Day 110, May 26, 2013, Sunday, Tarutung
So we left off at Andres becoming violently ill, leaving Steve and I to cycle together to Toba. The night earlier, Andres settled down into bed recovering from his episode and I laid my head to sleep. This is where we left off…
Soon into my sleep, my stomach started turning. Up, down, around, forwards, backwards, somersaults, swirlies, dirlies and whirlies. Seriously, some mad scientist shit was happening in there. At 11:30, I was hit. Hard. I spent the next hour in the restroom, replicating the same noises I’d heard from Andres. After clearing everything out, I hobbled back to bed and Andres gave out a weakly “I know how you feel”. Looks like Steve is going to be riding by himself the next day.
Morning
This brings us to the morning of the 26th, I had a very interrupted sleep and things as simple as sitting up seemed like obstacles larger than the mountains we had easily climbed the seven days prior. Around 6, Andres mustered the energy to go to Steve’s room to let him know we were both down and out. He returned simply saying “3 out of 3.” Yes, all of us were hit. We fell back asleep and were going to check in at 12 to see if we could knock out some miles.
12 o’clock came, Steve considered attempting to knock off 50k. I told him and Andres to go ahead. Getting to the room door was hard enough. I couldn’t imagine actually getting on the bike. Andres was still feeling bad, and Steve agreed that we probably shouldn’t push it, even though the worst was over.
Today was simple. I just laid in bed, drank water, worked my way through a fever, read and played minesweeper. Anything more would have taken too much energy. That evening I managed to walk down the street with Andres, to have a coconut. I ordered white rice, and only had the appetite for 3 bites. I left Steve and Andres to talk while I rested at the hotel.
Day 111, May 27, 2013, Monday, Tarutung-Dolok Sangul 55k, Total: 4385km
photo: our hellhole that we were stuck in for a day
We left mid morning, feeling better, but still weak. I ate oatmeal and kept it down!
We slowly made our way through 25k, stopped to have fruit, and then finished another 25k, found a hotel and took a nap. Stomach is still messed up. Even water was passing right through.
We were powering through 100+km days in the mountains before Tarutung and now we could barely do a slight uphill for half the distance. We settled on eating sate, it seemed appetizing as it had not been our menu in the past few days, and no item of food, leading up to being sick, seemed palatable.
Day 112, May 28, 2013, Tuesday, Dolok Sangul-Pangururan, 90km, Total: 4420km
Still not feeling well. Our hotel’s “breakfast” was a piece of bread. #travel-tip don’t assume the breakfast offered is something substantial. I was hoping that it was just an appetizer and went to ask the staff if breakfast was coming. Apparently, the bread was breakfast. I asked him if he was serious. Yes, he was. I asked him what he considers breakfast:: rice and eggs. Ha! Got him! I tried to get a real breakfast, but it wasn’t happening. Bread is breakfast… for guests. I hate that, I really do! A piece of bread is not breakfast!!
We started later again today and made our way out of town. After about 40 minutes of riding, we had a feeling something was wrong. We asked a local which way to Lake Toba. Directly behind us. Dammit. We returned to Dolok Sangul, ate an amazing pineapple, rejuvenated and went in the right direction.
It should have been so easy! But, today a struggle, again. Making our way up a mild incline for 35km, up to 1800m. We grabbed lunch in a small random town, a bit more of a mild incline and then finally descending. My stomach turned back into a science experiment, burbling, bubbling, babbling. The descent could not have come soon enough. A mild 5k down to Tele and then we got to the renowned descent to Lake Toba. The road starts at 700m above the lake edge and makes huge switchbacks, snaking back and forth over the crater edge. Lake Toba is a huge volcanic lake resting in a massive caldera.The eruption making the caldera is believed to have caused the last ice age. It’s big! Actually, if I hadn’t read any of that online, I don’t think I(as a human sized… human) would be able to see that it is indeed a volcano. Inside the lake is an island, almost the size of Singapore. This is where our home-stay is, in Tuk Tuk on the east coast of the island.
We made it to Paragururan, the town on the west side of the island. It was nearing the end of the day and Tuk tuk remained out of our reach, 50km away. Rumor has it that tourism is dying in Toba, leaving much tourist infrastructure with low prices. We searched high and low and could only find a room for 150km(after bargaining!) in Paraguayan. We got dinner and went to bed early. But despite our early bed time, our sleep was limited. Andres and I were both hit again with stomach troubles, kept awake by a blaring tv(I literally thought a concert or event was happening outside), loud talking, and an annoying clock chiming every hour.
Day 113, May 29, 2013, Wednesday, Pangururan-Tuktuk 40mk, total: 4460km
Despite paying 150k, one of the highest prices, we had no sleep, my fever returned, and to top it off, some a-hole started renovation work at 5:30am, right outside our window. Every 15 seconds there were three loud hammer clanks. *Clink* *Clink* *Click*
I was homesick. I just wanted to teleport back to Santa Barbara, rest in my own bed, sit down on a western toilet, eat fresh veggies and drink cold milk. Four days of being sick was starting to feel like forever. What if I never start to feel better?! This is not fun any more. If things weren’t better by Malaysia, in a week, I was going to seek out some serious doctoring.
I rested while Andres and Steve got breakfast and we set off late in the morning.
The ride was easy, flat, and pretty. With only a few bunny slopes. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the ride was in fact shorter than 50k, as indicated by a sign that said “Tuk Tuk 9km” when we were expecting 20. Woohoo!
Soon we made it to Tuk Tuk. Kind of, Steve and I miss the turn and added a couple k to our trip. I know it was only 2k at most. But it was 2k too much while not feeling well.
Pulling into Liberta was a huge relief. Toba had been so elusive. Our journey was long, eight days, five climbs, some rolling hills, and my worst encounter with food poisoning, ever.
I am going to sum up our time at Toba versus doing a day by day. To sum it up, we relaxed, refreshed and recovered.
Day 114-117, May 30-June 2, 2013, Tuk-Tuk (Indonesia)
Liberta was awesome. The rooms are set up in really cool traditional Batak style and Andres and I got a bachelors pad-style loft for 60k($6)/day. The food was really really tasty, freshly made and very fairly priced. And there was a really awesome group of travelers there. Not to mention it is situated right on the lake, allowing for morning, midday, afternoon and evening dips in the cool lake. The list of “not too mentions” could go on forever. But one of the most important is Liberta’s quiet. No tv’s, no loud guests, no blaring trucks or motorcycles flying down the highway. Only the wind and chirping of birds, with the occasional evening rain storm.
To highlight some activities. Two guests, Torstein and Mickey rented bikes and the three of us went on a bike ride. Torstein and Mickey experienced a lil’ taste test of all parts of our biking trip. We had a surprise 10km climb. Awesome views. Kids and people yelling to us, constantly. And the worst, about six dog encounters. They both came to understand why we hate dogs so much.
Another quick anecdote: One morning, Andres pointed out a faint noise. I had heard it, but it hadn’t registered: wedding. We put on our best Sunday dress, invited Torstein along and went to partake in the festivities. It was a fun way to close out our time in Indonesia, one last wedding. Number 6. We didn’t steal the show with photos etc. Which was a relief. I think it’s because they’re accustomed to tourists here.
I took some antibiotics, but I think Liberta is what really did the trick on making me feel better. Good environment, swimming in the lake, good food, good people. Really, really good people. Andres and I are so excited to make our way to their side of the world and see their hometowns across Europe. Liberta crew, you rock!
Andres and I were actually going to ride out on Sunday, but Andres and I wanted one more day. Steve had to make moves ‘cause his visa expired a few days earlier than ours. That evening, Andres and I considered staying one more day. We flipped a coin and fate told us to leave the next day. Ahhhh Toba, it was nice, but we need to move on.
Bread is not a breakfast!!! u are a big eater Chris! 3 bowls of beef soups! hahahah
Pangururan is a really bad place to spend your night. I experienced it too! barely sleep at night with dogs barking, pigs squealing, sound of people walking/dragging their feet on the corridor, the bikes yada yada and the list can go on….