Taiwan Camping 台灣露營

21~26 June 2013

Lake Toba is the world biggest volcanic lake located in Sumatra, getting there can prove a challenge.
The people there are called Batak, previously head hunters who now mostly converted to Christians. Their culture are very unique especially the buffalo horn roof top and the food is simply fantastic.

Lake Toba has been my dream destination since 1990. At that time getting there was rather difficult as the transportation was not easily available and was expensive.

This time we took a budget airline Jetstar from Singapore to Medan. From there we hired a Tuk-Tuk to take us to a private mini van service station, had to squeeze with other locals on a 6 hours road journey to Parapat which cost us Rp35,000. There are bus service to Parapat, information can be found HERE.

From Parapat we took a ferry to Samosir island where all the resorts are located. We made a slight error by not notifying the owner of Mas Cottage of our arrival. Normally they will pick us up or the ferry will head directly to Mas Cottage. We ended up hiring a bike to get us there.

Arriving at Mas Cottage we received a warm welcome, the room was clean but do not expect 5 star. Our room was located on the second floor with a beautiful view of the lake. The room at that time cost USD15 a night.

For the next seven days we spend the peacefulness on this island. We rented a scooter from the owner and went round the island. Otherwise we would go swimming which is right in-front of our room. Their home cooked food was simply delicious and was very reasonable.