A tearful goodbye to Ibioh was followed by a taxi through the jungle, which led to a ferry across the water, which led to a 100 tonne freighter 4 km from the coast. The 2004 boxing day tsunami, while a distant memory for most of the world, has littered the city of Banda Aceh with daily reminders. The largest of which is an enormous electrical cable barge that was washed 4 km inland by the enormous wave. Miraculously, the boat settled upright and the one crewman that managed to stay aboard actually survived the ordeal unscathed. Standing in the bridge of the 4 story boat, I cant even see the water. The city, sprawling to the coast, was covered by 7 meters of water at the boat and as much as 20 meters nearer to downtown. Without the periodic immovable artifacts, you would not be able to tell. The homes and bridges have been rebuilt, the roads cleared, and the community grown tighter than ever. The only other reminders are the gruesome photo displays set up to remind people of the ocean's awesome power and to encourage donations to the reconstruction fund.
I spent only the single day in Banda Aceh before making my way to Danau Toba (lake Toba) and the forgotten island (technically a peninsula) of Samosir. I opted for the 'local bus' instead of the much more expensive 'executive' service. By the third stop to load various collections of livestock, produce and 'organic fertilizer', I regretted my decision. While it was very interesting to see how locals move about the country, I could tell that even they were beginning to gag on the rich, non conditioned air that was hanging in the bus. Thankfully the old woman with her bag of durian did not get hungry enough to start eating one (for those of you that know durian, you will sympathize, for those that don't, see wikipedia for an honest description of the fruit).
Lake Toba is an enormous lake, the result of what must have been a volcanic blast of epic proportions. The crater is over 100km long and 50km wide, with a second caldera (Samosir island) rising from it's center and filling about one third of the lake's area. The lake sits at a cool 950m above sea level, with the plateau of Samosir 200 meters higher; night time temperatures can actually dip below 15 degrees!! It was quite amazing to sleep under a blanket without the normally requisite AC.
Geographically, Samosir is quite an anomaly. It is an 'island' (technically it's connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, but who's keeping track?), in a lake, on an island, and has another lake on it. Still with me? It also repeats it's peninsular likeness to the east with another narrow isthmus and smaller peninsula called tuktuk. It's a veritable Matryoshka Doll of nature.
Tuktuk is the island's tourist center with 30-40 guesthouses and hotels lining the beach. The strange part was that there did not seem to be more than 30-40 people staying in all of tuktuk! What used to be a hippie hotspot, and host to full moon parties and throngs of foreigners has fallen victim to the rise of Bali as Indonesia's premiere tourist destination. The streets are quiet, the restaurants empty, and the prices so competitive that a night's stay can cost less than $3. I spent the days here touring the island on a small scooter. Visiting waterfalls, villages on the plateau, and dodging potholes on the one paved road that circles the island. On the rest of the roads, I was dodging asphalt bumps instead. I was greeted along the road by groups of young schoolchildren in their unmistakable uniforms, villagers offering songs on their bamboo flutes and buffaloes doing their part to clear the road of unwanted, but delicious, obstructions.
My stay on the island (on the lake, on the island) was magical, relaxing, and unbelievably scenic, but could not last for ever. With only a few days left before I would be re-united with Sarah, I started on my way to Jakarta... But with a short stop along the way.
Sander
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