Hotel Carolina Samosir

Booked a flight to Banda Aceh today and leave tomorrow...

This really is a dream come true and I absolutely can not wait. Every day that I travel I feel privileged to be able to do and see so many things but the opportunity to experience, and witness before ...

... good lake. The landscape there was stunning, we got the boat over from the main land and went by a load of hotels before we stopped at ours. The hotel had its own diving board and slide that went into the lake. So was a pretty good first impression. Room had wicked views and all of that for only 2 and a bit pound a night. First night we were there a local music show was put on. Was pretty good, and of course at some point in these things it involves people being plucked from the audience to ...

... back to Thailand. I am going to make my way back to Thailand, so I can be waiting for her with open arms and a big kool-aid smile. Question - What is the fifth most populous country in the world? God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Peace JW

... headed straight to the bar for a long awaited drink! Lake Toba is a huge, volcanic crater lake, South East Asia's biggest and that's a fact. Just to give you an idea of the scale, the island in the middle, Samosir is said to be the size of Singapore. Again, we felt the brutal bus journey had been worth the trouble, it was just beautiful here. With a mild hangover looming from the 'couple' of drinks we'd had the night before, we didn't hesitate ...

... and Bayur. I, for my part, didnīt feel inclined to go swimming having seen the creeks feeding into the lake and knowing what people do in the waters of the creeks and lake. We spent about 2 hours here doing nothing but relax and eat and talk to other tourists. Around 4PM, we left for Buket in a little minibus taking in the 44 bends in the road to Buket. There were monkeys near the road waiting for handouts or just watching the traffic. Back in Buket, with a ...

... and asked the driver if he goes to the bus terminal. He said yes, yes looking not very convinced that this is the route he is actully going. So, I got a little tour of the town, moving further away from the bus station. Eventually, I was the only passanger and he wanted to have 20000 rupiah($1=8700 rupiah)to take me to the bus station and this after we had been driving around for a half an hour. I told him no, that I paid about 1600 rupiah the day before. He finally found me a ...

... the Labi-Labi while shouting at the money man. The gun was unintentionally pointed at me. All I could get out was bash "Hey" bash "Hey" bash "That's dangerous" err... Not the most intelligent statement but hey it worked. He glanced at me, moved round to the back of the Taxi and hauled the money man out. The gunman took an interest in the money man's money but I never saw any change hands. They looked under the taxi and the ...