This morning we finished off our bag of 'dragon skinned fruit' for breakfast before heading to the Saturday market. We had a good look around before we realised we had a bus to catch! We quickly grabbed lunch at our regular noodle stall and went back to pack.
It was lucky we were ready early as the 'bus' turned up half an hour early! We had booked a tourist bus direct to Lake Toba. If not, we would need to catch 3 local buses and they would have been even more packed than usual, as it was the weekend and a holiday. The bus turned out to be a car and no one else travelled with us, so we had a private car all to ourselves!
The driver took a route through many small villages and drove pretty slowly by local standards. We passed by volcanoes, a waterfall and truly beautiful scenery. We stopped for a break around halfway at a cafe with magnificent views over Lake Toba. We passed a lot of areas growing different fruit and the driver stopped where a man was picking tomatoes. We got to try them and they were great!
Next, our journey took us past a huge model of a goldfish that was made into a restaurant. Unfortunately it had long closed down due to lack of custom, which was a real shame as it was quite cute.
We arrived at the ferry port as we needed to catch a boat to Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island. We made our way to the boat but had an hours wait, so chatted to a local from the island. We also bought a bag of steamed peanuts still in their shells. As the nuts had been steamed not roasted they were white and soft but delicious.
The ferry left on time and the trip across the lake had amazing views of the lightning over the distant mountains. We were the second stop. From here we walked for a few minutes to our homestay.
After eating the famous curry and mashed potatoes, we joined the rest of the guests who were enjoying a fish BBQ in the garden. When the time came we all walked to a bar in the centre of the village. There was a live band who were great but our main purpose for the visit was to watch Brazil vs Chile in the World Cup 2nd round. Brazil finally won after penalties decided the game. And ... for us bed time was calling as now it was 2am, rather later than expected!
It was lucky we were ready early as the 'bus' turned up half an hour early! We had booked a tourist bus direct to Lake Toba. If not, we would need to catch 3 local buses and they would have been even more packed than usual, as it was the weekend and a holiday. The bus turned out to be a car and no one else travelled with us, so we had a private car all to ourselves!
The driver took a route through many small villages and drove pretty slowly by local standards. We passed by volcanoes, a waterfall and truly beautiful scenery. We stopped for a break around halfway at a cafe with magnificent views over Lake Toba. We passed a lot of areas growing different fruit and the driver stopped where a man was picking tomatoes. We got to try them and they were great!
Next, our journey took us past a huge model of a goldfish that was made into a restaurant. Unfortunately it had long closed down due to lack of custom, which was a real shame as it was quite cute.
We arrived at the ferry port as we needed to catch a boat to Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island. We made our way to the boat but had an hours wait, so chatted to a local from the island. We also bought a bag of steamed peanuts still in their shells. As the nuts had been steamed not roasted they were white and soft but delicious.
The ferry left on time and the trip across the lake had amazing views of the lightning over the distant mountains. We were the second stop. From here we walked for a few minutes to our homestay.
After eating the famous curry and mashed potatoes, we joined the rest of the guests who were enjoying a fish BBQ in the garden. When the time came we all walked to a bar in the centre of the village. There was a live band who were great but our main purpose for the visit was to watch Brazil vs Chile in the World Cup 2nd round. Brazil finally won after penalties decided the game. And ... for us bed time was calling as now it was 2am, rather later than expected!
