Medan Trip 23/5-26/5 : Part 1 (Medan - Parapat - Samosir Island)

Remember when I announced about my 1st oversea trip/travel in my previous post? The destination was Medan and once again I want to thank my friend Just for inviting me to join her tour group and anticipating more invite from you just (*wink2). This is part one of 2 parts, so don't wonder if I leave you all with cliff-hanger..wakaka!

Our flight to Medan was on 23rd May at 9.25pm (suppose to). I arrived at the LCCT,  1 and half hour before the departure time and met Just and the other there. Just introduced me to 4 of her colleagues and that included Lin (Ratu Hatiku), another blogger that I met personally for the 1st time. Nice to meet you Lin! Just said the other 4 (not her colleagues but friend of her colleague) already fly to Medan and we gonna met them at the hotel.

Snap2 at LCCT and inside the plane

We arrived at Polonia International Airport (Medan) around 10pm Medan time and already waiting for us there was Pak Adam with his "Ibu Just' sign . Haishh, tidak sempat snap tu kadbod sebab kami rushing ba.. We dropped by for dinner at Rumah Makan and Buffet Famili,  that cost us IDR 50k each for rice with chicken curry, eggs, fried chicken and plain water (*pingsan). 

Our tour bus

Dinner!

After that we went straight to our Hotel Soechi International where we gonna stay for that night. Also bought local number (Simpati) to prevent from the costly roaming if using our Malaysian number. Our tour guide said, most shop closed at 10.30pm but entertainment such as disco, bar or even karaoke place still open up to 2.00am..

The hotel, the ladies and the palm tree?? :P

Saya mau try bawa ba tu beca kunu (LOL)

On 24th May, we continued our journey to Parapat at 7.30am after a filling buffet breakfast - complimentary by our Soechi Hotel and there we met up with the other 4 members of our tour group. I was fascinated by the colorful buildings all the way to Parapat and my amateur hand keep snapping the building and architecture building (*mostly blurred pic yang akhirnya terpaksa deleted - kesian). The journey to Parapat took about  5 - 7 and if you ask me whether I enjoyed the journey, I will answer I enjoyed every single minutes minus the bumpy ride okay!.. Banyak gila bumper wei!.. Sakit bontot/pantat terhentak-hentak.. I was not 7 hours straight awake because in between time I tried to get some sleep too but the bumpy ride make it possible to stay asleep even for 30min (*sigh).

Buffet brekky at Asoka Resturant

I m scared with Kuala Lumpur traffic but I was terrified by the traffic in Medan! Jarak kereta kiri kanan macam 1 depa seja ni..bikin takut!

I guess this is their little India like ours in Brickfield..hehe

Colorful and artistic building - saya suka..saya suka!

On our way to Parapat, our tour guide dropped us at Gedung Batik and Telekung to do some shopping but at that time the mood of shopping not yet kicking in because we were excited to reached Parapat and see the famous, magnificent Lake Toba. So we just  have a look and asked the price for comparison. We also dropped by at the famous shop called PATEN that selling peanut candy that have unique name such as teng-teng, tang-tang, tong-tong etc.. I bought 10pack of this candy peanut as I know my kids love it (*Wink).

Tengok-tengok seja ya bu..

Pajak peanut candy di sini

We reached at Parapat around 2.00pm and from our tour bus we witnessed the truth about this beautiful and magnificent Lake Toba. I was so amazed with the beauty of this lake.. Macam jakun pula saya rasa..haha! No wonder people categorized this lake as one of must see/visit in Medan.

1st glimpse of Lake Toba from inside our tour bus

We had our lunch at one of the local restaurant that clean and hygienically guaranteed by our tour guide. This time our tour guide explained to us about the cost so we will not surprises anymore but to me the price is expensive and not worth of what choice we have (*I m lucky since I m not fussy with foods), so I tried to eat as much as I can to even out the price..Ketara godoot! wakaka! But don't blame me because the lunch cost me IDR45k (around RM14) and in Puchong I can have big full plate of nasi campur plus tea O ice (-_-).. *Tsk..tsk..makan juga la kau nombor 1 Tunung...
 

ini seja pic yg sempat disnap time lunch di Parapat.. See, our choice was limited (-_-)

Cruised from the Parapat port/jetty to Samosir Island around 3.00pm and before that I managed to shopping kecil-kecilan (LOL) at one of the souvenirs/shirts shop nearby the Parapat jetty. 

souvenirs shop at Parapat - bought 1 tee here

The port/jetty

Peace Yo!

We reached our 1st stop at Ambarita, one of village in Samosir Island around 3.45pm and walked for about 200 meters to the Huta Siallagan, an ancient court yard (with stone chairs and stone tables arranged in circle) where the judgement and punishment execution held.  You can see souvenir shops all the way to this place and don't surprised with the over 'friendly' shop owner/villager chasing after you, persuading you to buy from them. It was kind of freaky actually especially when they started to block your way and forcing you to buy from them. Actually we have a bad experience with the shop owner in Ambarita. You see,  Just and me bought some stuff from this lady shop after bargained with her, followed by our other group member and it caused envy to the other shop owner and they were mad/ not satisfied because we only focus at the lady shop. They were started 'attacking' just and me while we were waiting for the others that caused us to fled from the shops. ( Note: they even climbed to our boat to persuade us buying their stuff).

Entrance to Ambarita

Souvenir shops with their over friendly owner

Entrance to Huta Siallagan

Traditional house of Batak

Meeting table - ala2 macam round table dalam King Athur punya cerita kunu

Place where prisoner/enemies beheaded

Our tour guide showing/explaining about items that important in deciding the best time for execution

Sudah melawat, snap2 gambar, sila beri derma ikhlas ye.

Row of shops where we bought some stuff from the lady in red shirt then 'attacked' by the others shop-owner

Then we cruised to our 2nd pit stop; Tomok, a traditional village and gateway to the Samosir Island that famous with its royal cemetery/tomb around 5.30pm and go straight to visit the cemetery. We were suppose to wear a traditional attire provided by the cemetery caretaker but we were late and the caretaker already stored the attire, so we just listened to our tour guide explanation. No shopping at Tomok because we still traumatized with our shopping experience at Ambarita. Moreover, it was already dusk and we were rushing to cruise to our hotel since it was a bit windy that evening. Even pics were less snapped in Tomok.

Monument in front of the entrance to Tomok - unique!

Entrance to Tomok

Entrance to the Royal Cemetery

The tombs

Isolated tomb with beautiful craving

Donate for conservation of the historical site

When we leave Tomok, the sky was dull and it was drizzling all the way to our hotel;  Hotel Samosir Villa. We reached our hotel around 6.30pm and retreated to our room right after we got our room key... We spend most of the time inside our room because it was raining that night and we have Maggi in cup as dinner.. Maggi lagi sedap daripada makanan yang mahal tapi tidak kena selera kan..haha! 

Senja yg suram and berangin di Tasik Toba - cewahh, puitis kunu..wakaka!

That's all for part 1 of my trip to Medan and to be continued.... (*cliff-hanger!!!)

Last but not the least, gambar mikirayou yang wajip dalam semua post hokeh!

I come in peace people!

Note:-
1) Every pictures were snapped by my Nikon coolpix compact camera - raw and no editing done (because I don't know how to edit it..hahaha!) except for resizing. Kalau tidak cantik, anggap ja cantik kio sebab sia  ni bukan professional photographer. Saya main snap ja..haha!

2) If you are reader from Indonesia and you feel offended with words or pics or even my opinion/perspective, please accept my sincere apology because I didn't mean to offend anyone with this post. This is merely my honest opinion (not a review), experienced while I travel to this area.