Lake Toba Journey

Traditional ornaments: The Batak people uses Ulos which is a kind of cloth like shawl that is being put on your right shoulder. For the male, they will usually use the darker colour of Ulos while female will use the brighter colours such as pink, orange or yellow. This cloth is only made by Batak people as it resembles their pride. Ulos is used when visiting holy sites such as the cemetery, for formal events or ceremony as well as when performing the Tor Tor dance. Another ornament that is used by the Batak people is Sortali. Sortali is a headband used during the Tor Tor Dance. Tor Tor Dance is a traditional Batak dance that perform to welcome the guest or during weddings. For the male, the Sortali is usually bigger and higher just like a crown while for female the Sortali is smaller and covers only the forehead just like a headband. If you want to experience the Tor Tor Dance, you can head to Huta Siallagan where there will be an instructor that will teach you the Tor Tor ...

Batak Houses: Along the Tomok Village as well as the Huta Siallagan village, batak houses was spotted. Batak houses is unique and has it special features that once you see it, you will know it is a batak house. Firstly, it is quite small and usually it is shaped like a triangle with pointy edges. The batak houses also usually have smaller doors as compare to normal houses as the Batak people believe that the guest should bow to the owner of the house when they are entering as a sign of respect to the owner of the house. Batak houses also consist of two areas. Firstly, the bottom of the houses is usually used as an animal pen to keep their cattle like pigs and chickens. Secondly, the top part. The top part of the house which is the second level is where the Batak people will stay and cook and rest. Back in the old days, the King’s house will be slightly different as instead of having cattle under the house, the king will imprison the criminals there. The bottom part of the house...

Streets of Tomok : There are a lot of shops and food stalls along the streets of Tomok. From fishes to local food to clothes and even souvenirs. Bright colour clothing such as Ulos, shawls, tshirts, pants and even head wears can be found here. The locals are also friendly as they will smile at you brightly when you pass by their shops. Almost all the shops have identical items however the prices differ from shop to shop. Best part is??? You can bargain!! Yup, the locals here don’t mind you bargaining the items for a lower price. There are a lot of tourist visiting Tomok during the weekends. Tourist from all over the world like Germany, Netherland and even Australia! Not only that, they also have domestic tourist such as those from Jakarta and cities around North Sumatra. That is how popular the Lake Toba Tomok Village is. Other than shopping and food, there are other activities that is available on the village such as visiting the cemetery of Tomok Village’s kings to fishin...

Perlabuhan Penyeberangan Tomok: There are a few villages in Samosir Island. One of our many stops is Tomok Village. Here is the Perlabuhan Penyeberangan Tomok or in English, Tomok Jetty. It takes about an hour from Penyeberangan Toba Cruise to Tomok Village. While on our journey to Tomok Village, we managed to enjoy the scenery surrounding Lake Toba. From the high mountains to the bright blue sky and the crystal clear water. Every one of us is amazed by the view in front of us. We didn’t miss the chance to take lots of photos. It was definitely an Instagram worthy photo. Lots of OOTD were taken during the trip.  Even though the sun is scorching hot, the strong wind helps makes it a little bit better.

Last Saturday was our very first day to explore Samosir Island. We headed to the ferry port in the morning for our journey to Ajibata Jetty . As we arrived there,  we were welcomed by a group of children that were  catching coins thrown by the visitors. The children shouted something in bahasa to asked for the coins to to be thrown. After  all of us got into the ferry , they took off the hook and we headed to Samosir Island. The ferry is open air concept and we are able to get a full view of Lake Toba and its surroundings. The temperature got colder as we went halfway to the island. It was a perfect time to take pictures because the tide was not too strong and we were exactly in the middle of the lake. Along our journey, we passed by Bolon houses that were made up of different architecture styles .  On our way there , 4 children gathered in front and started singing . We were clapping along as a form of cheering as they sang. They enthusiastica...

We were amazed when we first reach Lake Toba. The scenery here is so breath taking that all we could do was to just stare at it. The lake is so clear that we can see our reflection in it. The scenery captivated us as we explore the different angles and sides of it . The calm and cool atmosphere makes us forget about our busy lives back in our respective homes. We are able to relieve our stress by looking at the nature here. For example back in Singapore, all we could see was high rise buildings and the busy roads whereas here the moment we woke up from sleep, we can witness the mountains with clouds hovering above it and the bright blue skies. It was truly a moment to be capture and saved in our memories.