Hotel Carolina Samosir

Up and out early, we find ourselves strolling round the weekly market where I maage to scoff to donuts, a alice of watermelon and an omlette before the clock even strikes 9am!!<br><br>9.30 and we are on a ferry to Samosir Island in the middle of Lake Toba. As we approach the island 40 minutes later it becomes apparent that this is a world ...

We had a rough few days at Tom and Charlie's with both of us coming down with a horrific stomach bug. Luckily the worst was over within 24hours but still it was nice to have some home commforts whilst they did trips to the pharmacy for us, bless them.<br><br>Our initial plan was to spend just 3 or 4 days on lake Toba. It's such a relaxing place, but there's really not much at all to do. We are over halfway through our ...

... to a souvenir shop and picked up a chess set. As he was walking back to his security station, I offered to play him. I sat there playing chess with a security guard while people passed the security checkpoint unchecked. There were more important things going on. We finally played to a draw and he was able to return to work and insure the safety of the airport terminal. Life is good. Nadine is still in Omaha until the 24th when she ...

... including us now had 4 adults and 2 children occupying them! I was sort of sitting on a half seat, which was broken and had a metal rod digging in to my back - it was extremely uncomfortable!! We were all squashed but poor Matt had an old lady next him with absolutely no sense of personal space and practically leant and slept on him most of the way, until he swapped places with me that is. When we finally got a stop he insisted that he should ...

... field in the middle of the heat. I also befriended the water buffalo which was grazing near by. The people served me food, and drinks and lots of smiles. My favorite food was black rice or bubur etam. Its almost like milk rice cooked with cinnamon but its much better. he color is purplish black and it tastes just so yummy and, I could have eaten the entire pot. But then again, I had to do some work. Later, after finishing work in the rice field, we went to ...

... and the guy who runs it speaks english and is very friendly. I also met Erik here who is a guide who knows how to make money. And since he seems to be the only guide in this town, he seems to make GOOD money. I signed up for a 3 day jungle trip including transportation, accomodation and food and all the cultural information I want from him. The tour is about $90 which is expensive for me but I am so ready to get out in the green and away from the people. In the evening, I started ...

... hood) for what, I don't know. When we drove off all I could get from the money man was "Osama Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden" when I asked him if they where part of GAM the conversation ended. Jungle Jonni was right, there are militants but they are indifferent to tourists. They didn't look much like fundamentalist militants bent on ridding the world of the infidel, they looked more like angry lumberjacks collecting road tax.