Berastagi, Sumatra

Berastagi (pronounced brastagi) is 75 km southwest of Medan and took about 4 hours to get here from Lake Toba. We took a deserted road that ran along the coast of the lake and it offered many amazing views.

On route, Tim and Michelle taught us that black mosquitoes with white stripes are Dengue carriers (there isn’t a vaccination or cure for Dengue fever) and of course, those very mosquitoes attacked us every time we stopped for photos so we had to be vigilant. Despite spraying and wearing mosquito repellent ankle bracelets, I still get bit. They love me.

On route, we stopped at this waterfall but couldn’t get a great photo. I’ll include it so you can at least

 see what it looks like.

I did however, get this fantastic photo of Banyu –

-and another of the lake –

Consider that we drove several hours and just now reached the end of this lake reveals how truly massive it is!

We didn’t stay in this area long because the mosquitoes planned a mass attack and swarmed me. Nasty.

Berastagi lies 1330m above sea level so it gets cool in the evenings, like the Cameron Highlands. There are two volcanoes more than 2000m high but both are climbable: Sibayak and Sinabung. Sinabung is a tough climb but Tim and Ian did it in 2.5 hours! The climb typically takes four. The report from the boys: there were places they had to climb on all fours up very steep rocks but the site above was impressive and worth the effort. The photos from the summit are on Tim’s camera and I hope to add some later. For now, here is a photo of Sinabung, the volcano they climbed.

Other than climbing the volcano, there isn’t a lot to do here – the grounds at our accommodation are beautiful, very park-like – so a lot of people from Medan come here to get away from the pollution and crowds of the city. Michelle and I spent our day playing in the park with Banyu.

We only spent two nights here and then made our way back to Medan to stay at the beautiful Aston hotel across from Mederka Walk (Mederka means freedom). Here is the view of the city from our window –

Our rooms were not ready when we arrived so we hung out in the hotel’s funky lounge area and had some lunch.

We stayed a couple nights here – swam in their pool and Michelle and I went for a 90 minute foot reflexology at Balle Spa. What an experience! The spa itself was gorgeous – first you’re given shorts to change into, then a foot wash in a dimly lit room with a water fountain, bamboo, trees, and soothing sounds playing in the background. You sit in a lazy-boy chair and receive a foot, leg, and arm massage. I swear I’m going to have bruises on my legs and arms – it was rough! The entire thing cost 60,000rp, just under 7 dollars. Well worth it.