After leaving the hostel where we'd spent a terrible first night, we winded up at a bemo (i.e. mini-bus/van of sorts) interchange and spent 15 minutes searching for a bemo driver who would get us to the main bus terminal, without ripping us off too badly (which unfortunately, I think he did).
#1 In the bemo; Yvonne and Tuomas.
#2 The driver made a few more stops along the way so that more passengers could get on.
Somehow, the bemo driver did not drop us at our intended destination and we ended up at some shopping mall instead. There was a local fast-food restaurant, and quite a number of little stalls run by Indo-Chinese stall-holders that peddled stuff ranging from handphone accessories to clothes and snacks. After withdrawing some money from the ATM at the mall, we were good to go!
In order to prevent ourselves from getting ripped off big-time again, I decided to check with some of the stall-holders; and approached a couple who looked like they were in their mid 50s or early 60s. I started asking them questions with my awfully-limited Hokkien and halfway through the conversation, the man decided that it was a good idea to switch to Mandarin so that he could better understand what I was trying to say. I was quite embarrassed by my half-past-six grasp of Hokkien and yet, at the same time, more than thankful that they expressed an understanding of Mandarin.
After a few minutes of explaining, which he felt wasn't of enough help, he came out from behind his stall, walked us to the entrance of the mall and tried to negotiate with two motorized trishaw riders to bring us to the bus terminal for a good price in Bahasa Indonesia. I was touched by his friendly and helpful gestures; felt a warm, sorta fuzzy feeling in my heart and found it a little hard to believe that people would actually go all out to help complete strangers (but yes, people do that and I'm more than thankful to them).
Three hours and a bumpy bus ride later, we found ourselves in Berastagi (approx. 86.5km south of Medan according to Googlemaps). Following the reviews on Yvonne's guide-notes, we walked down the main street where we'd alighted and into the courtyard of Wisma Sibayak Guest House. Got ourselves two rooms and that was half of what we'd paid for the lousy first night's beds.
Somehow, the bemo driver did not drop us at our intended destination and we ended up at some shopping mall instead. There was a local fast-food restaurant, and quite a number of little stalls run by Indo-Chinese stall-holders that peddled stuff ranging from handphone accessories to clothes and snacks. After withdrawing some money from the ATM at the mall, we were good to go!
In order to prevent ourselves from getting ripped off big-time again, I decided to check with some of the stall-holders; and approached a couple who looked like they were in their mid 50s or early 60s. I started asking them questions with my awfully-limited Hokkien and halfway through the conversation, the man decided that it was a good idea to switch to Mandarin so that he could better understand what I was trying to say. I was quite embarrassed by my half-past-six grasp of Hokkien and yet, at the same time, more than thankful that they expressed an understanding of Mandarin.
After a few minutes of explaining, which he felt wasn't of enough help, he came out from behind his stall, walked us to the entrance of the mall and tried to negotiate with two motorized trishaw riders to bring us to the bus terminal for a good price in Bahasa Indonesia. I was touched by his friendly and helpful gestures; felt a warm, sorta fuzzy feeling in my heart and found it a little hard to believe that people would actually go all out to help complete strangers (but yes, people do that and I'm more than thankful to them).
Three hours and a bumpy bus ride later, we found ourselves in Berastagi (approx. 86.5km south of Medan according to Googlemaps). Following the reviews on Yvonne's guide-notes, we walked down the main street where we'd alighted and into the courtyard of Wisma Sibayak Guest House. Got ourselves two rooms and that was half of what we'd paid for the lousy first night's beds.
#3 Tuomas: What's that funny smell, Yvonne?
#4 Now you see me, now you don't.
After receiving the keys to our rooms, we dropped our bags promptly and stopped by the dining area for our first actual meal in Indonesia.
#5 Gado gado for me.
#6 Our rooms; minimal furnishing in there - just a queen-sized bed, lights and a fan (if I'd not remembered wrongly), common toilet could be found outside the rooms.
#7 Backyard bike.
#8 Guesthouse's courtyard
We stayed in Berastagi for 1 night. Even though the place's well known for its two active volcanoes Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung and the hot springs, we didn't trek up or visit any of them because we wanted to spend more time at our next few destinations. We did however, take some nice long walks down the main street. I loved the laid-back vibe of the town, where everyone just seemed to be happy minding their own businesses and are not particularly bothered by the visitors that stop by the town. It's the kind of place where not too many tourists visit, and hence, there are no pesky souvenir vendors trying to sell their ware at every corner of the streets.
Here are some of the pictures that were taken on our walk:
#9 Competition? Bring it.
#10 Lovely Doris behind the gate of a souvenir shop
#11 Happy school girls posing for a picture. It was around 11.30 am when these kids were walking home; school ends relatively early here.
#12 Venturing into the local wet market
#13 Peace!
#14 Why so grumpy, baby?
#15 One scruffy-looking dog
#16 Lovely Chrysanthemum
#17 Two cute little boys (yes there's one more boy at the back!)
#18
#19 :)
#20 What money can buy... found on the wall of our guesthouse.
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