Lake Toba

I’m amazed how BIG this lake is – it takes the boat almost 45 minutes to traverse the lake to Pulau Samosir, the island in the middle. And after the noise of Banda Aceh and Medan, my ears are ringing because this place is so quiet.

Once a popular party island, it now hosts families, groups of schoolchildren and the odd backpacker. Whilst on a Sunday run, I was swamped by a bevy of schoolgirls all intent on practicing their English. I literally had to run away – after 15 minutes, there was an orderly queue with at least 40 youngsters waiting for their turn to ask me my name and where I was from. And this was only the beginning of the fun – after breakfast, marauding tribes of schoolchildren outnumber travellers by at least 100 to 1, and both Steph and I are surrounded by a swarm of children attempting to complete a school project. In hindsight, it’s inspirational to see people so young with such a passion for life, and a cheeky exuberance to go along with it. At the time though, I'd had enough of their crushing enthusiasm.

Northern Sumatra

This is the first place I have travelled to where I have considered not telling people about it. Thus I will not post photos. My guidebook says that this is what everyone is scrambling around Thailand looking for, and I can’t agree more. Mountains rise from the sea, covered in a thick mat of jungle and coconut trees - I’m awed by sweeping bays of deep blue and black basalt outcrops set against deep jungle green. Creaky old bungalows scattered along the thickly wooded slopes overlook a rocky channel of magical aqua-marine water. God was surely in a good mood when she made this place.

It really feels like we are away from civilisation here – there’s a delicious feeling of timelessness and isolation. Coconut trees sway lazily in warm sea breezes, suggesting that the hammock is good place to spend the afternoon, but for me, diving is the preferred pastime. Dangerous currents rip past as the tides change, and the local divers and marine life have adapted to the vicious currents. After a couple of excursions below the water, I’m beginning to get a handle on it. It’s clear that Indonesia’s reputation for world class diving is deserved – I for one will certainly be back.

Banda Aceh

The day dawns bright, the first rays of sunlight tainting the mountains a deep orange. A night bus trip is in its final stages, and I for one am glad – each trip like this weakens my resolve to take another. We’re heading north towards Banda Aceh and Pulau Weh, a small island off the northern tip of Sumatra. As we arrive at the bus station and take a taxi into town, I can’t see any remnants of the tsunami which hit Banda Aceh particularly hard in December of 2004. In the hotel we stay in, photos cover the walls which defy belief – mounds of rubble and bodies by the dozen. In the South East Asia this week, a tsunami decimated parts of Samoa and Tonga, a hurricane brought floodwaters to many areas in the Philippines, and an earthquake destroyed the city of Padang and many villages in North Sumatra, just a few hundred kilometres south from where we are right now.

I’m feeling really down about the whole situation. The news keeps playing the same stories and I’m conscious of the discrepancy of tourism in the midst of turmoil. In Banda Aceh, a lone mosque stood among the handful of buildings which survived the 2004 tsunami, standing in silent testament to the horrors which befell the area almost 5 years ago. The mosque gave inhabitants comfort in their time of tribulation, and now, seeing the mosque and the city of Banda Aceh 5 years on gives me comfort, knowing that human spirit in a million different manifestations rises to the challenges that life presents.