A traveller's reflection: June 1991

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Monday, 10 June 1991

Indonesia 1991: Medan - Danau Toba the largest lake in South East Asia...

"Man can believe the impossible, but never believe the improbable..." - Oscar Wilde

(All in the family at a Batak Village)

Medan & Dano Toba, Indonesia
(5 - 9 June 1991)

We had a family holiday in Medan, Indonesia during the school short break. On arrival, we spent a night in Garuda Plaza Hotel in Medan. Then we travelled to Lake Toba and spent two nights at the Toledo Inn by the lake. The final night was spent in Garuda Plaza Hotel in Medan again before we fly back to Kuala Lumpur.

(Arriving at Medan Kualanamu International Airport)

(Our transport for the day and to Lake Toba)

Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Located in the northern part of the province along the coast, Medan is the third largest city in Indonesia. The city is bordered by Deli Serdang Regency to the east, south, and west, and the Strait of Malacca to the north.

(Ready for the day tour)

(Visiting museums and palaces)

(Photo opportunities at the museum)

(Maimun Palace, one of the historical palaces in Medan)

(The interior of the palace and museum)

There are many older buildings in Medan that still retain their Dutch architecture. These include the old City Hall, the central Post Office, the Water Tower, which is Medan City's icon, and Titi Gantung - a bridge over the railway. There are several historic places such as Maimun Palace, where the Sultan of Deli lives, and the Great Mosque of Medan built in 1906.

(Medan Great Mosque - Masjid Raya Al-Mashun)

The next day, very early in the morning we travelled to Lake Toba. There were several options to get to Lake Toba from the city of Medan. The most convenient is the public transports, bus, taxi or train. For our convenience, we rented a van with a driver to transport us to Lake Toba. A Malay couple and their daughter joined us on that trip.

The trip to Parapat via Berastagi took us almost five hours with a few stops along the narrow winding road. The journey was slow as the old rented van was struggling to manage sharp inclines and hairpin bends. The road began levelling when we were nearing the crater of the volcano. Lake Toba is what is left of a huge volcano that erupted near 100,000 years ago.

From Parapat, we took a ferry to Samosir Island. Also known to the locals as Danau Toba - the giant lake sits at an altitude of 800 meters, and is 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide. The lake is situated in the caldera of the huge Toba volcano which erupted about a decade ago. The eruption of Toba was one of the most massive eruptions ever on Earth. The eruption probably lasted two weeks until finally the volcano collapsed and formed the caldera which is now Danau Toba.

(The ferry ride to Samosir Island)

(Ja is nervous to ride the ferry)

The bottom of the volcano rose and formed the island of Samosir which is beautifully situated in the middle of the blue waters of Toba. Danau Toba is a must see of Sumatra. The beautiful Danau Toba was absolutely breathtaking.

(Visiting souvenir shops)

(Historical sites on the island)

(A guided tour on the island)

(The Batak village and their community)

(At a Batak village on Samosir Island)

(Dinner time at Toledo Inn)

This morning we joined a large group to visit some attractions around Lake Toba. Sipiso-piso Waterfall is one of the tourist attractions. This waterfall is located in the hills with an altitude of about 800 meters above sea level and is surrounded by pine forests. With a height of about 120 meters, Sipiso-piso Waterfall is one of the highest waterfalls in Indonesia. It has become one of the most popular tourist attractions for domestic and foreign tourists.

The view point is at the top of the hill overlooking the beautiful scenery of Tanah Karo and Samosir Island in the middle of Lake Toba.

(Our hotel by the lake)

(A nice view of Lake Toba)

(Waiting for the Wisata bus)

(Joining a big group for a day tour)

(Visiting Si Piso-piso waterfalls)

(A Cultural village)

(The interior of a heritage house)

(Our three children, Sara, Iwan and Ja)

(Ja under the kolong)

(A replica of a boat)

(The kids were having fun)

(Mirwan Ashran with a scary mask)

(The kids are having a great time together)

(Buying buah salak at the market)

(Back at the hotel - exhausted)

(Time for dinner, the weather was cool)

(A stroll in the garden after dinner)

On the last day at Lake Toba, we checked out early and boarded the ferry back to Parabat where our van was already waiting to drive us back to Medan. We reached Medan early afternoon, ample time for the children to go for a swim in the pool.

Although it was a very short holidays, it was worth spending quality time with our three beautiful kids.