Cerita Seru Touring ke Bukit Indah Simarjarunjung dan Pulau Samosir

Hey hey heeeeyyyyy,

HORAS!

Udah lama kita gak jumpa ya. Maklum lah, masa-masa terakhir bulan Ramadhan dan lebaran banyak kali yang awak sibuk kali, jadi tak sempat tulis artikel. Tenang aja, sekarang awak sudah kembali membawa cerita seru jalan-jalan keliling bukit indah Simarjanjung dan Pulau Samosir bareng keluarga besarku di Medan.

Udah ah, gak enak banget ngomong pake logat-logat medan gitu hahahahaha 😄. Gak pande (pandai) awak. Makhluk planet Bekasi gak cocok ngomong Medan 😅.

Jadi, tanggal 30 Juni adalah hari dimana gua mendarat di kampung Batang Kilat, Sei Mati, Belawan, Medan dalam rangka bersilaturahmi dengan keluarga besar alias mudik. Itu udah H+5 lebaran. Telat? Gpp, yang penting mendarat dulu di Medan.

Di hari itu juga, keponakan yang udah jadi adek gua, Dina Arifah Maha, tahu-tahu bilang ke gua "kami rencana mau jalan ni malam jam 12, kakak ikut?" Gua kayak "Hah? Hari ini banget? Jam 12 malem, kayak waktu kita tour keliling Danau Toba Januari kemaren dong?! Kemana emang?" terus Dina bilang "entah, tanyalah sama ayah Dina"

What a surprise!!! Baru aja mendarat udah mau gerak aja kita. Tanpa pikir panjang gua langsung ngobrol sama ayahnya Dina tentang rencana jalan malam itu.

Katanya mau ke bukit indah Simarjarunjung sama nyebrang ke Pulau Samosir. Rencana 3 mobil ikut. Gua galau gitu kan, karena gua kali ini ke Medan gak sendiri tapi bareng ortu gua. Ortu gua mana kuat di ajakin touring tengah malem gitu yang gak jelas nanti tidurnya dimana. Alhasil, setelah bernego-nego ria, gua akhirnya naik mobilnya Dina. Yeeeyyy, bisa satu mobil sama adek gua! Seneng banget 😁

Jam 12 malem kita gerak dari Sei Mati, Belawan menuju bukit Indah Simarjanjung. Ayah Dina emang strong banget men, bisa dia nyetir tengah malem gitu, naik gunung gelap-gelap, dan tahu jalan pula. Iyalah, danau Toba udah kayak wilayah kekuasaanya gitu, familiar dia sama jalan-jalan disana.

Sampe di Bukit Indah Simarjanjung jam setengah 5 pagi. Sepanjang jalan satu mobil tidur kecuali ayah Dina, gua, dan Dina. Kenapa gua dan Dina gak tidur padahal duduk paling belakang barengan sama bantal dan selimut? Simply, kita gak bisa tidur aja terlebih gua yang susah tidur di mobil. Gpp lah, yang penting maen-maen dulu di bukit indah Simarjanjung.

BUKIT INDAH SIMARJARUNJUNG, WISATA BARU DANAU TOBA

Iya masih baru lho kawan. Kalian pasti ada yang belom pernah denger namanya kan? Kalo orang Medan, terlebih kaula mudanya pasti tahu. Ini tempat wisata yang lagi ngehits di kalangan anak-anak muda Medan. Ini tempat dimana kalian bisa ambil foto danau Toba beserta bukit sekitarnya dan pemandangan pulau Samosir.

Yang mau dapet like banyak di instagram, kesitu aja sumpah keren-keren lho. Nih gua kasih liat foto-fotonya.

Waktu pagi di bukit indah Simarjarunjung

Spot foto dengan background kupu-kupu

Spot foto dengan design bintang

Duduk di kayu pohon sambil nikmatin sunset

Gimana? Keren ya pemandangannya? Apalagi banyak spot-spot foto yang kece. Udah daripada penasaran, kesana aja Bukit Indah Simarjarunjung

PANTAI PASIR PUTIH PARBABA & DANAU SIDHIHONI

Dari bukit indah Simarjarunjung, gua nyebrang pake ferry ke Pulau Samosir. Kali ini gua nyebrang sama mobilnya, jadi ada tuh ferry yang bisa ngangkut mobil.

Destinasi pertama adalah pantai pasir putih Parbaba. Ini suatu misteri yang menarik. Kok bisa ya, ada pantai pasir putih di atas danau? Pasirnya kayak pasir pantai pula. Dah gitu, kok bisa-bisanya ada ombak gitu di danau? Wah ini menarik untuk di teliti. Danau Toba itu emang penuh dengan misteri.

Anyway, pantai pasir putih Parbaba itu objek wisata yang pas buat piknik keluarga. Disana ada tenda-tenda dan tikar buat orang piknik di pinggir danau, kuliner khas Batak, dan atraksi seperti speed boat dan banana boat. Pemandangannya juga luar biasa bagus, apalagi kalo udah sore, itu keren banget. Kayak gini nih suasana pantai pasir putih Parbaba dan sore hari disana.

Mandi-mandi di danau toba. Kalo sore enak loh, gak panas dan udaranya sejuk. Untungnya gak ada dari kita yang masuk angin

Senja di danau toba

Sayang seribu sayang, pas langit senja gua gak ngambil foto. Itu langit bener-bener merah dan bagus banget. Gua terpesona banget ampe mager ngambil kamera karena pemandangannya terlalu bagus buat di lewatkan.

Gua dan keluarga besar gua nginep disitu. Jadi ada hotel dan villa gitu di pantai pasir putih Parbaba, terus satu kamar gede banget. Kita semua tidur dalam satu kamar, udah berasa kayak pengungsi aja hahahaha. Kayak gini lah suasana kita tidur di kamar. Gua udah tepar banget jadi langsung aja tidur.

Saat semuanya tepar karena perjalanan cukup panjang dari Belawan sampai ke Pulau Samosir (yang selimut biru diatas anak kecil itu gua hahahaha 😅)

Berasa kayak pengungsian? Justru disitula serunya perjalanan kita. Tidur pun satu kamar semua

Besok paginya, kita main-main sebentar di danau Toba. Kali ini gak mandi-mandi di danau tapi gua lebih kepengen ambil foto candid dimana Dina jadi modelnya. Dah gitu, foto-foto asik kayak foto lompat, lempar pasir, dan foto kebersamaan sama sodara-sodara gua juga jadi kegiatan asik pagi itu.

Lempar pasir. Dina berhasil ngebentuk huruf 'Y'

Feel so free? Yeah, that's good

Gua, adek Dina, dan sodara-sodara gua

Sebelum pergi, kita selfie dulu lah

Sekitar jam 9 kita udah gerak menuju danau Sidihoni. Inilah objek wisata alam Indonesia yang fenomenal. Ada danau di atas danau. 

Dah gitu danaunya bersih banget, airnya bening, dan di kelilingi padang rumput hijau macem bukit teletabis. Keindahan danau Sidihoni juga sukses membuat gua terpesona dan speechless. Gak percaya gitu kalo ada danau seindah ini di Indonesia.

Gak tahu lagi harus ngomong apa, alamnya Indonesia emang gak ada tandingannya. Kalian harus kesini kalo jalan-jalan ke Medan.

Keren banget ya danau Sidihoni

No edit atau lebih tepatnya belom. Tapi ini view danau Sidihoni dari sisi bawah tebing jadi spot bagus buat Dina candid

Tantangan utamanya paling jalanannya luar biasa hancur. Ya itulah khasnya jalan-jalan di Indonesia. Tempat bagus itu penuh dengan tantangan. Kalo gak ada tantangannya, gak ada gregetnya. Jadi jangan ngeprotes kenapa pemerintah gak betulin jalan atau infrastruktur yang jelek. Udah nikmatin aja sensasi dan gregetnya exploring alamnya Indonesia. Semua itu akan terbayar kok karena hasil tidak pernah mengkhianati usaha. Jalanan rusak, dibayar dengan pemandangan yang menyejukan hati. Seru kan jalan-jalan di Indonesia?

Setelah dari danau Sidihoni, udah deh kita jalan pulang ke Medan tapi gak naik ferry. Kita lewat Tele, jalan darat yang nyambung sama pulau Sumatera Utara.

Kalo kalian jalan lewat Tele, jangan sekali-kali kalian tidur. Rugi! Pemandanganya bagus banget! Bener-bener bikin hati dan pikiran sejuk. Gua bener-bener terpesona banget sama alamnya Sumatera Utara. Luar biasa banget. Makanya jangan tidur di mobil, nikmatinlah pemandangan alamnya.

Ini dia pemandangan di Tele. Bagus kan? Kalo gak ada tiang listrik itu perfect banget lah

"Jangan Be........" kalian sendiri lah yang menilai hahahahaha

Nyampe Tele kita berhenti di rest area, itu tempatnya ada di atas tebing deket menara Tele. Sodara-sodara gua udah pada masak waktu di hotel, jadi kita udah punya cukup makanan. Terus sambil foto-foto di situ, gua juga sempet nyobain kopi Sidikalang. Enak banget men, Sidikalang itu terkenal sama kopinya. Kalo kalian pecinta kopi, cobainlah kopi Sidikalang. Mantep gan!

Suasana makan siang di suatu tempat di bukit Tele

Udah deh, dari situ kita balik ke Sei Mati, Belawan, Medan. Sungguh perjalanan yang sangat berkesan. Spesial banget apalagi ke tempat super indah seperti bukit indah Simarjarunjung, pantai pasir putih Parbaba, dan danau Sidihoni. Udah gitu ada sodara gua yang tinggal di Manado ikut juga. Dan pastinya, banyak quality time yang gua habiskan bersama adek gua yang cantik dan menggemaskan ini.

Terima kasih banyak sekali lagi udah ngajakin aku jalan-jalan keliling danau Toba dan pulau Samosir. Setelah Januari kemaren kita tour sampe Tarutung, kali ini kita berhasil menaklukan pulau Samosir. Jalan sama keluarga besar Medan itu ngajarin gua kesederhanaan dan kekeluargaan. Saat jalan sama mereka, selalu aja ada keceriaan yang ngebuat perjalanan menjadi lebih berwarna. Itulah kenapa gua sayang banget sama mereka.

Sekian dulu cerita jalan-jalannya. Kalo ada yang punya cerita jalan-jalan seru, share yaaaaaa.

Nah kalo mau liat serunya jalan-jalan ke Bukit Indah Simarjanjung dan Pulau Samosir, nonton ya vlog di bawah ini. Jangan lupa subscribed 😄

The Journey To Samosir Island And Highest Waterfall In Indonesia

Ponot Sigura-gura Waterfall

In the last three articles, I share about the uniqueness of North Sumatra capital city Medan, Lake Toba, and exotic beaches. However, North Sumatra still have more beautiful nature site that never fail to amaze people.

Have you ever see an island on the lake? Or, do you know where is the tallest waterfall in Indonesia? 

Well, this article can answer those questions. This is my travel story when I had a trip to Samosir Island, the island on the lake which have a lot of mysterious story, and highest waterfall in Indonesia that not many Indonesian know about this waterfall, Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall.

The Volcanic Island On The Lake, Samosir Island

I am sure most of Indonesian know about Samosir Island. The island that exist in the middle of Lake Toba, which have almost same wide with Singapore (630 km2), and one of the five biggest Island on the lake in the world.

Previously, I mentioned in my travel story in Lake Toba that 75,000 years ago, Mt. Toba terribly erupted and create very large caldera and one Island in the middle. Since then, the caldera filled by rain and turned to be lake, and the island in the middle keep exist until now which we known as Samosir Island. There's a lot of story and mystery about Samosir Island, for example, some archaeologist said that Samosir Island is actually top of the Mt. Toba. The truth of this statement still in doubt but that's why Samosir Island is very interesting. 

In order to visit Samosir Island, I departed from my house at 10 pm one day before, so that I could take earliest ferry to Samosir Island. Morning in Lake Toba is very beautiful, fresh air, great atmosphere, the sky so blue, and the wind was very nice.

After one hour taking ferry, I arrived in Tomok port, Samosir Island. In the edge of street, there are a lot of souvenirs shop where I can buy original handmade souvenir of Samosir Island and traditional clothes. 

15 minutes walking, I arrived in Sigale-gale cultural herritage, where you can  see the traditional house of Samosir Batak Tribe, the mascot of Samosir Island Sigalegale statue, and Tungtung Monument. The architecture of Batak Samosir traditional house is very unique. Moreover, you can see Sigale-gale culture performance for 20 minutes by pay 80,000 IDR. Usually, if there's so many tourists, they will conduct Sigale-gale perfomance to entertain domestic and international tourists.

Sigale-gale statue

Tungtung Monument

Not so far from Sigale-gale cultural herritage, there's Cemetary Complex of King Sidabutar or known as the place of stone and life. What is "Stone and Life"? Here's the explanation that written in fron of Cemetary Complex:

"In the cemetary complex of King Sidabutar there's a relationship betweenn Rocks and Culture, such as dancing Tortor (the traditional dance of Batak tribe) which is express through natural stone statues, as well a legend of Anting Malella's love story."

Cemetary Complex of King Sidabutar

It's very interesting, that's why cemetary complex of King Sidabutar is sacred place for local Batak tribe. Before you enter the cemetary complex, the front door staff will give you Batak songket and you have to wear it when you enter. 

The Hidden Place, Ponot Sigura-gura Waterfall, The Highest Waterfall In Indonesia

After spending two hours in Samosir Island, I continued my journey to Ponot Sigura-gura, the highest waterfall in Indonesia.

Yes, highest! You know it? No? Hahaha, well, as I expected, not many Indonesian know where's the tallest waterfall in Indonesia. Even local community don't know about this place. 

Where is it? It's in Hidden Place! 

If you search in Google, they will tell you that the highest waterfall in Indonesia is Sigura-gura waterfall. You can find it in Google maps. But the reality is, it's totally hard to find.

The location is in Toba Samosir district via Porsea town. But I didn't expect that there's no banner or directions guide to Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall. I only find the banner written "PT Inalum" or "PLN complex". I trust Google Map that I go to the right direction but there's no direction guide in the street. Even if I asked local community, they only have less knowledge about the direction to Ponot Sigura-gura.

However, I keep trusting Google Maps and keep going. Until I find complex gate of electricity company "PT Inalum", I was a little bit doubt that I go to the right direction and I'm afraid I couldn't enter. However, the security told me I go to the right direction and if I go straight away, I will find it. Okay, I trust this guy and keep going. 

There's nothing in the street. No shops, no restaurant, even no guideline banner. Really, nothing! My cousins who're going with me started to doubt that whether the waterfall is exist or not, but we try to keep going. Then, we see large cliff and hear waterfall sound. Yes, finally, we see a waterfall coming out from the cliff and we go straight away to there.

Be careful, because the street isn't friendly. Yup, Indonesia tourism classic problem, the access was really bad. The street is very broken until the gate of Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall. 

Then, I finally arrived in the bottom of Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall.

I was speechless. The waterfall is very high. I never see this kind a waterfall before. The height of Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall is 250 m! The highest in Indonesia! And the waterfall is coming out from escarpment, flowing to two cliffs below. It's hard to find Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall, but it's really worth to visit.

I couldn't play with the waterfall because the water is very heavy, it's too danger. So, I took a picture in the tree trunks that appear in the bottom of Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall. The way around waterfall is full of rocks, so be careful because I was falling down once in there. Use proper shoes or sandals so that you can walk easily

It's really worth to visit. If there's direction guideline in the street and good access, I'm sure Ponot Sigura-gura waterfall will be more developed because this is the highest waterfall in Indonesia. The government should put more attention to this kind a tourist site. Hopefully, by this article and video on my YouTube channel, the government realize how important to developed tourist site like Ponot Sigura-gura Waterfall.

Alright, that's all from North Sumatra journey. Samosir Island and Ponot Sigura-gura is the last destination that I visited during my time in North Sumatra. But North Sumatra still have more. Let me give you clue:

1. Elephant Rock Beach Sibolga

2. The Hidden Paradise Tangkahan

3. Nias Island

Those places are my next target when I go back to North Sumatra. Of course, it will be nice if I can go with my family.

If you are planning to travelling in Indonesia, don't just visiting tourist site in Java Island or Bali, visit North Sumatra Province! The nature is beauty, the food is delicious, the people are nice. The highest waterfall, the biggest lake, and the hidden paradise, everything is in North Sumatra! Only in North Sumatra! So, what are you waiting for? Plan your trip to Indonesia, and visit North Sumatra.     

Also visit:

My Top 3 Beach Recommendations In North Sumatra Province

Let's Have A Look Inside Indonesia Biggest Lake, Lake Toba

Medan City Shows Bhineka Tunggal Ika "The Unity Diversity" Philosophy