Wow what a trip and amazing experience this 5 day excursion to Lake Toba in Sumatra Indonesia was. From moments of complete awe at God's creation to moments where we felt as though we had stepped into a scene from Romancing The Stone, this trip was filled with memory-making adventures. Lake Toba is a Voclanic crater lake created after an eruption about 70 million years ago. It is theorized that this eruption was a super-eruption that may have triggered one of the last ice ages. What is left now is an island in the middle of Asia's largest fresh water lake and a few hot springs are all that is left of the once active volcanoe. The native people around the lake are called Batak and the houses are very unique. Another unique characteristic is that this area 5 hours East of Medan is probably the largest Christian population in Indonesia. The agriculture is still very traditional but on the drive to the lake we passed modern agriculture being used on Bridgestone's rubber-tree plantation and even signs of research being done by Pioneer Seed. Sadly we saw no sign that such big industry was giving much of a financial boost to the local economy. One of favorite experiences was the day we spent on a privately chartered boat touring different areas along the island of Samosir in Lake Toba. We stopped and saw an ancient stone counsel area where the local kings would hold court determining the fate of accused criminals. Sitting in the ancient stone throne where kings had sat throughout the generations was sobering and even more so was seeing the large stone table where many had been executed. While wandering around this area a man of about 55 approached Steve and asked if we were from the USA. Steve cautiously answered yes and then the man asked us if we knew Buffalo. What!!!!? Here we are in the middle of nowhere and a local man is asking if we know of Buffalo. Well it got better. This man proceeds to tell us that he is an aerospace engineer who had worked in Buffalo for about a year before returning to Bandung Indonesia to build airplanes. About three weeks ago his brother had called him back to Lake Toba to help him. You see his brother was the king. Then the man showed us where they had buried his brother, the king, who had died just a week ago. Sure enough there was a flower wreathe that looked about a week old. He told us several other interesting stories but was so humble. Steve then asked, "So who is king now?" and the man very meekly replied, "I am". He then let the kids look into his home which stood right in front of the ancient stone court room. Wow, to find someone in the middle of nowhere who knows of Buffalo, has lived in Buffalo and who just happens to be the king! Well the rest of our experiences in Lake Toba included hikes through the farms and villages, a bit of shopping, some amazing food. The kids loved the fishing and swimming in the lake each morning and afternoon and I loved the tranquility of it all. This is a trip to remember!
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