What a luxury to be chauffeured around the countryside in a car. I could get used to travelling like this again.... Harmonious landscapes breathe an archaic strength and in some of the villages, traditional craftsmanship still flourishes. Made with heart, this skilled woodcarver signaled. And who wouldn't believe him? (I wish I could add the delicious cedar wood scent to the photo). Handmade is good, if it’s edible- even better! Kinuku Production Company lies hidden behind a grove of pink-leaved cinnamon trees, a promise

A thirteen hour hop, skip and leap past Parapat, Medan and Padang and we’re back at my favorite altitude- 900 meters above the sweltering Sumatran lowlands, in Bukit Tinggi- that's high hill in Bahasa Indonesia. It’s a small mosque-studded city, (pop. 200’000) in a wide landscape, spread between three volcanos, one of which we were told, is “still a smoker”! We’re all set to discover the matriarchal Minangkabau culture, the region’s natural wonders, and people and their stories. What we discover first though, is

Temptation struck again.... but it's bye for now, Lake Toba. Fortunately, the lake is easy to get to. It’s only a 4-5 hour drive from Medan Airport in North Sumatra. Do yourself a favour and choose the easy transfer option to get to there- a shared taxi directly from the airport to Parapat: Where else will you be picked up with your name on a sign for a 4.5 hour trip, for $7?! Bagus Taxi (Tel. 0625 41747) offers the most reliable

Horas!  Welcome, hello and farewell that is, from peaceful Tuk Tuk. Picturebook red steeples dot the verdant landscape around Lake Toba From afar this could be super-size Swiss scenery! Only by zooming in, do the  flamboyantly arched roofs and exotic greenery reveal another story: This is equatorial Batak country Set in cool comfort, 900 meters above sea level in northern Sumatra, and blessed with a year-round early summer climate, all things green flourish here: Palm trees, orchids, daisies, bougainvillea, corn, mangoes, avocados and evergreens crowd the

Is it really Dreaded Dengue?? Updated. Accidents apart, few situations are less comfortable for a traveler a little too removed from medical help, than to be shivering under a makeshift blanket, or lying on a twisted damp sheet in the dark, feeling well and truly awful. And if like me, you’re fighting off the menacing what-ifs that prey on the vulnerable in the dead of such nights, you’re in for a long haul to daybreak! By light of day, things tend to brighten up. In my

We live above a Body of Water now. To just call it a lake wouldn’t do justice to the entity that slurps burbles, slaps and swishes ceaselessly, below our (yep, rock bottom again)  $8.70 a night terrace.... Add the busy, chatty bird population in the biggest tree far and wide, and a big sky, and the scene is set for the feistiest nature fest anyone could wish for. Welcome to enchanting Tuk Tuk, Samosir Island, Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia We're guests of the

We realized we’d need to step up our game, when the first roundabout we passed on our Air Asia Skybus harboured a good-sized forest! This sure wasn’t small-town-gone-viral Ubud anymore! And we gave the city all we had, we truly did. We plodded the streets for hours- at all hours, thumbing our nose at the intractable taxi mafia. We dipped into the retail madness of 1001 chain stores uniformity, and stumbled past endless displays of mass-produced junk, always on the lookout for

Effortlessly graceful, proud but gracious, the Balinese people we met and observed in Ubud live in what appear to be very close-knit communities, bonded by religion and tradition It was fun to succumb to the winsome charm of people and even things and to daydream about a cool alternative lifestyle on the island (Studio for rent!) But that would mean a full makeover of my ineffectual village dog avoidance tactics…. We were privileged to spend time with authentic and engaging people from all walks of life. A