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Sumatra Travelogue #3/9
2017
Lake Toba #1 Tabo Resort
The purpose of this second visit to Lake Toba was to visit Samosir Island, an island in the center of Lake Toba (a Caldera lake) and said to be larger than Singapore.
I drive from Medan city to Parapat, a village on the shore of the caldera lake and cross by boat to Samosir Island.
Volcanic lake, Lake Toba and the outer ring mountains in the background.
Parapat, a tourist village on the shore of the lake. There were about 10 hotels, and there was a dock for motorboats to Samosir island.
In the background is the outer ring mountain of Lake Toba.
Photo by author, 2017
The hotel is located on the shores of Lake Toba.
My purpose is not to go here, but to Samosir by boat.
With the help of the hotel’s kind employees, I rented a boat at the dock and head to the opposite shore of Samosir Island.
Photo by author, 2017
Photo by author, 2017
It had already been a while since the world of digital camera photography appears, but this still remains in this area. I saw a billboard advertising “Konica FILM” and decided to take a photo of it.
Employees of ATSARI HOTEL
Hats and costumes with an ethnic feel.
Even in Southeast Asia, they wear costumes that are quite unique and eye catching. Compared to the people of Java and Bali in Indonesia and the plains of Malaysia, the skin color of the people in the mountainous areas is clearly different, and it is characterized by their fairness.
Photo by author, 2017
The Big Gourd
I saw it in the forest near the lakeside inn Atsari hotel
Photo by author, 2017
CROSSING TO SAMOSIR ISLAND
A brand new small motorboat on the dock.
Photo by author, 2017
Photo of author, 2017
LANDING ON SAMOSIR ISLAND
The purpose of this second visit to Lake Toba was to visit Samosir Island, an island in the center of Lake Toba (a Caldera lake) and said to be larger than Singapore, and to experience the region’s unique cultural heritage.
Pier on Samosir Island.
Photo by author, 2017
Landed on Samosir Island.
Photo by author, 2017
A viewing tower stands at the pier on Samosir Island. This is a facility on site of Tabo cottages, where I will be staying this time.
Photo by author, 2017
In a way, the base and surroundings of the observation tower are a little unexplored and feels like another world.
Photo by author, 2017
There is a short walking distance from the pier to the hotel accommodation, and I walk along a narrow path while enjoying the sense of seclusion. In the background is the mountain massif of Samosir Island.
Photo by author, 2017
ACCOMMODATION IN TABO COTTAGES.
Lake Toba in front. In the background is the mountain of Samosir Island.
Photo by author, 2017
Photo by author, 2017
CHATTING WITH THE OWNER OF THE TABO COTTAGES HOTEL.
The hotel owner was a blonde woman on the far right of the photo and she introduced herself as being from Germany.
She came to this caldera lake on her own world trip in 1993 and fell in love with the place, which led her to decide to live here permanently.
Her husband is a local (Batak person), and her son is working in hotel management in Bali.
At the Tabo hotel’s Vegetarian Restaurant and German bakery
Photo by author, 2017
SOCIALIZING WITH THE TABO COTTAGES MUSIC BAND.
Photo of author, 2017
In the evening, there was instrumental performances by the hotel’s own band group and entertainment of batak music. Batak music of local origin and is well known throughout Indonesia.
I knew that the singers of Batak music were known for their unique vocalizations, and that they received many inquiries from hotels and first-class restaurants in the capital city of Jakarta for performance.
The Pier at Dawn
The next morning, when I went to the pier (landing site) again and I saw that Western children were actively moving under the traditional architecture of the Batak people, and it seems strange to me.
Is this Indonesia or Switzerland?
Photo by author, 2017
If you take a small boat from this pier and follow the land on the right for a while, you will reach a pier to a village called Tomok, where you can see the traditional architecture and lifestyle of the Batak people.
Photo by author, 2017
