Medan - Day 1

The first and last time I was in Medan for  family holiday was 17 years ago, or thereabouts, so I have a pretty vague memory of the place. Along with me on this trip are my parents, my aunt and my uncle with his wife. My brother came with us on the same flight but he has done his share of sightseeing in his previous trips.

I was in uber shock when I found out that the drive to Parapat, our destination for today, is going to take 5 hours. FIVE hours?! I don't remember it being such a long drive the last time. Apparently the road there remained the same but the number of cars has increased exponentially making it a longer drive than what it would have been before.

Thankfully we stopped once for lunch and I got to savour some pretty yummy local food and my ultimate favourite drink in Indonesia - Teh Botol! We stopped several more times in between to buy some snacks and water, some fruits and of course, the mandatory bio break. Add that with some hilarious conversations, the ride turned out to be pretty manageable after all.

Teh Botol - a must drink in Indonesia

We first stop at a shack up on a hill that gave us a splendid view of Lake Toba, the biggest volcanic lake in the world yo! I had forgotten how big the lake is and how beautiful mother nature can be. We had a few chilled Coke while overlooking the splendour of the lake. Next was the holiday home of former President Suharto. It's a cute white picket fences type of home with a view of the lake, of course. Surrounding it was fir trees, some shrubs with flowers, an outdoor pergola and pine cones littering the road.

Deep breath.

Feels so good inhaling the scents of nature.


We headed to Parapat town and spent a good hour walking the few shops and bargaining for hand made batik bags, hand sewn pashmina and calf skin handbags. We also bought a whole load of fruits - rambutan and mangoes. After dinner we had a fruit party, something that I've never had before! At least it was a healthy party and good for the gut if you know what I mean *wink*

View of the pool from the garden 
Look at the mountain and the big beautiful trees swaying to the dance of the wind

Post that we checked into our hotel and after freshening up, we walked the grounds of the hotel. Again, it was full of greenery, the weather was slightly windy, it was peaceful and perfect for a chillaxing getaway after months of putting in crazy hours at work. This break is a much needed holiday and I'm fully thankful for these few days away from the office.

The reflection of the sunset on the lake onto the sky. Mother Nature is awesomesauce!

10/10/2011 08:18:00 PM | Labels: |

 

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