Assalamualaikum...
Since my childhood, I always wanted to travel abroad and visit other countries and experience the difference in culture, religion and language. I only able to fulfil my childhood dreams recently, at the end of 2015 with my family. We went to Medan, Indonesia.
It was a short and fully scheduled trip to Medan. As I arrived, our tourist guide, Ahmad Akbar Khan, greeted me at Kuala Namu International Airport and drove straight to fetch my family members at a hotel in the middle of Kota Medan. I was a day later since I have something to do in KL.
Then, we went for lunch at a restaurant, Cinde Laras, which is famous for it's Ayam Penyet. It's a spicy dish of rice, grilled/fried chicken, tempe, raw vegetables (cabbage) and the spicy sambal. I was informed by Ahmad that Cinde Laras has a quite number of restaurants around Medan and Kota Medan itself.
Replica of Istana Mae'mon at Kuala Namu International Airport
We visited Istana Mae'mon, the palace for the ruling Malay Sultanate of Kota Medan once. Kota Medan was ruled by the Sultanate of Melayu Deli before Indonesia become a republic country. Now, the palace become a museum of the Sultanate of Melayu Deli of Kota Medan.
Then, Ahmad drove us to Danau Toba. It took about 5 to 6 hours of driving through side country side of Medan. We passed by few beautiful places before arrived at Parapat. We stayed a night at Toba Lakeside Resort. You don't need air-condition here because Danau Toba is located among the highland forest. It was such a magnificent view of the Lake and I couldn't imagine that there is a huge lake among the hills and mountains. Allahu Akbar.
Few photos I took of the Danau Toba (Lake Toba)
The next morning, we went to Samosir Island, the island located in the middle of the lake. I was told that the island is as big as Singapore. We visited Batak Toba's ancestors tomb and walked along a long path of souvenirs stalls.
Souvenirs stalls
A jetty at Samosir Island
The map of Lake Toba and Samosir Island
