A Short Experience as Tourists

Our good friends the Liao family invited us to go on a short holiday to the mountain resort of Simalem and the tourist town of Brastagi.

Siantar is listed by the full name of Pematangsiantar (lower right in black), Berastagi (Brastagi) is to the left, directly about the metropolis of Kabanjahe, and Medan is at the top centerish. The red roads are pretty bad with stretches of awful, while the yellow roads are more potholes with road signs than anything.

It could be that we were most intrigued by the idea of going somewhere in Indonesia that wasn’t cooking hot. They showed us pictures from a visit the year before where everyone was wearing jackets and hoods. Of course when we packed for Indonesia we didn’t bring many warm clothes, but we figured it couldn’t be too cold.

We never really understood what we were getting into when we agreed to go. We are used to not fully understanding what’s going to happen, even up until the moment it happens, so this was just par for the course.

Another factor involved in this trip was the fact that we needed to pick up Craig at the Medan airport on Friday. More on that later.

Miss Kihm serves Chinese noodles before the journey.

Anton arranged to pick us up at 6:30 on Wednesday morning. The arrangement was for them to bring several desert bread options and we would eat in the car. When Anton arrived he announced that we would be returning to family Noodle Shop 55 to pick up Jimmy and his mother. Then when we got there, it was determined that we would eat a big noodle dinner there. Eating a heavy breakfast of noodles vs. a few bites of bread is very different. So we consumed our large bowl of noodles, tossed the last items in the car and headed for the mountains.

Jimmy, the newlyweds Ivanna and Anton, and Miss Khim.

The group included Anton and his wife Ivanna, Jimmy and the mother Miss Kihm, and us. The father, Mr. Liao, stayed at home to mind the noodle shop.

We headed out from Siantar on the road to Parapet. Then when we were outside the city we veered directly south in the direction of Brastagi. The road was already not as good as the one to Parapet. Along the way the road varied from a narrow two lane to one big pot hole after another with just a little bit of asphalt visible. We waded our way through the traffic in several small villages, and Anton, our driver, somehow knew most of the turns to take. Of course there were no signs. I asked several times about how this could be the main road to a major tourist area, and was reminded that this was a secondary road, that most visitors come on another road directly from Medan.

We first arrived at the resort area of Simalem. Though I had seen the map on the Internet, I wasn’t really clear about the resort, and of course I didn’t know what we would do there. We got out of the car and the temperature was great. It was really cool. What a joy! Everyone quickly put on another layer of clothing, but I enjoyed the coolness.

We wandered around various places in the resort area. The story was that some Singapore investors convinced the Indonesian government to sell them this huge tract of land, overlooking Lake Toba. The idea was that they would open up a casino as a tourist magnet for the resort. But the government didn’t grant the license for the casino, so the resort is now being built up more slowly than planned.

We were practically the only visitors in the huge area, which included many different little attractions: a zoo with five or six cages containing a total of five or six birds, a green house with a few aisles of flowering plants, an outdoor exercise area, a small golf course, an “agro-tourism” small farm, a very small handicrafts display, several beautiful vistas, etc.

The whole grounds were laid out in a most exquisite way, with elaborate lighting stands, sidewalks laid out with tile, many gardens and beautiful landscaping, and many, many workers to help with the attractions and manicure the grounds.

Jacob overlooks the waters of Lake Toba.

We visited a huge temple that was under construction and many years away from completion.

Lunch included rice, chicken and these spicy little
mini-fishes, with their dark eyeballs peering out!

It began to rain and we ate the lunch in the car that the Liao father packed for us. Miss Kihm thought it was really funny that we were eating in the car. Evidently that is not done very much here. We assured her that this would be normal in America, though we would eat while going somewhere.

We finished out exploration of the resort by following the road up, up, and up to the top of the One Tree Hill. They weren’t lying, but the top of the hill looked like it had been flattened out with a bulldozer, with a mound of dirt left that was maybe 20 feet high, with one scraggly pine tree. It wasn’t the majestic tree I had anticipated, and the area was more of a unpaved parking lot that anything. So much for a scenic lookout point in Indonesia. Needless to say there was no sign or information about what you were seeing far below. But the view was spectacular.

The view from there on top was very foggy, though you could make out the outline of Lake Toba far below. Though the view was partially obscured it was still interesting to be able to view Lake Toba from so far above.

From there we pressed on to Brastagi. We went directly to the market, which was presented as the big attraction of the city.

It was a huge fruit and vegetable market, all contained within a city square, covered by a patchwork of metal roofing and tarps. This was a key element, as it was now raining steadily. We wandered through the massive piles of oranges and other fruits.

The vendors all had big knives and would quickly slice off a taste of whatever item you wanted. Miss Kihm knew what she wanted, not surprise there, and soon had purchased enough fruit to feed the family for a week. In contrast to the Siantar market, the vendors were very friendly, perhaps having to be more outgoing due to the tourist nature of the area.

While leaving the market Anton took us to a few tables which were the cute pet vendors.

They were selling rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and one beautiful dog. Apparently Anton likes these pets and of course with Jacob we had to stay there for a long time. While we were admiring the fuzzy critters we were approached by two “elders” from the Mormon church, two kids on their missionary time. One from the US, the other from the Philippines. It felt awkward that they wanted to spend more than a minute saying hi. Like they were really going to convince us to come check out their church. I also wasn’t interested in making small talk with them but we were polite.

Anton led us to a little snack bar where they served boiled and grilled corn on the cob. It was pretty good but there wasn’t any butter and of course for an American that was a real shortcoming. A positive aspect was the horses. Being a tourist area, your kids can take rides on little horses around the market area. So as you finish your corn on the cob, you simply walk to the curb and hold out the cob and the horse comes and eats it.

Nancy has her hood up to ward off the cold,
and maybe also for protection from the Telle-tubbies.

From there it was on to the villa, which Anton’s family rented for the evening. Think of renting a condo in downtown Gatlinburg, sort of. There was plenty of room, acres of tile floors, a great area to play cards, and Telle-Tubby sheets on our bed. We took that as an indication that the sheets may be 20 plus years old, in addition to confirming that the owners had no taste. Jacob admitted that the vacum cleaner character always gave him the creeps and I learned that there was such a character.

We went cruising the town after everyone had a rest, and Anton ended up driving down the sidewalk and parking right in front of the restaurant, a highlight of a difficult driving day.

The next morning we hung around the villa as everyone slowly woke up. Miss Kihm broke out the leftovers from yesterday’s lunch, and I sliced up some of my bread, which was well received with the Skippy peanut butter found in a local shop the night before. Skippy is pretty pricey here, just in case you were thinking I’d bring you some home as a gift.

The flip flops of the monks are lined up behind us.

First stop for the day was the huge Golden Temple. It reminded us in color and form of the Golden Stupa in Vientienne, Laos. We saw that on the hottest day of our lives, and therefore we really enjoyed the temperature at the temple, which was quite comfortable. Getting to the temple was a bit challenging, as there was no sign leading to it, and the road, more of a path than anything, led through the strawberry fields.

Jacob sprints up the hill, up from the bottom of the ravine behind the temple. High overhead is the footbridge that spans the ravine.

We arrived and ooohed and aaaahed at the immense golden structure and spire. The upside: there was an elaborate prayer ceremony going on, with what looked like a hundred participants processing around outside and then inside the temple. The downside: due to this ceremony we couldn’t go in. Not a problem, as there was plenty to see walking around the grounds outside. Everything was clean and manicured to perfection. It was a very harmonious environment, the perfect setting for monks to reflect, or whatever it is they do.

From there, we returned to the city market to get a few souvenirs. We reconfirmed our findings from last year, which included the fact that finding a t-shirt in my size is next to impossible here. Then it was off to Medan on the “good” road. It was a long and arduous journey. Highlights: many monkeys along the side of the road as we wound down the mountain through the forest. Other than that, it was a long process of passing big trucks, only to then be behind the next truck.

We arrived in Medan and then had the pleasure of big city traffic for what seemed like an hour. Stopped at a vegetarian restaurant for lunch, in a nice gesture to Nancy. Then on to the upscale mega mall, which was a real treat and totally out of character for what we know of Indonesia. It was nicer than any mall in America, reminding me of one I used to enjoy in Singapore. It included a several western franchises, including Pizza Hut, A&W, KFC, and, interestingly enough, Ace Hardware. Of course it had a Starbucks and I was able to log on and connect with Craig in Singapore. How exciting.

While I was logged on and making sure Craig was still on the same arrival schedule for tomorrow, it was decided that some of us would remain in Medan for the night, and Nancy and Jacob, along with Miss Kihm, would return to Siantar via taxi. That sounded like an outrageously expensive idea to me, but it turns out to be really cheap. I don’t know how the taxi company makes enough to pay for the driver, gas, and pothole damage repair at the amount they charged, but that is not my concern.

The upside: I got to enjoy the night in a hotel with hot and cold running water, a real shower, a flush western style toilet plus real Air Conditioning and non-stop internet access. Almost like home!

Many thanks to the Liao family for their friendship and generous sharing. Nancy did her best to pick up some of the bills during this trip and Miss Kihm always won. We will have to think of others ways to show our gratitude.