Nestled at the edge of Lake Toba, our time staying in the Toledo hotel on Samosir Island was the perfect, peaceful closing chapter to our unforgettable journey through Sumatra.
Nearly as big in area as Singapore, Samosir, the ‘island within an island’ is the fifth largest lake island in the world. The island had a laid-back way of life and a rich history. We had the opportunity to delve into the culture of the Batak people which offered a unique and different side of Indonesia.
Our day began with our hotel breakfast overlooking Lake Toba. Breakfast was simple but tasty with slightly less choice than previous hotels but fresh and enjoyable and of much better quality.
Our Samosir guide Damayanti (Yanti) met us at our hotel which was located in the popular tourist village of Tuktuk. We set off in the Intrepid mini bus and a few minutes later, arrived at our first stop, the ancient Siallagan village, with its traditional Batak houses.
Yanti explained the intricate artwork of the Batak people and specifically the sacred traditional colours of white, red and black. White for purity; red for bravery and black for leadership.
Inside the Batak house, Yanti started to explain the history of this specific village, being founded by the first tribal leader, King Laga Siallagan.
The word ‘Horas’ is usually found at the entrance of a Batak house, which is a greeting meaning ‘welcome’.
Continuing the story, Yanti took us to the meeting stones for some role playing where historically the King had the largest chair and the criminal had the smallest chair. These hand-carved stone chairs were used for the tribal justice system to determine the fate of the criminal.
The second set of chairs contained the execution stones where the criminals were executed.
At the end of this visit, we walked out past many souvenir shops and back to our Intrepid mini bus.
Along the coastal road we stopped at the Monument and The Grave of Ompu Landit Simanihuruk, a cone shaped tomb which is a key focal point for Batak families.
Kampung Ulos Hutaraja
Our next Batak village was Kampung Ulos Hutaraja where we were welcomed with a traditional Batak dance.
Traditional Batak weaving is still done at this heritage site.
The village had a modern coffee shop which overlooked the lake. The Americano I had, made with local Sumatran coffee was the best coffee of the trip.
Lunch
We were served a traditional lunch served in a Batak house. This house has recently been opened as a homestay and some of us sat on the floor and some sat on the mattresses of those who stay here.
We sat down with a simple layout however more and more freshly prepared dishes kept arriving which included: vegetable curry, fried vegetable fritters, fried tempah, chicken, rice, an egg dish, fish from the lake and more.
I’m not sure of her name, but the lovely friendly (and photogenic) chef sat with us throughout lunch.
Huta Bolon Simanindo Museum
Following lunch our next stop was to the open air Huta Bolon Simanindo museum, another Batak heritage site.
One of the buildings was used for grinding rice as Yanti explained to us.
This is a Dutch colonial style building which was built by King Humpul Pane Sidauruk. This architectural style was rare in Samosir. Inside the light and airy rooms contain historic items including a piano and a sewing machine.
The windmill overlooking Lake Toba was added as a nod to Dutch culture.
Our final stop was to a viewing platform where we could climb to the top, enjoy the cooler breeze in the otherwise warm temperatures and admire panoramic views of Lake Toba.
Following a full immersion of Batak culture, we arrived back at the Toledo hotel at around 3.30 pm so had some free time. Some of the group went for a refreshing swim in the lovely hotel pool but Bridget and myself decided to walk into the village.
Today was around 27 degrees and the hotel was located in the village meaning our walk only took a few minutes. Tuktuk is located on a small peninsula so is surrounded by lake views. The village caters well for tourists with several bars and restaurants, many of which have open decks with open vistas across the lake.
At 5 pm Abdul offered a guided walk and only Bridget and I participated in this option. The 3 of us set off with Abdul pointing out a wide range of plants, trees and flowers.
The nipple fruit is poisonous and is grown as an ornamental fruit. The leaves look vicious with long spikes sticking out of them!
One place offered laundry and also sold magic mushrooms and with Bintang, massage and mushrooms, the above place seemed to offer a holistic psychedelic and all-in chilled experience!
Moving on, next we came to a half constructed temple! This seemed strange with the top half at the stage of complete decoration but the bottom half had been barely started…
We had walked around to the other side of the Tuktuk peninsula.
Abdul took Bridget and I into a large souvenir shop selling thousands of hand made wood carvings. We met the wood carver who explained the traditions and each of the features of the Batak houses of which he carves.
We spent 1.5 hours exploring Tuktuk with Abdul and by the time we returned, the sun was starting to set.
Accommodation: Toledo Hotel
Band by night, jet ski by day!
From our hotel we could see several jet skis zipping past throughout the day… on closer look it turned out that the guys we had seen in the band from our first night in Samosir also offered jet ski rides during the daytime!
Bridget and I shared a lovely lake view twin room which had a couple of comfy chairs and a small table outside.
The hotel had a relaxed holiday vibe filled with beautiful tropical flowers at every turn.
And had its own small harbour and jetty.
On the last night we were treated to a gorgeous sunset which turned the lake into subtle warm shades of pink and orange.
With its magnificent lakeside setting, the hotel was fabulous and perfect for our short stay.
For the final night on Samosir island, Abdul had booked a table in the nearby Orari restaurant which was a few minutes walk from the hotel. My vegetable curry was massive (and delicious).
Travelling back to Medan
Sadly it was time to leave and for our return journey across Lake Toba we took the small passenger ferry from Samosir island back to Sumatra. The van had taken our main luggage at 07.30 which gave us 3 hours to have a leisurely breakfast and relax in the beautiful lakeside surroundings before we left.
At 10.30 the small ferry stopped at the hotel and within a couple of minutes we were all on board and it continued round the peninsula to pick up a handful of other passengers from different Tuktuk hotel jettys.
After an hour or so we arrived back to mainland Sumatra.
The port was busy as we disembarked and walked for about 300 metres through the hustle and bustle of the market to meet our minibus ready for the drive back to Medan.
Lunch
At around 1 pm we stopped for lunch at the fabulous Kafe Anggrek. This is an orchid garden cafe and you can wander around the many rows of colourful orchids being grown.
The service was good (unusually) as the drinks, then the meals arrived together. My lunch of nasi goreng vegetable and a large fresh and delicious mango juice came to just IDR53000 (£2.20).
We arrived back in Medan at around 4.15 pm and the remaining Medan activities are covered in the main Medan post.
End of trip summary
This was a fantastic and diverse trip with jungle, volcano, lake and city. Bridget and I were fortunate to have shared these experiences with a lovely group of fellow travellers. Our knowledgeable guide Abdul was a great storyteller, super helpful and looked after us at all times. Overall this was another brilliant Intrepid trip.
This is the final post of our South East Asian adventures in Singapore and Sumatra. As mentioned, we had one more night back in Medan with our farewell group meal and then we took our flights back home via Singapore again but this time our return journey was just a transfer rather than a stopover.
I looked forward to seeing Chris and my family but, the wanderlust never fades and I’d still rather be exploring the world than heading back to the UK 😕
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