The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see, said Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I don�t care if he was accussed for being antisemitisch, but I agree with the quote. This was another my unplanned journey, there was no such stuff that �I have to see this and that�. I just pack and go. I went there for doing research �even for this thing, I had no clue about who would be my informants- then I extended it on week end for enjoying some landscapes. I decided to go to Penang at Thursday after I saw there were cheap flights from Medan to Penang. It was 50 USD for round trip! Yeay!
Medan is the capital of North Sumatra that counted as third largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. My flight from Bandung was going so smooth. So did my research. Even though I had no idea about informants, finally I nailed that sucky local bureaucracy calmly.
So, what did we �me and office mates- visit on the week end? We came to Toba Lake. It is 3000 square km, the biggest �and most beautiful- lake in South East Asia. There is an island in the middle of it, Samosir island, where you could engange with local culture and performance there. From Kuala Namu international airport to Lake Toba, you could take a bus to Pematang Siantar, it costs cheaper than 3 USD. From Pematang Siantar, take a shuttle to the lake. Otherwise, if you wish to visit Medan, the capital of North Sumatra for sight seeing or tasting local food, find a 8 USD train that will bring you to the city. It takes 30 minutes to reach Medan from Kuala Namu Airport. From Medan, you could go to terminal and take bus to Toba Lake.
Traditional Snack of Medan; Lemang.
We spent the night in Dharma Agung Beach Hotel. The hotel was clean and the nasi goreng menu for breakfast was soooo delicious. It costs 50 USD each night, actually there are many more cheaper hotels in this place depend on the view and facilities. If you want to spend days and engange ini cultural activities and performance, ask the hotel staff to rent you a boat to come to Samosir Island, it costs 70 USD per boat that could bring 8 people, otherwise there is public boat that costs much cheaper but you got to wake up earlier. I suggest you to stay 3 days in this lake because you will have a huge time to explore this huge lake; swimming, enganging to local culture and tasting local food.
What cultural performances we watched? Si Gale-Gale Dance is the most interesting for me. It is a dancing man�s statue. It used to be possessed by spirit, and they have to set traditional ceremony to make it dance. But now, you don�t have to wait for traditional ceremony to make it dance, the move the stuff electrically. Local people in Samosir (Batak) believe that spirit in Si Gale-Gale is a spirit of the son they lost. You have to pay 1 USD each person for each performance.
Penang
I went roughly to airport the day after I visited Toba lake because I woke up late. But, catched the flight to Penang finally. I only got two days to visit Penang and it was not enough. Finding a free map of Penang is the first thing you got to do when you reach the airport. You got to spend 4 days there to explore the town and hills.What I adore from this city is how they respect the old buldings in George Town and keep them genuine without destroying them.
I met Scottish girl, Jen, who was the first Scottish I met. This 20 years old girls was very nice, independent and addicted to travel. Yeah, for the last one, me too! Lol! We spent the nights in Room mates hostel that costs 8 USD. It is located very near to China Town, Chowrasta Market -where you can taste Nasi Kandar, the famous local food in Penang-- and Little India. Actually you could find cheaper hostel in Muntri, but it was full. Room mates hostel was nice, clean, and friendly staffs. For sight seeing in George Town, take free shuttle bus, they go from Monday, but unfortunately you can not take it after 2 pm at Saturday and all day at Sunday. Anyway, walking arround George Town is also good choice instead. Don�t forget to apply your sun block there. Even though it was rainy season but it was so hot and sunny, can you imagine walking under 40 c degrees weather? Jen got red marks in her whole body skin X)). Taxi was soo expensive there, Lol, better take the bus number 401 (Jetty) from airport to George Town. Prepare 2,7 ringgit for the bus, they won't give any change anyway.
And there was a random solo traveler man I met every time I travel alone. There was. There always was. Me and Jen were not going together because she has friend there and has personal thing to do. Anyway, this random man was from Thailand and offered me a drive for dinner. He came to me first to ask about something in map he could not find, I explained to him where the place was. After couple minutes of conversation between two ASEAN citizens, he asked me to show me and join to ride on his motorbike. I said no, because girls, I had a radar and it said it was not right to say yes. He asked me to join Thai massage. Oh such massage, no, I am not traveling for sex. So, girls, don�t hesitate to say �No!� to a stranger you meet when you travel alone. Especially when your radar says so. You could bring toilet spread and spread it to their eyes when you feel strangely unsafe.
Soo, George Town was explored and I was so happy seeing China Town and Loud Little India alone, OMG, there were many of delicious food and cheering people! These are the poor pics I got from Penang, sorry, was so enjoying the atmosphere, so that I was not focused on pics, :p!
Penang
I went roughly to airport the day after I visited Toba lake because I woke up late. But, catched the flight to Penang finally. I only got two days to visit Penang and it was not enough. Finding a free map of Penang is the first thing you got to do when you reach the airport. You got to spend 4 days there to explore the town and hills.What I adore from this city is how they respect the old buldings in George Town and keep them genuine without destroying them.
I met Scottish girl, Jen, who was the first Scottish I met. This 20 years old girls was very nice, independent and addicted to travel. Yeah, for the last one, me too! Lol! We spent the nights in Room mates hostel that costs 8 USD. It is located very near to China Town, Chowrasta Market -where you can taste Nasi Kandar, the famous local food in Penang-- and Little India. Actually you could find cheaper hostel in Muntri, but it was full. Room mates hostel was nice, clean, and friendly staffs. For sight seeing in George Town, take free shuttle bus, they go from Monday, but unfortunately you can not take it after 2 pm at Saturday and all day at Sunday. Anyway, walking arround George Town is also good choice instead. Don�t forget to apply your sun block there. Even though it was rainy season but it was so hot and sunny, can you imagine walking under 40 c degrees weather? Jen got red marks in her whole body skin X)). Taxi was soo expensive there, Lol, better take the bus number 401 (Jetty) from airport to George Town. Prepare 2,7 ringgit for the bus, they won't give any change anyway.
And there was a random solo traveler man I met every time I travel alone. There was. There always was. Me and Jen were not going together because she has friend there and has personal thing to do. Anyway, this random man was from Thailand and offered me a drive for dinner. He came to me first to ask about something in map he could not find, I explained to him where the place was. After couple minutes of conversation between two ASEAN citizens, he asked me to show me and join to ride on his motorbike. I said no, because girls, I had a radar and it said it was not right to say yes. He asked me to join Thai massage. Oh such massage, no, I am not traveling for sex. So, girls, don�t hesitate to say �No!� to a stranger you meet when you travel alone. Especially when your radar says so. You could bring toilet spread and spread it to their eyes when you feel strangely unsafe.
Soo, George Town was explored and I was so happy seeing China Town and Loud Little India alone, OMG, there were many of delicious food and cheering people! These are the poor pics I got from Penang, sorry, was so enjoying the atmosphere, so that I was not focused on pics, :p!
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