Another motorbike adventure (Mar. 4/09 - Danau Tuba, Sumatra, Indonesia)

It seems that every time we end up on an island, we end up renting a motorbike to explore! (Phu Quoc, Koh Lanta...) So today we continued that pattern, grabbing a snazzy little motorbike and a couple helmets full of spider webs (and spiders!), and off we went. The sun was out and the views were stunning - jagged green volcanic cliffs with waterfalls tumbling down, blue lake water below, palm trees and Batak-style homes scattered about, and bright green rice paddies blanketing the fields. The road was narrow and twisting, but paved and relatively quiet, making for and easy ride. We went north from Tuk Tuk, through the small town of Ambarita where ancient stone chairs are reminders of historic tribunals and beheadings. The road followed the coast north, past farmers and water buffalo working in the fields. The Batak-style homes are everywhere - characterized by long, narrow roofs that have a concave roof line that comes up to a sharp overhanging point at each end. Some of the most beautiful are intricately carved and painted with geometric and symbolic designs. Even some of the tombs, which are everywhere, have taken on the same shape, as many of them are topped with a fancy miniature version of a Batak house, some painted bright colours and others adorned with tiles.


We dodged goats, chickens, huge potholes, water buffalo, oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road, and hoards of school children on their way to/from school in their matching little uniforms, yelling "Hello!" and "What your name?" as we passed. At the north end of the island, we had a nice view out to the far north end of the lake and the multiple volcanoes beyond. Technically, Pulau Samosir doesn't count as an island since it is joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus on the west side. The island's biggest town is located here, which got us lost twice and heading down a one way street in the wrong direction right beside a police blockade. Oops! Good thing they were just looking for helmets. That was a good turn around point, so we retraced our route and managed to miss the turn-off back to Tuk Tuk (we didn't remember turning onto the main road in the first place!) and didn't realize it until we were a few miles beyond it. Oops again. Let's just say that we ended up taking the scenic route back!


After a late lunch, we figured we had better book some onward travel, as our time in Indonesia is quickly running out and there is a lot of land between here and Bali! We decided to take an overnight bus tomorrow south to Padang, where we will fly to Jakarta and then probably take the train east to Surabaya. Java's famous smouldering volcanoes are within reach from there, so it will be our next destination. It's a shame to have to bypass so much amazing countryside, but our prearranged flight out of Bali (which has already been pushed back a week!) has basically determined how much time we have here. So far, we would consider Indonesia to be the first country we would return to on a future trip - and we've barely scratched the surface!