After a long journey and almost a day in the airport of Singapore we arrived in Medan, Northern Sumatra. We were immediately landed into the chaos of Sumatra. While driving, there were no official sides to the road, the cars swerved as they pleased along the bumpy tracks. The city of Medan was vast and spread out though only to the height of two or three storey buildings which gave you the impression you were constantly in the outskirts of a town. The place was covered in diet and rubbish and bustling with people. The city was alive with activity and we were entertained with people's everyday business while we clung to the motorbike tuk tuk.

The next morning we headed off to the island of Samosir on Lake Toba. We decided to take the locals route to our destination which firstly involved a half hour ride in a mini van (Mr X) where we were crammed in like sardines with all the locals on their way to work. It was I guess, a traditional version of a taxi, but it had no door, no seatbelts and only a bench for everyone to squeeze onto. After a couple of near crashes we finally arrived at the 'bus station', which looked more like a deserted garage with a couple of sheds. We found our bus and waited on it while a local man sang and player guitar. After about five hours on the road driving through the rolling Sumatran countryside passing rubber plantations, paddy fields, palm trees and everything in between we reached the small port town of Parapat.

The ferry to take us there was colourful and fun, as if someone had painted a pirate ship multi coloured. All of the guesthouses along the shore of the lake have their own pier and the ferry will conveniently drop you straight to your door! “Romalan” was our home for a few days where we would occupy a beautiful Batik style lake side room. Tuk Tuk is a small area of the larger Samosir Island which is a large volcanic island within Lake Toba. The massive self-destructive eruption of a supervolcano caused the formation of the lake and the island 75,000 years ago. So, essentially, Samosir is the one of the closest places to being in a volcano you can really get minus the lava.

The setting is spectacular; we woke up every morning to views of the lake from our bed. The water was a dark marine blue. A few kilometers away the mainland rose spectacularly out of the lake, a rugged line of steep green cliffs between the blues of water and sky. Everything was eerily quiet. Flowers flourish everywhere; reds, yellows and violet adding colour to the green lushness that seems to have overtaken the island. Our first day on the Lake was spent relaxing over a long pot of chai tea reading books with our greatest venture being to the local village for some fresh fruit. We ate passion fruit straight from the tree, deliciously tangy. The next day we rented motorbikes to explore the island, heading north and then West over to the mainland as far as Tele Viewpoint, way up in the mountains. Life along the way was busy, school kids squashed into the back of pickup trucks on their way home, women carried baskets of food on their heads and chickens and dogs ran wild. The pace was slow and people were friendly often roaring hello to us as we scooted past. The views became really spectacular when we rolled off the island and up into the mountain, with volcanos, the lake and huge trees towering around us. As the sun went down we headed for home. That night after dinner we went to see a local band in a nearby bar, turned out that we were the only ones there so it was more like a private show!