Steven Raucher's World Tour

2001-10-13 in Danau Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia
Hanging out in the lake

Danau Toba kept its promise of being a special place to come and unwind and find peace etc etc, the problem was we were looking for adventure not chilling. Four days later we were bored to death and headed south towards Bukkitingi and Lake Maninjao.

Most of our time was spent doing nothing, I am getting very good at this. However, in a moment of inspiration I got dressed; (always a good start); fired up the bike; and headed up the mountain on Samosir Island for a bit of sight-seeing. The roads on the way up the mountain are made of little round rocks and mud. We were told that it was impossible to drive all the way to Dolok, a mountainside village, but somehow we made it there, instead of entering the village we did an about face and headed back down the mountain. All told I had done about 60 kms in just over 3 hours, maybe better indication of the state of the road surface, if any.

The road from Samosir to the mainland (Samosir is in fact a peninsular joined to the mainland by a very small causeway therefore giving the impression of an island) gives some of the most spectacular views of the lake and surrounding countryside. But by taking this route out of Samosir one adds a couple of hours to one�s journey as the road is constantly zig-zagging through the mountains on its way south.

Instead of driving 12 hours back to Bukittingi I called it quits in a little town called Tarutung, not a very charming place at all and we experienced our first �Get out of my country!!!� greeting, not very pleasant really.

The next day I backtracked my previous route north and arrived in Bukittingi in time for tea. I would recommend this route to anyone who loves cornering for 10 hours continuously, because that is really what it is like, following a river snaking its way about 550 kms. Very tiring but equally rewarding.

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the lakeside, a pleasant place to chill

trail bashing on the top of the mountain

the view from the top

a typical Batak style street

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