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Sumatra { 28 images } Created 18 Nov 2013

Photos from Sumatra taken between December 2010 and January 2011.
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  • Young Indonesians posing in front of Masjid Raya, the Great Mosque of Medan . <br />
In december 2010 i traveled alone for the first time, deciding to fly to Sumatra the second largest indonesian island.
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  • My first main destination, starting from Medan - the capital of North Sumatra, was Samosir, an island located in a volcanic crater called Lake Toba.
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  • Three brothers lazing on a selfmade float in Samosir. <br />
Samosir Island is only reachable by ferry boat from the small village of Parapat, which, for its part, is best reachable by bus from Medan.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - At 630 km², Samosir is the largest island within an island, and the fifth largest lake island in the world. It also contains two smaller lakes, Lake Sidihoni and Lake Aek Natonang. Across the lake on the east from the island lies Uluan Peninsula. The island is linked to the mainland of Sumatra on its western part by a narrow land connecting the town of Pangururan on Samosir and Tele on mainland Sumatra. Tele consequently offers one of the best views of Lake Toba and Samosir Island.
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  • An Indonesian girl posing in a village in front of her house on Samosir Island.
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  • I saw this puppy dog restrained to a plant near its owners house, between touristic Tuktuk and the village of Ambarita.
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  • Did the baby pee every ten minutes, or were there many babies living in the household?
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  • Rice seedling planting in Samosir. The maintain of the ricefields is hard work for the locals.
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  • An indonesian farmer preparing the soil before planting the rice seedlings.
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  • View over Lake Toba with the guesthouses and hotels on the shore, and a man ploughing his ricefield.
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  • A boy and his father on a flooded piece of land used for rice farming. According to "Wikipedia" - A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such as rivers or marshes. They can require a great deal of labor and materials to create, and need large quantities of water for irrigation. Flooded paddies provide an ideal environment for rice cultivation and discourage the growth of many weeds.
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  • On a nice tuesday morning i met Joe in his restaurant, a nice place located just outside Tuktuk on the way to Ambarita. Joe made me an interesting proposition the day before; hiking all the way up to Pusuk Buhit, the sacred mountain of all Batak descendants. On the way up, i made this picture of the Sagala valley.
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  • On half way to the summit the weather started changing. While we were walking, Joe told me that the Batak people are an ethnic group living in the north of Sumatra. As many Batak, Joe was traditional in his beliefs, despite the fact that most of the locals living in Samosir are predominantly Christians. As it started raining, Joe told me that his ancestors were cannibals. I felt a little bit uncomfortable :-).
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  • My friend and "guide of the day" , Joe, posing on the top of Pusuk Buhit.
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  • An altar with receptacles for sacrifice items.
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  • And the descent from the summit, which took us approximately one hour. On that day the ground was very slippery, and the view over the lake very cloudy.
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  • View over Sagala valley on the way down from where we started.
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  • Traditional Batak houses in the middle of the rice fields, photographed just after a rain shower. <br />
From an historical view, the first village of the Batak people was Sianjur Sagala Limbong Mulana, situated in the Sagala valley.
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  • After a rainy day we were rewarded with great views on the colorful, terraced rice fields.
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  • A man was plowing a rice terrace along a road i drove on with a rented motorcycle.
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  • As i was looking for a bottle of fuel i saw this church and the cemetery besite it. <br />
With an estimated percentage of 86% in 2011, Islam is known to be the largest religion in Indonesia with the largest muslim population in the world.<br />
Samosir is one of the exceptions, as the Batak people living on that island are almost entirely Protestants.
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  • Lake Toba and its island, Samosir, were created 75000 years ago by a super volcano. <br />
According to "Wikipedia", the eruption of a super volcano is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions. Supervolcanoes can occur when magma in the Earth rises into the crust from a hotspot but is unable to break through the crust. Pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. They can also form at convergent plate boundaries (for example, Toba) and continental hotspot locations (for example, Yellowstone). <br />
The Discovery Channel highlighted six known supervolcanoes: Yellowstone, Long Valley, and Valles Caldera in the United States; Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia; Taupo Volcano, North Island, New Zealand; and Aira Caldera, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyu-shu-, Japan. Although there are only a handful of Quaternary supervolcanoes, supervolcanic eruptions typically cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash and cause a long-lasting change to weather (such as the triggering of a small ice age) sufficient to threaten species with extinction.
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  • Lulu, Nora, Rosi, Siti, four young women and a cockatoo i met in a shop, along a main street in Banda Aceh, northern Sumatra.
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  • Before flying home i took a ferry from Banda Aceh to Pulau Weh, a volcanic island. I stayed at Freddies Santai Sumur Tiga, one of the best resort i have been so far. Charmed by the location, i decided to stay there for longer.
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  • At dinner time i met a cool Dutch couple, Ray and Ana. For the next days we dived with Rubiah Tirta, a diving school in front of Iboih beach.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - The island is known for its ecosystem; the Indonesian government has declared 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) of inland and sea around the island as a wildlife protection area. A rare megamouth shark species was found on shore and the island is the only habitat for the threatened toad, Bufo valhallae (genus Bufo). Coral reef areas around the island are known for their large variety of fish species.
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  • Weh Island is located at the north western point of Sumatra. The Island is only accessible by boat; ferries are leaving regularly from Banda Aceh.
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  • One of the last photos i have taken before leaving Pulau Weh. I left Weh Island in noon, anticipating to catch my flight at the airport of Banda Aceh. As i arrived at the ferry harbor i took the next ferry, but i already knew that i would be short on time for my return flight to Kuala Lumpur. So, before the ferry platform was pulled down to the wharf of Ulee Lheue, i prepared myself for the run of my life. <br />
Before the platform touched the ground i was already on the other side making the ferry personal very angry. Then i had to find a taxi driver very quick to reach the airport timely. I asked for the price and for the first time so far, i didn't negociate. I was in hurry, the taxi driver asked me 100000 Rp, i told him that i would give him 200000 Rp if i would be on time at the airport. <br />
The driver drove me to the airport in a record time, and as we arrived at the airport entrance, he started honking like a maniac at the car checkpoint, because of the cars in front of us. I guess he wanted me to catch my flight on time :-).
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