipped through, got a taxi to the bus station and were on our way to Lake Toba before 9am. 

Funny story about getting money though!  We stopped in at the ATM machine, and I went to take out cash.  I had no idea how much to get, but I chose one of the middle options… it was $500,000.  It seemed like so much, I thought it would be plenty.  Only then did I realize that it was less than $50 US!  So, I went back into the machine and withdrew the maximum amount the ATM would give me… a whopping $2,500,000.00  The machine spit out all these 100,000 bills… I felt so rich… yet it was only $250 US.  I like this country… I should save my ATM receipt, we are super rich on local currency!

The minibus ride to the lake was terrible.  There were 7 people crammed into the minibus, and the air conditioning didn’t work all that well.  It was stupid hot, and the driver thought he was a rally racer.  He was passing cars into oncoming traffic like no tomorrow, halfway off the road, passing on blind corners, I thought we were going to die at least a hundred times.  Even some of the locals on the bus started asking him to slow down… this only fueled his desire to scare us more.  About the time we got into the mountains, the 2 lane road turned into a 1.5 lane road, and it was so windy, that the tires were squealing each direction we would turn.  Thank god we made it alive.  We walked onto the boat, but it had about 15 minutes before it left, so Joey and I decided to look through the market.  The boat ride was 7,000 rupiahs each.  I thought that was $7, not too bad.  At the fruit market I picked up half a kilo of mangos, and half a kilo of another fruit I have no idea what is called, and it came up to 10,000 rupiahs.  Damn, fruit here is expensive!  Only once back on the boat did I realize that the fruit was about $1US, and the boat ride was only 70 cents!  ahahahahah!!  I love this country already!

We checked out two guesthouses, and ended up staying in a place called Tabo Cottages.  It was off season, so everything was on discount.  Joey and I were the ones going to pick the room while Jenn waited in the lobby with our gear.  We looked at four rooms, and then out of curiosity went to see the biggest suite.  It was huge, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, top floor with a waterfront view.  It was ridiculous actually, so of course we had to have it!  Since there was only 3 of us, and the suite slept 6-8, we negotiated the rate down to a grand total of $40 per night, including breakfast.  We were all pretty tired from traveling and lack of sleep, so we had a mellow dinner and crashed pretty early.  (our dinner was a feast, and cost about $3 per person, and we each had two dishes)

The next day, we rented motorcycles to tour the island.  This place is absolutely stunning.  Jenn is in love with the place, and I admit, I didn’t mind it one bit.  It was much cooler, at a higher altitude than the rest of the countryside.  Everything was green and lush, and the lake water was super clear.  The lake itself was formed by a volcanic explosion, and is the largest lake in Southeast Asia.  (if Lonely Planet doesn’t lie). The island itself is the size of Singapore, so pretty large.

 

Commuter and tourist ferry across Lake Toba. The low hanging fogs were typical of our view of the lake.

Our first lunch at Carolina’s. Unbeatable view and $2 meals!!

Reflections off the Koi pond at Tabo Cottages, our Lake Toba palatial home.

This is one of the SMALL villas – ours was three times as large (but not as easy to photograph).

Driving along along the countryside we passed plot after plot of traditional farming with these ornate local homes. In a way they look like a medieval ship. The floors are raised high off the ground and the bottom portion is used for storage and livestock.

Can you believe that’s freshwater! The hot springs run into the 450m lake in front of this resort and makes the water this gorgeous turquoise milky color. The boys went swimming – hot springs aside, it was still cold!

One of the pools at Lake Toba’s hot springs. Now it’s Jenn’s turn to go swimming – the boys thought it was too hot! The minerals added splashes of green to the otherwise chalk white hillside and the springs really came out of the ground as a torrent. We’d never seen such a vast amount of hot water pouring out of the ground.

Joey’s new friend, Mr. Water Buffalo! When we first saw him, he was almost completely submerged underwater, escaping the heat. Only his back and big nostrils were peaking out of the lake!

Typical roadside treat – above ground cemeteries being used to dry laundry!

After 60 kms on rocky roads, Joey developed a flat tire. Three unsuccessful roadside stops later, we found a Mr. Fix-it who worked out of his “house”. Dirt floors, antique equipment but big smiles! He spent 45 minutes on fixing Joey’s tire with a grand total bill of 50 Cents. Shocker! We felt a bit like rich Americans, and then gave him a whopping $1 for his trouble.