The Charming Samosir Island in Lake Toba, North Sumatra

Samosir Island or also known as Pulau Samosir to the Indonesians, is an island located in the middle of Lake Toba . Lake Toba or Danau Toba itself is large natural lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia, occupying the caldera of a supervolcano. 

The trip to Danau Toba was inspired by two things. First, in 2022, I watched a famous Indonesian movie "Ngeri-ngeri Sedap", which was shot in this area. The sceneries in the movie  were amazing.  And second, in February 2023, the F1 Powerboat (F1H2O) championship was held in Danau Toba. Hence,  a few weeks later we decided to spend some time in Samosir Island on our holiday in Indonesia. And here is our story.

The Arrival

The journey started with a direct flight from Soekarno Hatta airport (CGK) to Silangit Airport (DTB). Normally, the flight duration is only 2 hours long, but because of the bad weather, the plane had to fly around for 30 minutes more before we could finally land. On a good side, we got to see the beautiful scenery around Danau Toba from  above.  Having stayed in Jakarta for more than a week before flying to Silangit, I was so happy to feel the cool breeze when I finally got off the plane.

There are some ways to reach to Danau Toba, you can go with hired cars or with public bus. Because this was our first trip,  we wanted to avoid too many hassles, so we asked our hotel to arrange a pick up at the airport. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. When we were at the parking area, there were so many drivers offering to drive us to the harbour. But still we couldn't find the driver who was supposed to drive us. Then suddenly it started to rain. We were frustrated. To my surprise, there was a man who heard me calling for the driver of our hotel and then he approached me. He told me that he had just drove some guests from our hotel to the airport and he would call the hotel where we stayed to tell them that he could drive us to the harbour. I was a bit hesitant at the first place but then I agreed with his suggestion. On the phone, the hotel’s staff explained to me that they had missed the schedule to pick us up at the airport and told me to go with this man to the harbour. After we made a deal  with the transfer fee, we drove with him.

Apparently, Victor Napitupulu, the man who drove us, collaborated together with our hotel to bring the guests from/to the airport. He was also a travel guide and owned a car rental company. According to him, not many people in this area spoke English and since he could speak it quite well, he was in charge to pick up the foreign guests. Pak Victor, as I called him, was a very friendly and informative person. He told us many things about Danau Toba. He also told me that he was the driver in charge for the movie "Ngeri-ngeri Sedap" because he was local and he knew so many things about the area. 

The views along the ride from the airport to Parapat Harbour were amazing. I didn't realize that I kind of missed these sceneries, the green rice fields and bright blue sky. As a person who was born and had spent most of her life living in the city, I envy those who have a place to go home to as in "pulang kampung". 

On our way to the harbour, Pak Victor made 2 stops for us. The first one was a view point, where we could see Danau Toba from above.

 

The second stop was a drinking place, "Warung Tuak". This place was a small hut by the street side which you can easily see  and stop by. My husband and I shared  only one glass of Tuak because he still had a little problem with his stomach so he didn´t want to drink too much . It was our first time drinking Tuak so it was an interesting experience.  Tuak itself is a naturally fermented alcohol drink made from palm tree. Some Tuak tastes sweet and some a bit sour.  I would say the one that we had tasted a bit like Sturm, the Austrian young wine.  

As we arrived at the harbour, we were asked to write down our names and countries where we came from in the manifest book before we got in into the ferry. 

The fare to our hotel is IDR 25.000/person and the staffs collected the payment on board. The ferry ride took around 45 minutes until we reached out hotel after they dropped other passengers in their hotel destinations. 

Zoes Paradise Hotel

Our hotel, Zoes Paradise, was located by the lake with an amazing view. When we checked in, the staff apologized to us for the pick up problem, therefore, they upgraded our room to the best one for free. Not so bad, right?

There were not so many things we did in the evening of our arrival. We only made a walk around the neighborhood to find a place for dinner  and then had some rest.

Getting Around Samosir Island

On our first day in Pulau Samosir, we decided to explore the area on foot. The weather was perfect, it was sunny but not too hot, pretty good for a walk exploring the area. The village where we stayed is called Tuk Tuk, it is famous with the beautiful view and the traditional wooden crafting. 

Along the streets we walked, we saw houses with beautiful porches, decorated with colorful flowers and green lush tree on one side and the lake view on the other side. Sometimes we passed by the traditional tombs,  some are built extensively big, even bigger than a normal house. One of our drivers told us that some people would borrow  money to  build big tombs for their ancestors instead of getting it for pursuing better education or better life for themselves. 

 

We didn't have exact destination for our walk, we just walked and walked until we reached Huta Siallagan Batu Persidangan . The entrance fee is IDR 10.000/person and you can see the traditional houses of Batak ethnic group and the sets of stones carved into chairs. 

For the next two days, we rented a motorbike to explore a little bit further of the island. We headed toward Tomok and went up hill. We didn‘t have fix itinerary for our drive. We just followed the main road. If we were lucky, we could depend on the google maps to see where the road takes us to, but sometimes, there was no connection at all. 

Traditional coffee shop in Samosir Island

The views from up hill were incredibly stunning. We always passed some small coffee shops or "warung kopi" and we made stops there, each day different place, but the same breathtaking sceneries.

 

On our drive we also spotted small waterfalls along the way. 

We also went to small lakes, which make them lake on the lake. 

 

 

 

When you go with motorbike, it´s better to take a raincoat with you, because if you go up to the mountain, you can never tell how the weather will be. One time it´s sunny and hot and then heavy rain is coming next. On our first motorbike ride, we drove into the forest and then suddenly the heavy rain came pouring down to us. Lucky there was a place to stop to shelter us from the rain. 

On the main road we also saw the traditional houses among the modern ones. 

Local Dishes 

A trip to Samosir Island wouldn‘t be complete without enjoying the local dishes. Although I didn‘t get to try all the food on my list, I got to try some of them and they were really good.  

Babi Panggang

Babi panggang means  grilled pork. This dish is accompanied with clear pork bone soup, processed pork blood as dipping sauce, daun ubi tumbuk (mashed sweet potato leaves) and is served with plain steamed rice and sambal Andaliman, made from fresh andaliman pepper. 

Ikan Bakar Tinombur

Ikan bakar means grilled fish. The fish is grilled over hot charcoal , marinated with lime juice, salt and then drenched in sauce. This dish is also served with plain stemed rice and sambal Andaliman.

Ikan Bakar Tinombur & Babi Panggang 

Saksang

Saksang is a spicy savory dish made from diced pork meat. The meat is stewed in its blood, mixed with coconut milk and spices like lemongrass, kaffir lime, bay leaves, chilli pepper, ginger, turmeric and galangal. Once the meat is tender,  Andaliman pepper and lime juice are added.   

Saksang

Mie Gomak

Mie Gomak is considered as North Sumatra‘s version of Italian Spaghetti. The noodle is served with broth enriched with ground spices, ginger and coconut milk and garnished with sauted veggies, such as chayote, carrot, green beans. I had a good memory with this dish, not only because this was the last meal I had before we flew back home, but also because of the location where I had it. 

Mie Gomak

We were on route to Sillangit Airport and were looking for a place to have coffee and snack. So we found this traditional „warung kopi“  which also served Mie Gomak. The place was very modest, a wooden rustic coffee shop, filled with the locals which were probably wondering „why are these tourists coming here?“ Aside from these, the taste was really good, even our driver said that this was the best one he had so far. It was really cheap too, one portion costed only 5.000 IDR.

Coffee

North Sumatra is famous not only for the food but also for the coffee. When we were in Samosir Island, we always went to the local coffee shop, where they used the simple method, which only required ground coffee and  hot water in a mug without any filter. Every coffee shop we went in never disappointed us.

Getting back to the mainland

Getting back to the mainland was easy. We asked our hotel to contact the ferry company so they could arrange the pick up at the harbour in our hotel. We also could ask them to arrange the transport from Parapat harbour to Silangit Airport, but we decided to ask Pak Victor directly to arrange this. Just a reminder, if you are planning to fly somewhere else from Silangit airport, make sure that your flight schedule is not in the early morning, because the earliest ferry going from Tuk Tuk to Parapat is at 07:00. The hotel has the daily schedule of the ferry. Also consider that it takes around 2 hours from Parapat to Silangit airport. The road is very smooth but sometimes it can be slow because there road is not big and sometimes many trucks are also traveling at the same time. 

 

 

 

G

M

T

Y

Sprache erkennenAfrikaansAlbanischAmharischArabischArmenischAserbaidschanischBaskischBengalischBirmanischBosnischBulgarischCebuanoChichewaChinesisch tradChinesisch verDänischDeutschEnglischEsperantoEstnischFilipinoFinnischFranzösischFriesischGalizischGeorgischGriechischGujaratiHaitianischHausaHawaiischHebräischHindiHmongIgboIndonesischIrischIsländischItalienischJapanischJavanesischJiddischKannadaKasachischKatalanischKhmerKirgisischKoreanischKorsischKroatischKurdischLaoLateinishLettischLitauischLuxemburgischMalagasyMalayalamMalaysischMaltesischMaoriMarathiMazedonischMongolischNepalesischNiederländischNorwegischPaschtuPersischPolnischPortugiesischPunjabiRumänischRussischSamoanischSchottisch-GälischSchwedischSerbischSesothoShonaSindhiSinghalesischSlowakischSlowenischSomaliSpanischSuaheliSundanesischTadschikischTamilTeluguThailändischTschechischTürkischUkrainischUngarischUrduUzbekischVietnamesischWalisischWeißrussischXhosaYorubaZulu

AfrikaansAlbanischAmharischArabischArmenischAserbaidschanischBaskischBengalischBirmanischBosnischBulgarischCebuanoChichewaChinesisch tradChinesisch verDänischDeutschEnglischEsperantoEstnischFilipinoFinnischFranzösischFriesischGalizischGeorgischGriechischGujaratiHaitianischHausaHawaiischHebräischHindiHmongIgboIndonesischIrischIsländischItalienischJapanischJavanesischJiddischKannadaKasachischKatalanischKhmerKirgisischKoreanischKorsischKroatischKurdischLaoLateinishLettischLitauischLuxemburgischMalagasyMalayalamMalaysischMaltesischMaoriMarathiMazedonischMongolischNepalesischNiederländischNorwegischPaschtuPersischPolnischPortugiesischPunjabiRumänischRussischSamoanischSchottisch-GälischSchwedischSerbischSesothoShonaSindhiSinghalesischSlowakischSlowenischSomaliSpanischSuaheliSundanesischTadschikischTamilTeluguThailändischTschechischTürkischUkrainischUngarischUrduUzbekischVietnamesischWalisischWeißrussischXhosaYorubaZulu

Die Sound-Funktion ist auf 200 Zeichen begrenzt

Optionen GeschichteFeedbackDonate

Schließen

Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien - The Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna

Recently I was gifted an annual pass of Kunst Historisches Museum. This pass not only allows me to visit this museum daily for 365 day a year but also to 5 other museums in Vienna and Schloss Ambrass Innsbruck. The museums are Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien, Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien, Theater Museum, Welt Museum Wien, and Thesus Tempel Wien. And right now I‘m sharing a little bit about Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien, also known as The Imperial Carriage Museum. 

This museum is an interesting place to visit if you are keen to know more about the Habsburg family, especially if you want to learn how they traveled to other cities because we all know that they loved to travel.

The Imperial Carriage

You will not only find the collection of their magnificent vehicles, but also the exquisite items of clothing of the Habsburgs, as well as the paintings from the era. 

The uniform of the royal household

Every carriage in this museum has a story of their functions and how they were used by the imperial family

The last carriage used by Empress Elisabeth in Geneva before she was assasinated

Black Hearse for the funeral

Seeing the collection of this museum, I was in awe with how majestic and beautiful the carriages are. The artistic details carved and painted on each carriage really made them all look glamorous and elegant.

Compared to Kunst Historisches Museum, Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien is smaller, but yet still spacious enough. You can see all the collection in less than an hour.

Located in the Schönbrunn estate, the museum is easier to reach from the main gate, especially if you get off from U4 Schönbrunn. Just walk toward the palace, turn right and go straight. The building is hard to miss. 

More details about Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien can be found in their website.

Villa La Petraia

 

 

Villa La Petreaia

When you have extra time in Florence, visiting Villa La Petraia would be a good way to spend it. This villa is one of the series of rural building complexes in Tuscany which were owned by members of Medici Family between the 15th and 17th century. The Medici family was Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence during the first half of 15th century. 

 

The villas they owned were the country palaces of the family, that also served as recreational resort for the leisure and pleasure of the family, and also as the centre of the agricutular activities on the surrounding estate. The Medici Villas were added to UNESCO  World Heritage List in 2013 so Villa La  Petraia is now owned by the Italian government.

 

From the bus station in Florence, we took a bus with direction to Caruso bus stop and made a walk 1 km to the villa. The entrance fee to visit the villa and the garden is for free but to visit the rooms inside the villa, visitors must be accompanied by a guide. The guided tours are available every hour and are conducted in English and Italian.

The villa has 2 levels, the upper level was more the residential area for the King Victor Emmanuel, while the lower level was more of the halls.

 

 

The walls in the main hall are painted and the walls in the upper level are more covered with tapestry.

 

In the upper level you will find the bedroom, bourdouir, dining room, study room, and playing room. 

 

 

 

 

Among the paintings collections you see in the villa, there are also some collections of Chinese paintings. The furnitures inside  Villa La Petraia were collected from other Medici Villas.

Villa La Petraia has two gardens : Italian garden in the front and English garden in the back. 

 

The Italian Garden of the villa