Travelling to Tuk Tuk

Good morning Medan.  As it was raining,  I opted for the easy solution to my transport requirements.  The hardy solution would have involved crossing the busy street using the overhead bridge with my pack, to either the taxi company … or to catch a minivan to the long distance bus station.

Thanks to some guy in the hotel lobby (probably a tout), he arranged for the shared taxi to collect me at the hotel for USD1 more than the standard price.  This price is about double the bus price but it generally offers better comfort and door-to-door service.

As it turned out (due to the size of the various travelling parties), I ended up in the rear benchseat of the Toyota Kijang with a mum with two kids.  The kids took turns throwing up … no one had a bag handy but fortunately mum had a change of clothing to soak it all up.   Eewwww!

Then the older of the two decided she had had enough and wanted to get off … after a bit of bawling, the passengers in front appeased her by playing “spot the monkeys in the jungle” as we drove through the lush greenery of oil palm, rubber and breadfruit … and spindly tapioca plants. Obviously I’m not cut out to be a parent … I had thought of frightening her into silence with pontianak (a particular kind of ghost) stories.

We arrived in Parapat over four hours later, after consolidating with other passengers at Pematang Siantar. We (meaning myself and a German traveller) had just missed the boat to Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island.  That gave us some time for a late lunch of pork noodle soup underneath a mural of The Last Supper.  At our long table were a series of touts who took turns trying to sell us various travel arrangements. Fortunately we were able to excuse ourselves onto our ferry for Tuk Tuk.

Tuk Tuk is an island attached to a larger island (called Samosir, which has some lakes), both of which are located on a huge crater lake (Toba) on an island (Sumatra).  Except that in the first two instances, they’re not technically islands because there is a narrow neck of land.  Confused?

Aaah … bliss!  Finally we’re away from the hustle and bustle that is so typically Indonesia!  I settled into the Merlyn Guesthouse overlooking the muted green waters of Toba … muted today because of the cool, cloudy and drizzly weather.