Berastagi wasn't on our itinerary originally but we changed our mind about going to coffee plantations in the Gayo highlands and in stead took a public bus from Medan to Berastagi. The journey took about 2 hours which felt a lot longer because the woman sitting next to Rosanna kept on falling asleep on her and the bus was veeeery old and the road poor. As usual, the driver drove like a maniac.
We stayed in Serdika Pavilion B&B for the two nights we spent in Berastagi. The temperature dropped from Medan's 30 degrees to a comfortable 20 degrees so our room had a warm blanket instead of aircon/fan. The bathroom sink was replaced by a plastic bucket. Serdika had three puppies running around the premises which were barking quite loudly even during nightime. Proper guard dogs to be, one could say.
We arrived to Berastagi in the afternoon and went to look for a place to eat. Lonely planet guided us to Raymonds cafe, which had okay food. Later we went to see the fruit and product market which was clearly directed for tourists. All sorts of Berastagi junk was sold as well as pets such as rabbits, hamsters and dogs. Tourists could also ride a horse around the block :D Later we learned that locals do have rabbits and rodents as pets but the dogs that were on sale could also end up on to the dinner table.
Berastagi is one the biggest producers of fruits and vegetables in northern Sumatra because of its nutritious soil, so everything was fresh and ripe. We saw some fruits that you rarely see in Finland like the local passion fruit marquisa, mangostine, salak (also known as snake fruit), durian and rambutan. Durian is a really smelly fruit which is also supposed to be extra delicious, "the queen of fruits" as Indonesians say. We liked mangosteens and passion fruits the best, but left the durian tasting experience for later.
We had reserved a Sibayak volcano trekking tour from this fellow Abdy, who runs Nachelle homestay B&B in Berastagi. He was supposed to be the best guide in town according to tripadvisor and he definitely didn't let us down. He came to pick us up from Serdika at 4.30 am (we chose the early trek since we wanted to see the sunrise) with a minivan and we drove up to the volcano so that we didn't have to walk all the way up to the summit. The Sibayak volcano is 2200 metres high, so even after that minivan ride there was still a lot to climb. So there was still a one hour trek left to the summit, which was plenty for us. We both had a cold and we could feel the climb in our lungs. Still the trek went well and we were at the summit early enough to eat breakfast and watch the sunrise. A shame that it was so cloudy that day that we couldn't see the sunrise properly. Luckily the fog faded away and the clouds moved after a while so we could see more. The views were breathtaking.
As usual the locals asked to have their picture taken with us :)
As a great surprise to us, also bees can live in those altitudes!
After wondering about the summit and taking pictures we started going down. First we descended to the crater of the volcano. Sibayak hasn't ruptured in years but its still releasing sulfur (the yellow stuff) and hot gases from it's depths.
Then we continued our way down. On our way Abdy told us many things about Indonesia in general, it's politics and the upcoming presidental election and the nature around us. He made us smell the plant that tiger balm is made of and cut small pieces of a cinnamon tree for us to taste.
After descending from Sibayak we got back to our minivan and drove to the hot springs near the volcano. There were pools with different temperature of water in them so that you could choose the one that best suited you. We were also happy to spot a rabbit island in the middle of all the pools! :D
Next our tour continued to a Buddhist Golden Temple. We weren't almost able to see anything in the sunshine because of all the sparkle of the temple! Inside the temple was a tree and on the branches of the tree people had hung their wishes or prayers to Buddha.
Berastagi has a mixture of different religions and so we got to see a Christian church as well, built in a local traditional way. We also climbed inside a traditional tribal house.
After this complete tour we were quite exhausted but at the same time very happy to have seen and learned so many local things. We didn't do much with the time we had left in Berastagi since both of us still had colds. Especially Rosanna was feeling tired all the time.
The day after our tour it was time to pack our bags, hop into a turist bus and head to lake Toba. Last but not least, you can enjoy this wonderful sight of Berastagi, the giant cabbage.
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