During the holiday season in 2003 (July to be exact), my family and I decided to go to North Sumatera. Actually we only went to Medan dan Lake Toba (which is located in Parapat, a city about 4 hours from Medan). Here is a (short) story of our trip.
We live in Bandung, West Java. So it was quite a long trip for us to go to North Sumatera. First, we had to go to Jakarta (we took cars and the trip was about 4 hours) and then flew from Jakarta to Medan. The flight was about two hours. It was packed with people. Suprisingly, not many kids were on the plane.
In Medan we stayed at our family's house. We went around Medan to see places to visit and to eat. There are different kind of food in Medan. Most of them are hot and spicy. My stomach could not handle spicy food. So it was tough for me looking at people eating those delicious food. It's considered strange that an Indonesian cannot handle spicy food. But hey, what can I do? I did try some little-bit spicy food, though. Fortunately my stomach was very cooperative.
In Medan we visited several interesting places. One of them was Sultan Maimon Palace.
The picture on the left shows the Maimon
Palace.
Compare that with the picture below taken in 1935. The kids were taking
action in front of the throne. It is sad that only a small part of the
palace was maintain carefuly. Maybe only two big halls that were taken care.
That's all.
Most of the palace was not taken care. It was gloomy and dirty.
Families of the Sultan still live in the palace. Actually, they live in the back of
the palace.
Lake Toba is a large lake located in the (small) city of Parapat. Parapat is about 4 hours from Medan by car. You can swim in the lake. Some part of it has beaches. The picture on the left was taken in the morning, July 16th 2003. Behind me was the Toba Lake. You can see a boat in the background, and a book in my hand. The weather was cool and nice. I didn't have to wear a jacket, though. Earlier in the morning, it was cooler.
more to be written ...