Wongtee: Brastagi to Lake Toba

The journey continued through the beautiful countryside from Brastagi to Lake Toba. It took about four hours by bus and we moved from Batak Simalungun territory to Batak Toba region. The people there grew beautiful flowers, fruit trees and vegetable on the fertile volcanic soil. The dark volcanic soil can be seen all over the area.

This is the district governor's office and it is built according to the traditional Batak architectural style.

Nearby, there is this big mosque, as there is a large number of Muslims in this area.

Not to far away, is this Hurai Batak Protestant church, which is also built according to traditional Batak style.

As the bus stopped at a Pertamina Petrol Station to for a gas refill, the view of the active volcano,

Mt. Sinabung, at the background, is just magnificent.

A van-bus filled with passengers too pulled up for gas. This is the only petrol station between Brastagi and Lake Toba, so most vehicles traveling along this road stop for a refill.

All around, is agricultural land, and with the rich volcanic soil, almost anything grows well here.

This is the family cemetery. Each farming family will allocate a small area for burial of family members. Of course, the great grand ancestor who first worked on the land is given a grand memorial / grave such as this one. The whole countryside here is dotted with family graves, from farm to farm.

The favourite food of the Batak here - Babi Panggang Karo. In every village, there will be stalls with the sign BPK - selling roast pigs.

Finally, after four hours the bus arrived at Parapat, a town at the edge of Lake Toba. This is the famous Sipiso-piso waterfalls, located at the fringe of Lake Toba.