I traveled all the way to North Sumatra leading up to New Year's Eve. I took a plane from Padang to Medan which lasted about 50 minutes, and returned by bus to Bukkittinggi. The road trip back to Bukittinggi from Medan is about under 650 kilometers, or 434 miles. I spent over 24 hours in a car getting back home, but it was totally worth it to see all the lakes and valleys on the way back. While in Lake Toba, I also got a chance to cycle around Tuk Tuk. I bet that you'd agree it's good to stretch out your legs in between long car trips!
The farthest that I've traveled on this journey so far is to Medan, which is the capital city of North Sumatra, Sumatera Utara. Medan is known for its interesting cakes called bika ambon, a highly sought after variant of the more common coconut cake called bika.
As I often do, I traveled aroud this week on a motorcycle or ojek. One exciting change that happened when I was in Medan was that I got to ride in a tuk-tuk, which is a modified vehicle where passangers sit in a carriage attached to the side of a motorcycle. This allowed for extra space and stability to lay my luggage around, as well as have company aside from the driver.
