If you want something, the universe will conspire to make it happen (Paulo Coelho).
Sumatra is not Bali for sure. Only crazy person who would go back to Sumatra for a holiday within a year. in August with a friend, then in December with new friends.
I got to know these people when we had a charity event in Pengalengan.
Two of the boys told me that they would go to their hometown at Samosir island, Lake Toba and one girl would visit her hometown in Padang. They thought it would be fun if I could join them.
It was not an easy decision as I just had my holiday to Sumatra in August, but not to Lake Toba and going back to Sumatra will be such a waste of money...and second...It scared me a bit to go back to places that have nice memories. Can I look around the streets without my head and my heart calling the sweet memories of Sumatra back?
So many times in our life, we just have to face our fear. And that'ss what I did.
I finally decided to go back to Sumatra. First, because Llike always I want to challenge myself in this matter facing my own fear. and then second, the boys were damn good public relation of the beautiful Lake Toba. Sent me so much info about samosir island and they told me about their plan to camp on one of the small islands at Lake toba. hahahaha. very tempting indeed.
Final decision has been made. A new problem arose: lack of fund. It was near christmas. Many people especially North Sumatran went back to their hometown for celebrating Christmas. Flight ticket was very expensive
Browsing, browsing and browsing, it was decided to do the overland trip as it would cost me less and I am very flexible qua time so it was a good opportunity to experience Sumatra overland.
This trip was very interesting as there were three different groups going to Sumatra with different transportation, different track, and different arrival date.
Onemeeting point, one ultimate destination is: the one and only: Samosir island, Toba Lake.
I was very glad to have Dwi as my travelmate. Everybody knows that Sumatra has never been an easy destination for a single female traveler. I am not that brave and never comfortable traveling alone by myself
Our first desination is Lampung...well it's transit city actually. We took the morning damri bus, departing from Gambir station, to Lampung. The reason why we took this bus instead of other busses to Lampung was because the Damri bus ends at Tanjung Karang train station in Lampung which would be perfect for us since from Lampung to Palembang we planned to use the night train. Qua price it's more expensive than other busses but it's definitely much more efficient since we didn't have to change busses.
In Palembang we stayed at Septi's house. I haven't met Septi in person yet, I was using my networking site, couchsurfing (CS). I've never used the CS network before. So that was my first experience with CS as a guest.
I've once experienced in hosting a CS friend and it was not a success for me. His name is Paulo, Brazilian guy. He slept without no shirt only short pant. It was quite a culture shock I guess.
I am not used to (or never) host a male that I barely know or to sleep with a strange guy in same room although he slept on different matras. It felt very weird sleeping with a stranger in the same room.
So, from that moment on I decided to choose the "yes for a drink" option hahahaha.
Septi is great host. She took us to nice local places. Her family is also great. Her mother cooked for us typical Palembang food. ay ay ay it was delicious. Palembang food is very nice. one of my fav. food: pempek. Pempek palembang is fried fish cake which is stuffed with hard boiled egg or young papaya, or jus plain and is served together with sourish sweetish vinegar soyasauce.
Septi also took us, Dwi, me, and Step a CS friend from germany, who also surfed at Septi's house, to Kemaro island.
Kemaro Island is a tiny delta of Musi River, located about 6 kilometers downstream of Ampera Bridge. Kamero Island is a popular recreation site in the middle of Musi River. A great religious event Cap Go Meh is held in Kemaro Island every Imlek New Year. Kemaro, a small island with a Buddhist temple and the grave of a Palembang princess. The legend tells that the princess was sent to marry the king of china. When she arrived, boats with big pottery pots were sent ashore. The king expected gold and opened them, but the first one only had vegetables. He ordered the other pots to be thrown in the river. When the princess saw that happening, she jumped in the river and drowned. Several of the pots broke, and they indeed contained gold. The princess was buried on the island, and the temple, which is built next to it, is said to bring luck.
So Kemaro island represents or symbol of true love from two different culture.
For more info, prices, transportation, and tips on this trip, please go to these links:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/hafida-meutia/perjalanan-lintas-sumatera-part-1-gado-gado-yang-ada-di-pikiran-sebelum-mengambi/236345711449http://www.facebook.com/notes/hafida-meutia/perjalanan-lintas-sumatera-part-2-gado-gado-dalam-menyusun-rencana-dan-gaya-perj/236919931449http://www.facebook.com/notes/hafida-meutia/perjalanan-lintas-sumatera-part-3-ngeles-canggih-ala-dwi-fid-gue-tidur-jah-ngant/239654291449http://www.facebook.com/notes/hafida-meutia/perjalanan-lintas-sumatera-part-4-tut-tut-gojes-gojes-naik-kereta-limex-sriwijay/249858511449http://www.facebook.com/notes/hafida-meutia/perjalanan-lintas-sumatera-part-5-minta-jodoh-di-pulau-kemaro/263622061449Labels: holiday, overland, sumatra
