I actually heard that song for the first time on my best of CD...quite good. Anyway, I just came back from a place called Lake Toba which is on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The lake itself was created from a collapsed volcano. It was a really nice place, it actually almost reminded me of home, a large lake surrounded by mountains that were covered in trees. The only difference (aside from the people there) was that the lake was actually warm :)

Since it is Ramadan, getting a ferry over to Medan (the main entrance city in Sumatra if you are coming from Penang) proved extremely difficult. We actually had to wait two extra days to get one. Once we were over there, we ended up taking a mini bus late at night from Medan to Lake Toba. Let me tell you, I would not recommend one of these again. Sumatra's "Highway" was a crowded road, paved the whole way, that usually consisted of two small lanes. This bus picked up passenger on the way, and by the time we were half way there, there were four big guys seated across a crowded back seat with our legs pretty much against our chest and barely enough space for our butts to fit(Erik was a little worse off than me though). Not sure which was worse, this or the 3rd class train from Chiang Mai (probably the train cause it was 14 hours) After enduring about 3 hours of this we arrived at around 11 pm, grabbed some food, and went straight to bed.

The next day we ferried over to more of the Lake front town called Tuk Tuk. It's a pretty small place, with quite a few lake from resorts. We decided to stay at a place called the Samasir Cottages, quite a nice place, but maybe a little pricey (in Indonesian standards, it was only $7 between the two of us in Cdn standards). The people here were super friendly though, making an effort to get to know us, and coming out to one of the bars with us. Unfortunately the weather was a little wet and cloudy while we were there, so I wasn't able to enjoy it as much a possible. Oh well, it was still quite beautiful, and I wish I did have a little more time there.

The first night we were there, we watched some traditional Batak (the local) dancing and singing. This was really neat to see, they had one guy playing a clarinet type instrument that was more like a kazoo, and another guy banging a knife on a beer bottle. The music was quite beautiful, and harmonized quite well. Part way through, they invited us up to join in some of the dancing.

The second night we were there the place was absolutely packed, as it was a Muslim holiday called Hari Raya, which is used to mark the end of their fasting. That night we met some people from Medan, and hung out with them most of the night. They were a blast to hang out with, and were as happy to be hanging out with us as we were with them. Their English wasn't that great, but that's what made it even more fun. They just randomely burst out into song, and we tried unsuccessfully to learn the words. At about 2, we decided to go swimming in the lake (hence the title). In the end, only one of them actually came in with us, but it was good times anyway.

Alright, gotta go catch my bus to Kuala Lumpur. Got a flight to Borneo on the 18th so I'm only gonna spend one day there, and maybe one day on the way back. Not sure of the internet connections in Borneo, so I may not post for a while (although I expect Kota Kinabalu, the place I fly into, to have some). Talk to you soon...

One last thing, go Lions go :)

Cheers,
Drew