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 a rock in half. Hence, the name Sipiso-Piso which means a knife in the local language. It was cloudy when we were there but it was still bright on the eyes. We parked at the entrance and took the stairs down to the photo-taking area, but we didn't go all the way down to the bottom. It is possible though, if you really want to. We spent about half an hour there and then moved on.

We arrived at Taman Simalem Resort in the late afternoon. The resort area is huge! They have hotel buildings, a lodge, villas, and a camping ground for accommodation. The rooms we booked had a garden overlooking Lake Toba from above. it was amazing!

There are a lot of activities you can join at the resort. Some are free and some you have to pay for. They have different schedules so it is best to check with them in advance. That afternoon, not long after we checked in, we registered for their Organic Farm Tour and coffee tasting. It turned out that we were the only participants for this tour that day, which was nice so we could go at our own pace. First, we looked at their coffee processing, and then at the greenhouses and the produce processing area. Apparently they supply organic produce to the local businesses.

When the tour was finished, we were brought to the coffee shop for coffee tasting. They had a variety of beans to choose from, all served manual brew style.

During sunset, we went to the restaurant and got a table at a prime location overlooking the beautiful lake. It had been a long day, so we took it easy for the rest of the evening.