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Medan Lake Toba 2023 - Part 4 Samosir Island and P. Siantar

  On Good Friday of 2023, we went from Taman Simalem Resort to Sibea-Bea Hill , and then continued by land to Samosir Island. This is not a common nor well known route to reach Samosir Island, but there is a way to get to Samosir Island from the mainland without a ferry. Samosir Island is the largest island within an island and is the homeland to Batak people. At 630 km2, it is almost as big as Singapore! A friend who is a local recommended the Samosir Cottages Resort, stating that this was the only one he could recommend. Even so, we were rather disappointed. It was a huge, overpacked resort, not particularly the cleanest, and the breakfast spread was simply bad. That being said, I don't know a better alternative. I think the accommodation sector on the island could use a lot of improvements. The most memorable of the resort for me was the tight and narrow parking lot that was under renovations at that time that really tested my driving skills.  That evening we walked to a restau
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Medan Lake Toba 2023 - Part 3 Bukit Sibea-Bea

  It was Good Friday, a fitting day to visit Bukit Sibea-Bea in my opinion. We drove from Taman Simalem Resort  through winding roads up and down the mountain. Let's just say it was not for the faint of hearts, with landslides to boot. Bukit Sibea-bea was supposed to be a hill, and I was a little concerned when the Google Maps brought us through downward loops for a good half hour from the main road. Alas, when we reached the bottom, we saw the hill in the distance. Bukit Sibea-bea is home to a statue of Jesus, still under construction at the time of our visit (and still not finished as I write this). The statue is going to be 61 meters tall, though I'm not sure if that counts the base and pedestal in or out. I guess we'll see when it's done! Mini statue of Jesus Even though the main attraction of the hill was not yet finished, the view from the hill was quite a sight. It's another point to see the magnificent Lake Toba.  We spent about 40 minutes there and continue

Medan Lake Toba 2023 - Part 2 Taman Simalem Resort

Continuing our Medan Lake Toba Journey, on the second day we woke up early to catch the beautiful sunrise. The garden behind our rooms gave us an amazing sunrise view of Lake Toba and the surrounding mountains, with Gardenias in the foreground.  Soon after the sun rose, we took the car and drove up to One Tree Hill, the highest point of Taman Simalem Resort. We followed Google Maps to find the hill and for a while the road felt like it was not going anywhere. But we continued anyway and found it!  The One Tree Hill has a phinisi boat perched on it for picture purposes, and true to its name, you will find a small hill with a single tree on it as well.  Being on the One Tree Hill was a bit strange. One minute you will see thing super clear and the next you can barely see your hand because of the fog. It came and went a few times while we were there. Nevertheless, the view was amazing. The next free activity you could sign up for that day was trekking. Only DH and Miss Kiki went though,

Medan Lake Toba 2023 - Part 1 Sipiso-Piso Waterfall

Last year for Easter weekend, our family went to Lake Toba . It was my very first time in North Sumatra so I was quite excited. I had several friends who were born and raised in Medan so I tried to get as many information and references as possible for this trip. Thank you, guys! You know who you are.... If one simply wants to go to Lake Toba, there is an airport closer that you can fly into from Jakarta. This time, however, I flew to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra. For this trip I drove from Medan to Lake Toba and back with a somewhat circular route, allowing us to cover more cities. Upon arrival in Medan, we rented a car (booked in advance) and I drove to our destination for the day: Taman Simalem Resort . The drive itself was about 4 hours long, but we stopped in Brastagi's Asia Restaurant for lunch (recommended!) and also at Sipiso-Piso Waterfall. Sipiso-Piso Waterfall is a 120m tall waterfall, and it looks like a knife splitting