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Today Toba[1] is huge volcanic lake with a central island, and a sort of washed out station on the later hippy trail, but still physically interesting to explor

Today Toba[1] is huge volcanic lake with a central island, and a sort of washed out station on the later hippy trail, but still physically interesting to explore. For anyone considering a visit to Sumatra, do check out the nearby taxidermy museum in Medan[2]. It's absolutely incredible. And for surfers, don't miss the island of Nias[3], but fly instead of getting the boat in bad weather, which amounts to a moving vomitorium. Southeast Sumatra has a huge area of largely unexcavated stone ruins to rival Angkor [4] from an ancient, regionally significant civilization and sea power, Srivijaya[5]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Toba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Toba [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medan [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nias [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
Wow, this is a great list. Sure beats the cliche trip to Bali.
lappet 9y ago
I met a driver from Medan in Bali and have been curious to go since. How is Sumatra? Are the people friendly and is it easy to get around?
- sgt 9y ago
  Did he drive you around on the island?
- chewz 9y ago
  It isn’t easy to travel by road but flights are cheap. On the other hand if you go by minivan you will see so much more Sumatra... Sumatra is suprising - mountains, pine forests, mild climate suprisingly for equator it could often get chilly. Lots of agriculture. Vivid nature. But real jungle and primary forrest is mostly gone. People are friendly, smiling, easygoing and welcomming to foreigners. Lots of people speak a little English and bahasa is quite easy to pick up. No grammar, super simple. Indonesia has almost worst education system in the world [1] and forward thinking isn’t part of the culture. Neither is working hard. That can put you through lots of hardship - if you care. People are incredibly social - this is what their life is about. There is a lot of childish fun everywhere - when minivan is passing through the village local people pour buckets of water through open windows. Lots of people sing and play guitar - most badly in my opinion but it is still sweet. People are honest, you can trust strangers, not much of small crime, petty theft is uncommon etc. Everyone smokes cigarettes everywhere also on the bus. Even 4 year old could be already hooked on fags. [2] There is a lot of people, it is quite overpopulated island (not like Bali but close). It means tons of trash everywhere, everywhere, terrible impact on environment. Indonesia is world largest producer of marine pollution (3.2 milion metric tones of plastic per year). [3] If there is trash it is mostly burned on site (including plastic et all) so you get a haze. Cities are polutted, there is too many cars, people and not enough infrastructure. Medan - largest city in Sumatra and 2nd largest in Indonesia is the worst place in SE Asia in my opinion. It is just hudge, poor, dirty and without anything there to compensate. Clean water, sewage’s treatment forget about it. Everything goes into rivers and ocean. There is now wild gold rush which is destroying riverbeds in Sumatra.[5] The food is good but monotonous.[4] The hotels, homestays, peningapans are usually quite dirty. Regarding cleanliness Thailand it is not. Don’t expect clean sheets. Bedbugs are common. There are exceptions. Definitely go to Sumatra. Disclosure: I have spent mist part of last four years here. [1] https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-2015-Indonesia.pdf https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-2015-Indonesia.pdf [2] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-children-tobacco-indonesia/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-child... [3] https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/123/4/ehp.123-a90.t001.html https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/123/4/ehp.123-a... [4] There are miracles like organic yogurt, mozarella and mascarpone from Medan or italian restaurant Bixio in Pulau Weh. [5] https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/making-indonesian-rivers-great-again/ https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/making-indonesian-rivers-gre...
dEnigma 9y ago
"Vomitorium" doesn't mean what you think it means. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium Unless you were using it in a doubly jokey sense, while being aware of its actual meaning.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Pixeleen 9y ago
  After building up a mental image of a vomitorium, that wiki page is a real letdown.
rthille 9y ago
My ex-wife was getting her Geology BA when we got a new dog. We thought “Toba” would be a great name. It wasn’t, she tried and tried to live up to her namesake.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

Wow, this is a great list. Sure beats the cliche trip to Bali.

lappet 9y ago

I met a driver from Medan in Bali and have been curious to go since. How is Sumatra? Are the people friendly and is it easy to get around?

sgt 9y ago
Did he drive you around on the island?
chewz 9y ago
It isn’t easy to travel by road but flights are cheap. On the other hand if you go by minivan you will see so much more Sumatra... Sumatra is suprising - mountains, pine forests, mild climate suprisingly for equator it could often get chilly. Lots of agriculture. Vivid nature. But real jungle and primary forrest is mostly gone. People are friendly, smiling, easygoing and welcomming to foreigners. Lots of people speak a little English and bahasa is quite easy to pick up. No grammar, super simple. Indonesia has almost worst education system in the world [1] and forward thinking isn’t part of the culture. Neither is working hard. That can put you through lots of hardship - if you care. People are incredibly social - this is what their life is about. There is a lot of childish fun everywhere - when minivan is passing through the village local people pour buckets of water through open windows. Lots of people sing and play guitar - most badly in my opinion but it is still sweet. People are honest, you can trust strangers, not much of small crime, petty theft is uncommon etc. Everyone smokes cigarettes everywhere also on the bus. Even 4 year old could be already hooked on fags. [2] There is a lot of people, it is quite overpopulated island (not like Bali but close). It means tons of trash everywhere, everywhere, terrible impact on environment. Indonesia is world largest producer of marine pollution (3.2 milion metric tones of plastic per year). [3] If there is trash it is mostly burned on site (including plastic et all) so you get a haze. Cities are polutted, there is too many cars, people and not enough infrastructure. Medan - largest city in Sumatra and 2nd largest in Indonesia is the worst place in SE Asia in my opinion. It is just hudge, poor, dirty and without anything there to compensate. Clean water, sewage’s treatment forget about it. Everything goes into rivers and ocean. There is now wild gold rush which is destroying riverbeds in Sumatra.[5] The food is good but monotonous.[4] The hotels, homestays, peningapans are usually quite dirty. Regarding cleanliness Thailand it is not. Don’t expect clean sheets. Bedbugs are common. There are exceptions. Definitely go to Sumatra. Disclosure: I have spent mist part of last four years here. [1] https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-2015-Indonesia.pdf https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-2015-Indonesia.pdf [2] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-children-tobacco-indonesia/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-child... [3] https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/123/4/ehp.123-a90.t001.html https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/123/4/ehp.123-a... [4] There are miracles like organic yogurt, mozarella and mascarpone from Medan or italian restaurant Bixio in Pulau Weh. [5] https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/making-indonesian-rivers-great-again/ https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/making-indonesian-rivers-gre...

dEnigma 9y ago

"Vomitorium" doesn't mean what you think it means. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium Unless you were using it in a doubly jokey sense, while being aware of its actual meaning.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Pixeleen 9y ago
After building up a mental image of a vomitorium, that wiki page is a real letdown.

rthille 9y ago

My ex-wife was getting her Geology BA when we got a new dog. We thought “Toba” would be a great name. It wasn’t, she tried and tried to live up to her namesake.