German bakery, Bicycle rental, more than enough Bintang beer (plus lemonade), fresh MMs (the only mushrooms I like ), massages, my own Restaurant and happy faces wherever you pass by or stop. The people are so nice and friendly – A friendly ‘semalat pagi’ and ‘terima kasi / sama sama’ can open hearts and doors. Today I used the rest day in Tuk Tuk to do some extra cycling besides internet, laundry and bike service. The heavy downpour stopped during the night and in the morning we were greeted with great sunshine – Cristiano obviously talked again to the God’s! When most of the other riders decided to stay at the lodge and use internet or go the few steps into the village, I grabbed my bike and explored the nearby surroundings. Not a bad decision. At first up the hill west of town, to watch the paragliding training, then down to Tomok to see King’s Tomb. Thereafter up again to the waterfall and from there to Amberita, then to King Siallagan Stone Chairs site, and along the eastern coast of the peninsular back to Tuk Tuk through little settlements and alleys of tourist stores. Actually I didn’t ride all the way up the waterfall on a narrow single trail, simply to safe my energy for tomorrow and because I am confident to see many more waterfalls through out Indonesia which are far easier to reach. The kids are always excited to see me with my funny “zoo-helmet”. I met cute little 2 year old Jessie at Joe’s. She is the neighbor’s daughter, but wants to spend all day with ‘aunty’ in the restaurant – the owners brother is married to a German living in Düsseldorf. Yesterday I met Jonas with his brothers and father who are here to spent the vacation at their granny’s. They are from Schorndorf, a city very close to where I live and have relatives – what a small world.
Although it was raining hard and long last night the locals tell me that it was a far too dry season and a lot of the harvest did not mature.
One could see smiles on almost every ones face on this 120 km ride from Berastagi to Lake Toba, our first rest day. Immediately after leaving the city Mt. Sibayak waved us a final farewell with a huge smoke cloud. Thereafter the road lead through never ending plantations with oranges and corn. Traffic was very low as we did not use the main road to the lake, so our senses were free to inhale beautiful scenery, the good air and the sounds of nature. We spent a long time riding parallel to the lake on the ridge of the caldera, without getting it in sight. However, a final turn opened the view on the largest crater lake of the earth, which is a result of a giant eruption some 74000 years ago, which resulted in ‘volcanic winter’ killing 90% of the earth population.
After a lot of rolling climbs the descent to the lake was a gift for legs and mind. A short and cheap ferry ride set us over to Tuk Tuk on the large Samosir Island. Rooms were quickly taken (although not according to TdA plans) but the vans with the bags were still to come. So a bunch of ‘smelling’ cyclists filled the restaurant (luckily a thatched open building) for the hours to come. Without toiletry, swimsuit and PCs there was not much to do other than to fill the afternoon with beer, food and talks. It was not before 7:30pm when the vans arrived, not only carrying our bags but an awful load of rain, which is pouring down on us since then. Hope this will stop during the night and we are not trapped in our rooms in the fantastic setup of the Tabo Cottages!
What a fantastic ride. The skies cleared over night and revealed a spectacular view of the active volcano Mt. Sinabung. Actually it was said that Cristiano and Yudo hiked up at 2 am, woke up the sleeping giant, moved the clouds and lit up some wood and garbage to give us this fabulous performance – please, give us more of that
Hangout is over. Nice luxury hotel but just for 1 night. Time to go ‘spinning’ again … 122km and 1600m climbs ahead to Tuk Tuk @ lake Toba situated in the caldera of a volcano. YEAH, feels like doomsday workouts!
After an all day climb – 4% average / 15% max – Joachim and his ‘companions’ arrived at Berastagi at the foot of volcano Sibayak (2212m). Here they prepare for the next day, which will lead them to their first rest day at Lake Toba, which is the caldera of a massive volcano eruption, 74000 years ago.
Dinner was fantastic. I am the only rider with ‘special’ diet requirements (vegetarian) and therefore get VIP service – served at the table where the others have to queue for buffet.
The 7 plates are all mine!
), massages, my own Restaurant and happy faces wherever you pass by or stop. The people are so nice and friendly – A friendly ‘semalat pagi’ and ‘terima kasi / sama sama’ can open hearts and doors. 
Today I used the rest day in Tuk Tuk to do some extra cycling besides internet, laundry and bike service. The heavy downpour stopped during the night and in the morning we were greeted w
ith great sunshine – Cristiano obviously
talked again to the God’s! When most of the other riders decided to stay at the lodge and use internet or go the few steps into the village, I grabbed my bike and explored the nearby surroundings. Not a bad decision. At first up the hill west of town, to watch the paragliding training, then down to Tomok to see King’s Tomb. Thereafter up again to the 
waterfall and from there to Amberita, then to King Siallagan Stone Chairs site, and along the eastern coast of the peninsular back to Tuk Tuk through little settlements and alleys of tourist stores. Actually I didn’t ride all the way up the waterfall on a narrow single trail, simply to safe my energy for tomorrow and because I am confident to see many more waterfalls through out Indonesia which are far easier 
to reach. 
The kids are always excited to see me with my funny “zoo-helmet”. I met cute little 2 year old Jessie at Joe’s. She is the neighbor’s daughter, but wants to spend all day with ‘aunty’ in the restaurant – the owners brother is married to a 
German living in Düsseldorf. Yesterday I met Jonas with his brothers and father who are here to spent the vacation at their granny’s. They are from Schorndorf, a city very close to where I live and have relatives – what a small world.
