Woke up early with the mosque making noises first and then later cockrells, but as I didn't need to rush I stayed in bed until 8 when I got my things together and went to climb the Gundaling hill nearby. It was only a 30 minute walk and there were lots of stalls setting up at the top. The view was not great as it was very cloudy so the volcanoes were not visible.
I went back down a shorter route marked as steps but some was a slippery steep mud path so I slipped and got my hands dirty and had to wash them with a puddle and some leaves. I found a mosque on the way back which was not on the map app so I added it as the first place I've added since properly logging in. It looked newly built and not quite finished. At the hostel I washed my hands, looked at their inflated food prices, found out that check out was at 12 and then went round the corner and had mie goreng for 13,000. I found a different internet place which was also 3,000 per hour but it was full of schoolkids not in school so I went to the place I was at yesterday and it was also full, most were playing games, I'd expected 10am to be quiet but apparently not. So I went to the guesthouse and showered, packed and checked out. I went back and managed to get a computer and get more organised. Then I went to get a minibus as the local route would cost 15,000 or maybe a bit more and the tourist bus costs 250,000 which is crazy for such a short journey. The bus let me on and it was just 5,000 to the town about a third of the way since they don't go straight. Some school girls found it amusing that I was on the bus and he drove me to the bus station. I asked about 10 passing minivans for Tongging but none were going and some people at a cafe told me the bus comes here and will be an hour before leaving so I crossed and got a nasi goreng for lunch. The minibus filled up with people and luggage but we sat there for a few more people to get in and left around 2.30. The minibus ride was not too far but it was a small vehicle and we squeezed more people than we should have inside and there were some spectacular views before we arrived at Tongging where I got out. I didn't really know where to go, I was looking to stay the night but there wasn't much in the way of hotels and there was no mobile signal, people didn't speak much English, it didn't look like there was a boat anywhere and maybe not a bus. I walked around town and there was even less there so I went back and was waiting for a bus and a girl on a motorbike called Lydia came and talked to me. She was from the Berestagi chapter of Jehova's witnesses and it was interesting talking to her but she told me there are not many buses so I would need to get to the main road and then take one bus and then another. They left and someone said they could take me by car for 100,000 which is a lot for the short journey offered so I decided to walk to the waterfall which was not do far away. I went up the hill and got some good photos when a car stopped in front of me and reversed back. Someone got out and said they would take me to the top for free so I got in. There was 2 people both who worked for Cargill called Radod and Simanjunthax. We went to the waterfall talking on the way as Radod spoke good English. I got to see the waterfall which is 170 metres high and then we sat down to eat noodles which was a soup with noodles and an egg on top and was good. They told me that most people in this part of Sumatra are Christian and there are lots of churches as a result. Simanjunthax paid and then they wouldn't let me pay them back for the meal so I thanked them and they drove me to the main road. At one point the driver had to answer his phone and they stopped and swapped so that he wasn't driving and talking which is not something the minibus drivers worry about. We got to the main road and they said they would wait with me and there were children making a lot of noise with vuvazeelas (long horns). There was a couch surfing guy who said I could stay there but that would mean more travelling the next day. I told Radod I would be ok and they can go but they stayed and a minivan in good condition stopped and Radod talked to the driver and got an agreement to take me which was great as the van was empty. The driver didn't speak English and I don't speak Indonesian so we sat listening to music for the journey. It got dark pretty quickly and his music was not great as he seemed to have a compilation or an album of mushy songs by a boy band or similar. We did pick up one lady on the way but I got to the city hotel around 8pm. The woman on reception pulled out a list of room rates with the cheapest standard room being 150k, but she said she can do an offer for 100k and then I think she said it wasn't available or something but the next room with hot water and breakfast was 130k so I was ok with that. The room was not bad with a big bed but I left to see if I could find sone internet. They had supermarkets which is good and other hotels but there was very little on maps.me so I added the shop since I had properly registered now they should turn up on the map for other people. I walked through town and found a church and a museum that I added to the map as well, so if anyone using maps.me comes here and visits the museum they won't realise it but I literally put that place on the map. I walked back to the hotel and talked to a guy sitting a few buildings down for a bit. There was unlikely to be an internet shop he said so after walking a bit more I decided to see if there was anything on tv at the hotel before going to bed early. Back at the hotel I caught up on a few things using the wifi in the lobby, then I loaded up pokemon to see what there was and the local pokemon were just normal ones, but I did see a bridge over what looked like a lake and then lots of pokestops and some gyms which meant there was something maybe worth seeing so I headed out and the lake was no such thing there was only a river with a dam but further along the road where the pokestops were there was a big statue in what looked like a temple. I tried to walk in but the man there said closed so I walked back to the hotel a different way and went past a mosque and a graveyard. The TV in the room was showing rubbish so I went to sleep.
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I woke up early before 7 from a car horn out front. I'd slept pretty well without ear plugs or a mask and I got some of my things together before going to see if the owner could book me the 8am bus to Berestagi. His wife told me that he was at the bus station (probably touting for tourists although I'd been told the rooms were gone today) I packed my stuff and had a shower and waited eating rambutans and when he came back he phoned up about the bus and it was ok. When the minibus came I paid the hotel owner the 100,000 for the bus and 10k tip as it had been good and I hadn't eaten there due to their prices.
The bus was empty so I sat at the front and it never really had more than 5 people in at a time. He was also driving slower than others and doing a good job of avoiding pot holes until another minibus overtook is and he made it his imperative to catch them which he did 10 minutes later and then overtook pulling in to narrowly avoid an oncoming lorry. We'd by now picked up a passenger who seemed to delight in the driving shouting whoa or wai almost every time our driver overtook or honked his horn. It was nice having the view at the front although I was a bit concerned that my suitcase might fall out of the back while we are driving as I heard a story of a backpacker losing their luggage. We came to Binjai, so even though I was going all the way to Berestagi we still went via Medan but then there are no real direct roads. At least we had better roads and I got a mobile signal and we headed south on a 2 lane road which actually meant more opportunities for crazy driving including undertaking a lorry before pulling out in front of it to overtake a motorbike. The bus continued into the outskirts of Medan and filled up so I was sharing the front before we headed south. Coming close to Berestagi the road winded up and the town was quite elevated and cooler. I got out and found a guesthouse where they had double rooms with an ensuite hot shower for 150,000 or with a shared toilet for 75,000. It's quite a difference in price so I went for the cheaper room. I checked in and the woman asked if I was going to climb the volcano tomorrow so I said yes. I looked at the prices for food in the guesthouses but it was a bit overpriced so I went out and tried a bread or pancake with vegetables dish which was ok but a bit small. It was gone 2.30 but when I checked tripadvisor it seemed the volcano was easy to climb and people do it in the dark so I decided to go for it. I packed a jumper in case it got cold, a torch and an umbrella and headed out walking the 9km to the volcano as well. The walk along the road was uphill making it more tiring but I got to the ticket office around 4pm and it was 4,000 entry. The path became more forested but was still a road. There were some monkeys of a different breed in the trees but they weren't so friendly and I didn't see anything else. I got to some stalls before 5 and it looked like maybe some people camped there. Someone pointed me the right way to walk and I went past the rubbish mound I'd heard about. After the steps to begin with it was still a fairly good path for a while until there was no path and it was just open rocky/muddy land. I'd passed a couple of groups on the way but I didn't see any more which made me think I was a bit late but I still had at least an hour before sunset . There was a stream below which may have been hot as I could see and hear some volcanic vapour vents not too far away. I walked closer to them and the smell of sulphur was not too bad but they were quite loud and maybe dangerous so I just took pictures and didn't go too close. There was a pretty vertical climb and I had to stop a couple of times before reaching the top area where there were two peaks I could see so I headed to the higher one which was not bad going until the last bit as it was a big rock outcrop which didn't look easy. I had a rest before starting to climb the rock and was making my way but the hand and footholds were not great so I wasn't confident enough so I went back down and had another look at the rock. On inspection the corner looked easier to climb as it had proper holds and from my rock climbing experience (a 1 day taster) you also can hold around a corner. So I started there and it was quite a bit easier but still a challenge but I made it up. The view was ok but there were lots of clouds blocking views and they looked like they were moving in so I didn't stay too long as it was 5.30 as well so darkness was also on the way. Climbing back down was a bit trickier as I couldn't see the holds as well but then the last bit was easy as I could just jump. I found my way back to the path using a few markers and met a group with a guide who were going up. I carried on and came to a cave in the path that I didn't remember but this did look like the right path and I met another group going up soon after. Once back where the path ended I had a look to see if the stalls had anything I might want but they didn't so I carried on walking on the road path. I saw a snake which was quite thin and red but it didn't move when I threw a stone near to it so I think it was dead. It started getting dark and someone on a motorbike was kind enough to offer me a lift but as I'd spent a lot of the day on a bus and I was walking to and back from the volcano as a challenge I declined but I did take my torch out so that I could see better and drivers could see me. The road back was quite long and did go uphill as well for a bit, animals were naking more noise but I didn't see any apart from a frog and the ticket place when I got there was empty. The rest of the walk to town was dark quite a lot and I passed a market, museum and church back at town. I went back to the guesthouse for dinner and had a vegetable curry with rice which was ok but cost a bit more at 26,000. After that I went to an internet place I had seen nearby and it only cost 3,000 for an hour but my phone wouldn't connect to their computers. Afterwards I thought I could have connected by taking the sim card out as they had a slot but it was close to 10 and the place was closing soon and I found out it opens at 10am. I went back to the guesthouse and charged up my phone with all of my different cables to find out which ones worked the best, it seemed a white one was terrible so I ditched it so tht charging should be faster. There were some people that sounded German outside talking in English but it was mainly just one woman talking and seemed like she just wanted to talk about her problems and things which is very boring to me. They left thankfully around 10.30 and I went to sleep about 11. |
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