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Sumatra Medan Lake Toba
2006-2007
#2
From Medan to Berastagi
The distance from Medan to Berastagi is over 80 km.
Berastagi, a summer resort on the highlands
Berastagi is a highland town located about 80 km south of Medan at an altitude of about 1,300 meters.
It is a highland town developed as a summer resort during the Dutch era. Although it is located almost directly on the equator, it is cool without feeling the heat, making it an ideal plateau as a summer resort.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Check in to an inn on a plateau shrouded in fog.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Enter the Batak culture
From Berastagi, it becomes a highland area, and it feels like you have entered a region different from the lowland Medan. Residents and buildings are different. If you go about 60 kilometers south of this plateau, you will reach Lake Toba, the largest caldera lake in the world.
Enter the Ska Dame area of the Karo Batak tribe
As I continued along the road, seeing large and small churches (Catholic and Protestant) on both sides, I saw the spire of the church as shown in the photo below.
Photo by author, 2007
This an unusual church building with the motif of a traditional house of the Karo Batak people.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
When I got closer, I found out that it was a Catholic church in the village of Skadame.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
At the top of the spire is a miniature version of the traditional Kalo Batak house. It is a unique church building built by the Batak people, with a tower expressing their identity as a motif.
The cross and the amulet animal share the top, which is uniquely original.
Photo by author, 2007
Highland vegetable production area
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Highland cabbage
It seems that cabbage for export is grown on a large scale in the plateau area at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters. I came across the collection area and decided to visit it.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
The temperature in this plateau área which is more than 1000m is about 6-7°C lower than that of the lowland Sumatra. It seems to be suitable for growing vegetables for export.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
After a large amount of cabbage has been peeled, it is packed for export.
Its seems majority of the cabbages are to be exported to Singapore.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
A pillar of Hego fern
I noticed that a single pillar was lined up regularly on the center line of the large roof.
There are small patterns on the surface of the log. It was a wood I had never seen before.
When I investigated later, I found out that this single pillar was a type of fern plant with a tree-like trunk called Hego.
The stems of Hego stand upright above the ground and reach a height of 7-8 m.
Fern leaves about 3 meters long are attached to the tips of the stems in a radial shape to create shade.
Later, in Bali, I saw a real Hego plant growing wild with large fern leaves spread out like a parasol. The delicate sunlight filtering through the fern leaves illuminated the moss-covered ground, making it very beautiful.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
The stems produced by ferns have traces of the roots of fallen leaves, creating an oval-shaped oval-like pattern.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
The roof is covered with palm leaves.
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
Photo by author using KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA , 2007
From Berastagi to Lake Toba. There distance is over 60 kilometers.
Lake Toba is the largest caldera lake in the world
Lake Toba (Danau Toba) is 100 km long, about 30 km wide, and has a maximum depth of 530 m.
It is the largest caldera lake in the world with an area of 1,000 km2.
The area of Samosil Island in the lake is larger than that of Singapore and Awaji Island (Japan).
Photo by author, 2007
Admire the shores of Lake Toba, located at the northernmost point, and descend the slope to the village of Sibolangit.
It is a small village. I don’t see any domestic or foreign travelers at all.
There are only three of us. This is a village on the shore of a lake.
Photo by author, 2007
Rafts from a fish farm on the shore of the lake.
In the silence, the wind is gentle and the waves are calm. Further additions are being made to the right half of the rafts.
Photo by author, 2007
Photo by author, 2007
A large number of drums are used as floats.
Photo by author, 2007
This trip to Lake Toba was a short trip to see it in between work in Medan.
I learned that it was a very stimulating area from an ethnological perspective, so I left this place thinking that I would like to revisit it someday.
All Photos by author, 2007
