Quo Vadis

Friday, December 11, 2009

Third day is Gundaling Hill

Gundaling Hill is a 1575 meter hill in Berastagi. As Berastagi itself is already 1300 meters above sea level, the height of Gundaling hill is only about 200-300 meters above the town. From the top of Gundaling Hill, one can get a panoramic view of Berastagi, although often the souvenir stalls on Gundaling Hill block the otherwise marvellous view.

There is a park on Gundaling Hill, with statues of - I suppose - local heroes including Pawang Ternalem and a mountain princess called Beru Patimar. From Gundaling Hill, you can catch good views of the two live volcanoes in Berastagi, Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung. Of the two, the taller, cone-shaped Gunung Sinabung is particularly impressive.

I did not realise how close is the hotel I was staying and Gundaling Hill until I took a coach up the hill from our hotel. Horse riding is available on the hill, and I discovered that I could ever ride a horse from my hotel to the top of the hill.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Berastagi

sources: Wikipedia

Berastagi (meaning "rice store") is a town in Karo Regency situated on crossroads on the main route linking the Karo highlands of Northern Sumatra to the coastal city of Medan. The village rose to significance when Dutch settlers in Sumatra opened a boarding school there in the 1920s.

The main economic activities in Berastagi, centre on the colourful fruit and vegetable market and on tourism. Berastagi is famous for its passion fruit. The main attractions of the town are the two active volcanoes; Gunung Sibayak, with its hot springs, and Gunung Sinabung.

The town is also a stop on the way to Lake Toba. The dominant ethnic and linguisitic group is Karo Batak.

Second day in Medan

We have been here for two days. This morning we moved from a hotel in Multatuli Road to one in Sisingamangaraja Rd. The second hotel is close to many good spots. It is just walking distance to Istana Maimoon and Mesjid Raya Medan. We visited them . Then we went to Medan Mall and Central Market. We found malls in Bandung are much better than here. Btw, we dont like the hot wetaher here. Tommorow we're going to Brastagi the coldest city in North Sumatera. We'll leave at 7 am and be back to the hotel at the same time. Anyway, it's late here.I'll write again later. Good night.