Imagine heaven over hell:Lake Toba is a huge expanse of water (1,100 km2) in the crater of a volcano. In the middle, a large island, Samosir, Garden of Eden where one indulges in idleness. Both were born from the eruption of a super volcano. The explosion would have plunged the entire planet into darkness by releasing millions of tons of ash. Still, the raw beauty of Samosir draws tourists to the peninsula's Tuk Tuk guesthouses, like Tabo Cottage. The banks of the caldera form small beaches where you can taste grilled fish from the lake while admiring the horizon. It's idyllic. We would end up forgetting that the volcano, dormant for 75,000 years, could wake up...
After a 3-hour drive (for 90 km!) from Medan, the capital, we arrive in Gunung Leuser Park, the best place to observe “the men of the forest”. Orangutans have more than 95% similar DNA to ours and, along with Borneo, Sumatra is the only place where this endangered species lives in the wild. Rangers feed the red monkeys who come to Bukit Lawang for bananas. The babies cling to the females who are stretching from branch to branch! We leave the old rehabilitation center and go in search of "nests" (these great apes live at the tops of trees), when we come across Mina, a legend of the jungle who has already bitten sixty guides. Then, we meet other, less hostile species:macaques and the Thomas Leafs, all gray with an Iroquois crest.
Ah, this lush and wild nature, so remote that you have to shower in a saucepan… These walks in the parks, where you have to pull up your socks over your pants to avoid attacks by leeches… This encounter with the anti-terrorist patrol -poaching on the back of an elephant… Those nights in eco-lodges in the jungle where it is impossible to stop the sound of crickets and the cries of gibbons… The funny thing is that you get used to it enough quickly, I don't even miss modern comfort.
Several ethnic groups live on the territory and their culture is very rich. We discover that of the Bataks. Their houses with roofs in the shape of an upturned boat are finely decorated with paintings, sculptures, masks and protective buffalo heads. In Pematang Purba, we also visit Simalungun, a magnificently restored former royal palace. Ambarita, the most important town on the island of Samosir, is home to royal sarcophagi:imposing stone monuments adorned with the faces of ancestors. Not far from there, another stone symbolizes the old court of justice. This is where the culprits were executed before they were… eaten, because the ferocious Bataks were cannibals. They have fortunately abandoned this nasty habit since the 19th century!
From the baba cool period, we only remember Goa or Kathmandu, but Sumatra in the 60s and 70s was a hippie hotspot. The peace and love generation landed from the north, from Malaysia, to jump from island to island to Bali. Then the destination fell into oblivion. However, it is accessible by plane and speedboat from Singapore. But on the spot, the roads are chaotic:the drivers do not speak of "pothole", but of "elephant's nest", that is to say!
Here we go!
With Asia, www.asia.fr. Paris-Medan flights via Singapore with Singapore Airlines, www.singaporeair.com.
