Monday 24 February 2014

Samosir Island, Lake Toba


Early in the morning, we woke up and had breakfast (breakfast was provided for free) at the coffee house. The coffee house was quite far from our room. You could walk but Pak Hassan picked us up and sent us by car. I guess all the drivers get free meals at most hotels here as I noticed all of them relax aje mkn2 breakfast...:)

Anyway, today we would continue our journey to Samosir Island @ Lake Toba.

Before that, here are some info about Lake Toba & Samosir Island adapted from Wiki:

Lake Toba (Indonesian: Danau Toba) is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide, and up to 505 meters (1,666 ft) deep. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 metres, it is the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world. Lake Toba is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption that occurred 69,000 to 77,000 years ago, representing a climate-changing event. It is the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years. According to the Toba catastrophe theory, it had global consequences for human populations: it killed most humans living at that time and is believed to have created a population bottleneck in central east Africa and India, which affects the genetic make up of the human world-wide population to the present. This hypothesis is not widely accepted because evidence is lacking for a decline or extinction of other animals, including species that are sensitive to changes in the environment.  It has been accepted that the eruption of Toba led to a volcanic winter with a worldwide decrease in temperature between 3 to 5 °C , and up to 15 °C in higher latitudes. Additional studies in Lake Malawi in East Africa show significant amounts of ash being deposited from the Toba eruptions, even at that great distance, but little indication of a significant climatic effect in East Africa. 

Hmmm....dasyat betol eruption di Lake Toba ni satu masa dulu, gulp..takot pulak membacanya....

Meanwhile...

Samosir Island, is a large volcanic island in Lake Toba, located in the north of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The lake and island were formed after the eruption of a supervolcano some 75,000 years ago. The island was originally connected to the surrounding caldera wall by a small isthmus, which was cut through to aid navigation.At 640 square kilometres (247 sq mi), Samosir is the largest island within an island, and the fifth largest lake island in the world. It also contains two smaller lakes, Lake Sidihoni and Lake Aek Natonang. Across the lake on the east from the island lies Uluan Peninsula. The island is linked to the mainland of Sumatra on its western part by a narrow isthmus connecting the town of Pangururan on Samosir and Tele on mainland Sumatra. Tele consequently offers one of the best views of Lake Toba and Samosir Island.

Begitulah serba sedikit tentang Samosir Island ni tuan2 dan puan2...

Jadi, lepas breakfast, kami pon terus pack barang n checked out from Danau Toba Int Cottage coz after Samosir, we would continue our journey to Berastagi. If u have more time to spare, boleh aja stay for 2 days. Lepak2 kat hotel, menghirup udara yang segar dan nyaman...hehehe....

Perjalanan ke jetty sekejap aja, about 5 minutes drive. Naik ferry dlm 50 minit gitu...

View of the lake n its surrounding area
from the ferry

The two princesses

Lake toba shrouded in mystery
Penyanyi jalanan pon
ada dalam feri... carik makan...


Sampai dah....

Kat sini ada bnyk rumah2 ala2 tradisional
Penduduk di sini. X pasti pulak mereka mmg duduk
Dlm ni or just for exhibit. 

Pintu2 rumah di Samosir ni
ada 2 jenis to indicate the
gender of the owner.  Kalu
mcm ni, ownernya lelaki.
Rumah Batak dr
Pandangan sisi


























Yg ni muzium Batak. Kecik jer muziumnyer...
Jom masok!
Dlm museum kecik tu, mereka pamerkan daily xtvt kaum batak... jom tngk apa ada kt dlm. Bila tngk interior rumah ni, teringat pula interior rumah pnjng di sarawak. Mcm ada similarity. ...


Mesin buat kain....
Alatan muzik

Replika rumah pasung. Dkt dlm tu merupakan
replika patung yg sedang tunggu masa untuk
Dipancong.
Kemain sukan budak2 ni lepak kat batu2 ni...
Yang ni plak penerangan upacara memancong kepala pesalah...
Ngeri wooo dengar citernya....
Masih aksi yang sama jugak...
Lepas jalan2 ape lagik, masok souvenir shop ler. Tp barang2 kat sini
IMO memang murah2 ler... Nampak kedai soft drink kat sebelah kiri tu?
Mahal ya rabbi air die, al-maklomla kedai jual air memang limited. Ada dalam
2-3 kedai aja.  Makin ke dalam, makin mahal woo... Kalah hotel

Silalah derma bg sapa2  yang
nk derma...

Back on the ferry. Muka masing2
Puas hati dh dpt cenderahati masing2. Knk2 pn
 mcm org dewasa juga, mesti nk belik souvenirs...:)

Selepas menghabiskan beberapa jam di Samosir, kami pon menaiki feri semula untuk ke satu lagi perkampungan Batak, Kampong Tomok.

Feri ni dua tingkat. This one was captured from the top floor overlooking
the ground floor. Feri ni style open air. No air-cond. X perlu pon
rasanya air-cond...

Other hotel at the other side of Toba


Anak2 kecil kaum Batak berenang. There was a scene that was a bit
disturbing to me. It seems that people will throw money into the lake
and these kids will swim to chase the money. Those who are fast will get
the money. Why don't they just give the money to the kids instead of throwing it
into the lake? To me, it's something inhumane. 

Kampung Tomok. Kami x turun. I just went
down to buy some drinks. Kena bayar nak
masuk kg ni, tp when i told them i
just wanna buy drinks, mika bg masuk free.
Bnyk anjing lah sini....
Feri berhenti kat sini x lama. Sementara feri berlabuh tu, adalah penjual2 datang jual ubi la, kacangla, kopi la..dan mcm2 lagi...

Lepas sampai semula ke Tanah Besar, kami singgah makan di Rumah Makan Nikmat sebelum meneruskan perjalanan ke Berastagi.

Kalau singgah makan sini, try masak lemak cili apinya...memang
sedap. Harga okla... berpatutan. Rasa? Ok juga...

Still the typical style of Padang Restaurant.

My fav item: I bought this antique mini iron at Samosir Island. Cuba teka berapa harganya? Di Malaysia, saya pernah nampak sejibon, harganya dlm RM80 tetapi di Samosir harganya cuma RP10, 000 (after negotiation). ..he..he..he...
Cute, isn't it?
 CLICK HERE FOR NEXT POST

Monday 17 February 2014

Danau Toba International Cottage

Hello all...

Let's continue my journey @ Medan. After luncheon at the padang restaurant, we continued our journey to Parapat. The journey took us about 5 hours...sigh....sob..sob...tp mcm2 pemandangan u blh tengok... ada hutan, ada kampung, ada mcm2 lah... Pak Hassan pulak jenis x kisah, boleh aja berhenti kat mana2... Cuma kami aja yg x suka berhenti2 sangat...nak cepat sampai...

We stopped for a while at the famous Paten Shop. X belik pon, rasa2 kacang free (memang ada free sample for visitors), p toilet, lepas tu cabot... x ada yg berkenan. To me, the shop is too exaggerated! Harga mahal sikit dari kedai biasa. Another reason we didn't buy, perhaps because we were too tired of the journey in the car...so, stretching2 apa yg patot ajela...Ample parking space though, senang nak parking.

The entrance
Ada one group of tourists sedang merasa2 kacang. 

Lepas 15-20 minit dekat Paten, we continued our journey to Danau Toba International Cottage. Dalam kepenatan tu, tiba-tiba bila ternampak aja view of Lake Toba, terus hilang segala penat 5 jam tadi...hihihi... to tell you the truth, that was one of the most magnificent view i had ever seen in my entire life. Tranquil and serene, full of mystery. It's hard to describe by words the serenity of the place, so pure and demure...

Captured from inside the car. 
Dekat2 nak maghrib, kami pon sampai ke hotel. Kami sekeluarga chose the superior rooms while my friend and her family stayed at the cottages (near the pool). Cottage style is much more expensive than superior room. However, view di superior room memang superb!  Bukak pintu, terus nampak Lake Toba... Nyamannya rasa....jauh dari kesibukan di Kuala Lumpur.... Dengan cuacanya yang nyaman, memang seronoklah..rasa tenang dan carefree... Suhu pada ketika itu agak sejuk, dalam 18 darjah celcius gitula... The cheapest room would be standard room tp masa kami book tu, dah sold out. Memang kami plan nak duduk sama, tapi dah x cukup bilik, tu yang pilih bilik lain2 style. We booked directly from the hotel's website. Booking online from the website is much cheaper than walk in. For example, for our superior room, we paid rp450,000 (app RM125) per night instead of rp500,000 (app RM150) inclusive of breakfast for 2. Bnyk jugak difference tu!


1 double bed, cukupla untuk kami 3 beranak. Yg baju biru tu kawan
Faris, aka adik angkat die, datang melawat. My parents stayed next door. 

Ha..motif utama gambar ni nak tunjuk, bukak pintu, nampak danau.
Jadi, silalah abaikan semak samun kat tepi2 tu ya...:)

The view from our superior room. Cantikkan?

Mama n adik in the morning. 
How's the hotel? Obviously it's a 3 star hotel, so memang ala2 3 star hotel la. Tp kedudukannya tu yang menyebabkan kami pilih hotel ni. Harganya pon berpatutan... Tplah kan, banyak betol nyamuk kat sini...adoila kenyang rasa kena gigit... Kami ada complain kat housekeeping, mereka pon semborla bilik dengan ridsect. Air panas plak ada time penggunaannya (dah lupa plak time) - petang sekali, pagi sekali. If u miss the stipulated time, alamat beku ler mandi sejuk....  Housekeeping memang pantas. Call aje, teros mai. Sekejap I mintak bantal, sekejap mintak sejadah, sekejap mintak ridsect, mcm2 lah...

Breakfast was so so and not as variety as Swiss Belinn...Kat Swiss Belinn memang melimpah ruah makanannya....(sorry, x ada plak tngkp gambar cafe). X ada ape sangat pon breakfastnya, cuma ada mi goreng dan nasi goreng, itu aja...

The balcony from my room
Early in the morning...
Anak bujangku...

View of Lake Toba from the swimming pool.  Anak2 kawan
terjun kolam ni tengah malam...sejuk ya rabbi...


















Overall, i was quite satisfied with my stay here....I'm not the picky type, and i've experienced worse, so..okla kiranya hotel ni... Tp view, memang 1st class....cantik! If u wanna book directly from the website, this is the address: http://www.danautobahotel.com/internationalcottage/


Thursday 13 February 2014

MEDAN (DAY 1)

Salam semua,

Seperti yg tertera di atas, my next destination would be Medan di Pulau Sumatera, Indonesia.  Sebenarnya ada satu set entry lagi tertunggak, yakni entry umrah. Insyaallah, after citer2 Medan lah ya.

Sebenarnya, mmg x plan nk jln akhir tahun coz end of the year is normally a peak period for me. Mmg bz gila2 tp dh kwn ajak, jom ajela...kebetulan tiket pon murah. We got the return ticket to Medan for RM103. We didn't pre-order any food as the journey was so short.  Pendek kata, nk bakar sebatang rokok pon x dan.

We departed from LCCT in the evening. Bear in mind that Medan is one hour behind us. Oh ya, airport baru Medan skrg di Kuala Namu, no more at Polonia Airport. The drawback: about an hour to Medan, unlike Polonia Airport, only 5 minutes drive to Medan. Anyway, airport lama tu dh jd army hangar dh skrg. Kesian hotel2 sekitar airport lama tu, mesti kurang guests.

Same building as the airport.
Sampai aja di Kuala Namu, pak supir dah menunggu. Kami mkn dulu dkt A&W kat airport, baru ke hotel.

We stayed at Swiss Belinn Hotel. Nice boutique hotel with 24 hours convenience
Store next to it. The hotel upgraded us to double deluxe rooms because there were no more superior rooms at the moment. May be because ada 1 bas rombongan baru sampai dh sapu semua bilik biasa kot.

Breakfast pon ok. Variety, mcm2 ada. Farah had to pay rp45000 for breakfast. Oh ya, harga bilik kami dlm rm90 (inclusive of breakfast for 2). Ada wifi dlm bilik. Laju n freeee....
Top: The bed
Middle: seating area in the room
Bottom: free computer with
Internet access at the lobby.
Malam tu kami x da apa2 xtvt cuma tido je lah... esoknya pagi2 Pak Hassan dh tunggu nk bawa pusing Medan dan seterusnya ke Toba.

1st destination was Istana Maimon. Istana ni kecik aja. Ada entrance fee tp x ingat brp tp murah ja. About seringgit gitu. Dlm tu blhla snap2 gmbr dan ada kedai2 jual souvenir. Even di luar istana pon ada bnyk kedai souvenir.

Di verandah istana
 Ada juga disediakan sewaan costume kanak2. Bayarannya rp10 000 per kid, per attire. So, princess2 mmg excited. Princes? Buat x layan....sebok main tombak.

Before
After

2 happy princesses

Kami x lama kat sana. Lps tu singgah shopping kat kedai telekong dan ke pasar ikan.

Telekung2. I only bought 1..ha..ha..dh shopping
Habis kat Bandong hari tu kan...
Frankly speaking, prices in Medan are way too expensive compared to Bandong.  Tp bila dah sampai tu, belikla 1 2 brg, buat syarat....

Pasar ikan ni sempit dan ramai org. It reminded me of the market at chow kit. From pasar ikan, we had lunch at a padang resto.




Tasty!!! Sangat kenyang mkn....

After lunch, we departed to Parapat. The journey took about 5 hours.  If there was a highway, I think motorists could cut the journey short by 1 or 2 hours.

~to be continued~

Friday 7 February 2014

BANDUNG REVISITED: TOTAL EXPENSES



Hi all...

Here is the total expense for my 4 days 3 nights Bandung trip. 

Air Asia Flight Ticket (return with meals and luggage) = RM 92 + RM36 (misc) = RM128
Hotel Kenangan - triple bed (3 nights) = RM322/3 = RM107
Transportation = RM310/5 = RM62
From airport to hotel  = RM16/5 = RM3.20
Transtudio  Bandong = RM42
Kawah Putih = RM 12.30
Spa = RM48 (ingat2 lupa dah...)
Airport Tax Bandung = RM21
TOTAL: RM423.50* per pax

*exclusive food

Itulah breakdown of the total expenditure @ Bandong. Actually, the trip was unexpected. As usual, my hands are always itchy to check prices of flight tickets... Suddenly, I saw the return tix to Bandong costing only RM92... What??? RM92??? Bookla..ape lagi...

CLICK HERE FOR:

BANDUNG REVISITED (PART 1)
BANDUNG REVISITED (PART 2)
BANDUNG REVISITED (PART 3)

Ok, next story will be about my Medan Trip..Till then, wassalam...



OVERNIGHT AT THE BERBER DESERT CAMP

Selepas lunch, kami teruskan lagi perjalanan yang panjang sampai lah petang.  Look at the view.. Magnificent!  We crossed the High Atlas Mou...

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