Wednesday 17 December 2014

Medan Journal (Day 3): Danau (Lake) Toba

Ferry Journey - An Anecdote

Waiting in the Ferry

The warm air swept across the lake, passing through the massive ferry, onto my face. The air was so refreshing. This is not the first time I travelled on a ferry, but this particular time it felt different. It doesn't have the typical smell of the sea breeze. The air here is so clean, unlike the musty, sticky, salty air of the sea. It was a lake after all.

Can you see four people at the edge of the ferry, waiting to jump off?

While enjoying the gorgeous scenery of Danau Toba, I suddenly saw someone jumped off the ferry. Followed by another one. Then another.

"Why would they do that?!" I asked myself.

Young Men Overboard!

Fortunately it wasn't anything bad. It was actually the locals on the ferry, kids really (?pre-teens maybe), who wanted some money. They would jumped into the water and the people on the ferry will throw some coins into the lake and he kids will dive after them. I'm pretty the other newbies on the ferry (ahem, like me, ahem) were pretty stunned at the beginning, but after a while, the ferry was filled with cheering, money-throwing and whatnot.

What a creative way to make a living, isn't it?

The faces of happy citizens. 

Danau Toba

Danau Toba & Lake Samosir - A Perspective
Credit: Google Maps

A. First off, a little bit of history and fun facts on Lake Toba:
  • Lake Toba: Length - 81km, Width - 30km, depth - 505m, compared to Samosir Island (in the middle): Length - 44km, Width - 20km
  • It is the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world.
  • It is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption that occurs more than 70, 000 years ago, the largest known explosive eruption in the last 25 million years (yup, very powerful!)
B. With regards to Samosir Island:

Paddy Fields on Samosir Island
  • This island was named after a Batak King, King Samosir. 
  • Main occupations of the people here: farmers & fishermen.
  • The Batak nation (major ethnics inhabiting this island) was divided into six tribes that inhabit the Northern and Central Sumatera. Among them are Batak Karo, Mandailing and Toba. I reckon this is Toba's territory. It can be seen through their boat-shaped roof design and finely decorated carvings. Batak Toba's tribe has two pointy ends. The Minangkabau for example, had mutliples of rooftop 'spike'. Karo had four. 
  • Ridu said that this place also has 'zero crime rate.' When asked how is it possible, he replied that they have a very strong sense of culture here. They don't have any policeman or soldiers roaming around the village, except for certain specific jobs like post-guarding (I don't know what does that mean, but that was what he said, I think).In their culture, anyone caught stealing won't be jailed as per standard procedure but will be sentenced to death instead. That.Is.Scary.So that is Samosir Island in summary. Oh, did I also mentioned that Samosir Island (640 km²) is not that far off, area-wise, compared to Singapore (716.1 km²). That's worth noting I reckon!
Anyway, it's getting late. We arrived at Tomok Jetty after ~30 minutes ride, and drove for another 1.5 hours (from Tomok jetty to Amabrita and Tuk Tuk) before reaching our accomodation at Bagus Bay, just in time for the Maghrib prayer. We had dinner and slept early that night. I really can't wait to explore the island tomorrow!

25 comments:

  1. Really enjoyed this entry as before.. Cant wait to go travelling at Lake Toba..TQ for sharing and felt like already been there.Good job .haha

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  2. quite scary...dive without safety equip. tapi tu cara mereka..

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  3. sukalah tengok permandangan dia...

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  4. Cantik sangat²..

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  5. SUKAR JUGA CARI DUIT BGTU HINGGA MEMPERTARUHKN NYAWA...

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  6. pulau samosir di tgh danau toba rupanya ...

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  7. dah lama nak pergi.murah pulak tu..KL-Medan mcm KL Penang aje

    Jemputlah ke blog saya #projek2ribu

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    1. Thanks kerana sudi lawat...Dah lawat blog anda yang cantik tu...

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  8. Dah macam penang plak kereta boleh naik ferry...

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  9. Terkenang gi sana dulu.. nak plan2 la gi sana lagi

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  10. really love lake toba...! calm peaceful and pristine... cuma journey nak ke sana tu yg x tahan... anyway, to me, the exhaustion of sitting in the car on the way to toba was worth it when i 1st caught a glimpse of the lake... ;) priceless!
    Haah, saya dulu pon terperanjat tengok budak2 yang dalam air kejar duit tu..

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  11. mesti nyaman tinggal di sini..takde jenayah..udara bersih, pemandangan indah...

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  12. sapa yang kena tangkap mencuri terus kena bunuh.kejam tapi it works.

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  13. The largest volcanic lake in the world.. subhanallah...

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    1. Frankly speaking... i don't have a guts to simply jump off just like that especially the lake.. piewww... :D

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  14. happy kelihatannya..wow! nice share travel

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  15. wah... mmg cantik... slama ni dok dgr je org citer...

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  16. serupa kat penang ja.. tapi ni kalau nk terjun pon boleh.. buat hujan ka masuk keta la..

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  17. terjun dari feri yang tengah bergerak?
    seram aje dengar

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  18. Sampai begitu sekali sanggup budak2 tu terjun semata2 utk mendapatkan wang! Menakjubkan! Tak sejuk ke air tasik tu?

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  19. Kalau IM yg tengok mesti tak terfikir org tu terjun nak cari duit. First time tahu..

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  20. jika ke medan..danau toba mesti include dalam itie kan

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