Short discovery trip to Lake Toba, Medan, Indonesia

Taking a ferry via Port Kelang is a great idea  ! (Sadly, the Penang ferry service to Medan is discontinued)

If you fly...

Airasia, Firefly and Lion goes to Medan.  There is also direct flight from Penang 

I took Firefly in the morning from Penang and landed in Medan just before noon.

The only issue with Firefly is that the overhead compartments in the plane are too small. If you have a backpack bigger than say 28 litre, you will be hard pressed to squeese it in. But fortunately it's only 45minutes flight.  

Note that effective 25 July 2013 the airport will be moved to Kuala Namu, located 45km north of Medan city, from the current Polonia, which is a stones throw away from most hotels in Medan.  Sorry to say good things seldom last !

Bring Rupiah or clean USD.  One Ringgit is equal to approx 3700 Rupiah

You can go Lake Toba via Brastagi or west through Tebing Tinggi and Pematang Siantar

Any good place to stay in busy busy bustling Medan?  Swiss-Belinn in Jalan Surabaya and Garudaplaza hotel.  Both are clean and reasonable. 

And for bikepackers, you will need to get used to cycling in Medan city. 

A surprisingly nice Chinese looking building close to the popular Merdeka walk in Medan.  Almost all Chinese speaks Hokkien and Mandarin.

I wanted to go Lake Toba via Brastagi

After a couple of days roaming around Medan with my foldie, I decided it was time for me to start my real journey. Destination: Brastagi  

Met cyclist Tommy Ko. He accompanied me up to Sibolangit. A great chap, a champion and campaigner for 'sharing the road' in Medan !

From Sibolangit to Brastagi the roads were narrow and traffic was very heavy.  Lots of taxis and trucks.   Not the best place to ride I must admit

Arrived late afternoon in Brastagi, stayed in Sinabung Hill View hotel, an old hotel but the view was great.

My legs and bottom were really aching after the ride from Medan.  So I decided to put up a second night in Brastagi. This time I decided to put up in homestay.  

Brastagi is 1400 meter (4500 feet) above sea level and therefore its real cool up there; great for cycling and walks.  Visit the fruit market.  Plentiful of fresh Avocados and Makissa 

Started my journey for Tuk Tuk town in Samosir Island early in the morning.   My next stop before Tuk Tuk was coastal town Tigaras

(There is sibayak mountain, waterfalls and some small lakes in Brastagi worth visting, which I could make it this trip.  I will definitely go there the next time)

Struggled with stretches of pebble roads- I believe they were mending the roads.  At least 3 or 4 sections of a stretch of 3 km in this condition ! Phew ! really slowed me down. 

My first puncture just 40km beforeTigaras, where I was to board the ferry to Samosir island

I hid myself in the bush to stay away from the curious school kids!

Cheerful kiddies just after school!

From Brastagi to coastal town Tigaras is about 80km. From Tigaras I boarded a ferry to cross to Simanindo, north of Samosir island.  My destination : Tuk Tuk

Samosir island is bigger than Singapore !

Breathting view of the lake!

As I navigated the slopes down to Tigaras, this picture was my first sight of the lake.  

The cool breeze and the pictureque blue lake, what an idyllic retreat for a picnic !  Unfortunately I had to rush for the ferry to Samosir island and cannot afford to drag my feet any longer

Almost there, Tigaras

Tigaras. Arrived just in time for the ferry.  The ferry leaves every hour between 9am to 6pm.  

The ride was about an hour and I alighted at Simanindo, north of the Samosir island 

Only another 9 km to Tuk Tuk, my final destination

Found a nice and reasonably priced hotel to stay in Tuk Tuk, next to the beautiful lake.

Local Batak design

Can't wait to jump into the lake !  Crystal clear water but chilly.

The next day I hired a motobike to go round Samosir island and Renee from Holland, my neighbour, got a lift from me

Imagine.  I was swimming in the biggest Caldera in the world ! And mind boggling 1500ft deep lake; the deepest lake in South East Asia !

At 3500 ft above sea level, the weather was cool the whole day !   See below more write-ups on Toba Supervolcano.

Stayed 2 nights.  Got up early the second day, had breakfast and decided to test out if I could return home the same day.  

From the slow dreamy pace of Toba, I fast track my departure, targeting to arrive home the same day.

Paid my bill, hop on the next 10am boat (great thing is the ferry picks up pessengers from this hotel) and arrived at mainland coastal town of Parapat. While in the boat, I used my smartphone to book my 6.30pm AirAsia flight back to Penang. 

Hopped on a limousine at Parapat to go Medan via Pematang Siantar, for rp500k (rm150).  Arrived at Medan just afternoon.  Since I still had like 3 hours to kill, I called Tommy to pick me up. We had lunch and coffee in his house.

Cycled back from Penang airport.  All in one day from Lake Toba to Penang !!

Amazing story of Toba...

Read more about Toba..

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/toba2.html

Some quick tips from bikepackers:

1) Buy a SIM card in Medan for rm30.  This will allow you to use your phone and data for 2 months !

2) People are friendly and it's not dangerous to eat in local coffee shops; there's no snatch thieves and you wont becharged tourist price

3) Suggested route

    - Fly to the new airport Namu.  Take a taxi to Pemantang Siangtar, stay a night.

   - Or, will be fantastic if its possible to take a ferry from Port Kelang.  I don't know where the ferry will land.  Belawan? Cycle to Medan or Tebing Tinggi to put up a night?

5) Next morning, cycle up to Parapat (from Siangtar to Parapat is up hill)

6) From coastal town of Parapat take a ferry across to Tuk Tuk

7) Stay in local motels, like Carolina (around RM 60 a night for 2). 

8) Go swimming, fishing and hire motorbike to go explore the island Samosir.

9) Return trip, cycle 10km to Simanido to take a ferry to Tigaras

10) Cycle to Beratagi (Tigaras to Brastagi is a bit of uphill), stay a night in Brastagi

11) Next day take a taxi to Namu airport, or alternatively, cycle to Medan(downhill all the way), stay a night in Medan before flying or ferry back

 

I wish all backpackers visting Toba happy cycling !! 

And remember, YOURE VISITING AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SITE, A CALDERA OF A SUPERVOLCANO THAT NEARLY WIPED OUT MANKIND 70,000 YEARS A GO !!!!

And if you need a cyclist contact in Medan  : Tommy Koh, hp : 0812 6337 569  email : tommyko61@yahoo.com

 

WalinShee

walin@howei.com

+6012 423 1163