Berestagi -> Lake Toba (Tuk Tuk)

Time to leave Berestagi as my time in Indonesia is running out. Had a chilled morning at the homestay and enjoyed the roof terrace (bit cloudy so the views not as nice but still pleasant) and for picked up in the shared taxi at 12.15. Good for me is that I was actually the only person as some others cancelled so it became a private taxi for the price of a shared one!

The drive to lake toba was about 3 hours- we stopped at a nice viewpoint for a break and I had some lunch, Nasi Goreng for old times sake! Arrived at Parapet about 3.20 in time for the 3.30 ferry over to Tuk Tuk which is on the island in the middle of the lake. Basically lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world and the largest lake is south east Asia, and has a massive island in the middle of it. Most of the tourist accomodation is on a part of the lake called Tuk Tuk so that’s where I headed. Was about a 45 minute ferry and the ferry stops at each hotels jetty which was very handy! My hotel was pretty nice - I have a room with a lake view and terrace, not bad for £9 a night.

After I checked in I went for a little walk down to somewhere which is supposed to have nice views and it did, had a beer. Bit weird though as there are loads of hotels and homestays here but not may people, and a lot of them look very run down.i know it’s low season but I did a bit of research online and apparently this used to be really popular in the 80s and 90’s but just hasn’t see as many tourists since- as backpackers favour Vietnam Cambodia and Thailand etc. Lots of Germans here as well!

Finished my walk around the town, showered and went out for pizza- had been craving it for days so had to give in! Very nice indeed.Read more