in a series of photos and writing about travelling on Samosir Island…in case some are still unfamiliar with the name of the island, it is an island in the middle of Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Lake Toba is a crater lake, meaning the body of water was formed in the crater of an ancient dormant volcano (which, hopefully, will be dormant forever…)
on the second day of our visit there, (since we had only four days from arrival to departure so we had to be really quick…), my dear partner decided to rent a motorbike…(hm…sounds familiar?? 
), was complaining a bit about the condition of the brakes (well, his complaints WERE based on some true sense…) and the absence of proper helmets (hm,sounds familiar for the area, but coupled with the absence of good brakes, i think you know why it’s significant…)
going through the island, the original idea was to go round the island, but based on up to date local info, we found out that some of the roads were in deep mud, so we had to improvise. basically we were thinking of going to Lake Sidihoni (of which you might have a glimpse sometime later in the blog). but the journey itself was rather impressive.
the streets were kind of varying in conditions, and of course, beauty…lines of wild flowers lining the streets are not uncommon sight, as well as paddy fields, and impressive Batak traditional houses and TOMBS. oh yeah….
and as the day came nearer to and end, we got a treat of magnificent sunset over the lake, but had to hurry up back to the hotel since we were not very confident driving in the dark with insufficient light and brakes.
anyway, yet another glorious day on a motorbike…
Samosir Island, North Sumatra, January 19, 2006
