Kayaking in Lake Toba, Indonesia

Introduction

Lake Toba is actually a naturally formed lake that occupies the craters of a dormant volcano. About 100km long and 505m deep, I decided to make it my final trip for 2018. In a fitting twist to a year filled with new experiences, it would also be my first ever kayaking expedition. I had barely picked up the basics of the sport when I signed for the trip, and thus was kind of nervous heading in. But, thankfully with the support of the team, the trip was smooth and crazy fun.

Day 1

The first day of the trip was relatively uneventful. We mainly spent the day traveling and transporting our logistics over to Lake Toba, where we stayed at a guest house (rated 2/5 by our guide). Along the way we stopped by for a little sightseeing at Sipiso-piso waterfall, where despite the rain, we still got a good view of the waterfall. At the accomodation, we were harassed by a huge group of mosquitoes, which were so fat, I had no clue how they even flew anymore. This sparked absolute pandemonium as we sought to defend ourselves using our tortoise-like reflexes and aggressive shouts. Brilliant.

In the evening, we also finally got to try out the inflatable kayaks that the agency had loaned us for the trip. Long story short, inflatables are comfortable, easy control…but move really slow in water. All in all, I was excited for the first proper day of the expedition that would commence in the morning.

Day 2 | Distance: 20km

Our first mini-paddle involved us going to and fro to a nearby waterfall, which was about 7km away. Partnered with a seasoned kayaker in a doubles, I found this to be highly relaxing as he probably did all the heavy lifting...OOPS hahaha (I promise that I pulled my own weight later in the trip!).

Upon getting to the waterfall, we embarked on our first (of many) little inland trips. We tied our kayaks to nearby rocks before bashing up the forest to get to the waterfall. I guess I can never take out the trekker in me. Upon reaching the waterfall, we were greeted savagely by…you guessed it! more mosquitoes, accompanied this time by sandflies. WOOOOHOOOO. Hence the lack of photos, as I spent all my time trying to hide my entire body in the water body before finally dashing out and back to the safety of our kayaks.

Lunch though was an absolute delight!

After lunch, we set out upwards along the coast to our next guest house of the trip. I got to paddle solo this time and enjoyed the higher amount of mobility afforded to me. Along the way we stopped at 3 other places of interests. The perception of freedom to stop along anywhere on the coast, where we were intrigued by, was really appealing to me.

Really love how open and inviting the locals were to us. This below, was a small playground built partially submerged in water. Fascinated by the bright colors from afar, we approached it on our kayaks and spent some time horsing around. The local family were probably highly amused at this bunch of city kids playing joyfully with their setup. Oh and bonus, they had this big L-O-V-E sign at the playground too!

There is something to be said about how calming the scenery is at Lake Toba. With a high density of clouds, strong sun, and bright blue waters, it induces a kind of calm upon everyone. I particularly loved to spend my breaks lying down on my kayak and just taking in the superb atmosphere. Feeling the waters gently rock the boat gives a new level of sensation that I had not enjoyed in travels up till this point.

Day 3 | Distance: 30km

We started our day early at 5am, with an attempt to paddle out to catch sunrise. Paddling in the dark was a different experience, as I attempted to follow the light of the kayak infant of me. Being in the morning, I felt sluggish and the relatively short 3km trip thus felt much longer than it probably was. Unfortunately, heavy cloud cover blocked our view, and we were left to head back to our accommodations for breakfast with the tails between our legs.

Day 3 was pretty tough as it was the first time I paddled beyond the 21km mark. Still, there were moments of beauty and enjoyment.

We also spent our lunch on our kayaks for the first time. Looking back, the outdoor lunch really contributed to the adventure feels of the trip as we had to find a nice place to stop for the lunch. Eventually, we settled for a long grass area, which though had no shelter, provided a welcome break to our group. An afternoon siesta after the lunch was great too!

After lunch, we caught another break as a kind tide kept us drifting towards our destination. Then again, our destination was a guesthouse that was rated…wait for it… 0.1 star. O-M-G. I guess life loves to test me. To describe the accommodations, I would say it was an old Atap house straight-out of a kidnapping scene in a jungle. To add to the experience, a huge storm hit the area at night, causing a black out and flooding in the surrounding areas. Adventure? Yes Sir!

Day 4 | Distance: 30km

The fourth day of our trip was probably the toughest and most eventful. We started out by paddling out to another waterfall. I started to playground with my paddles, changing up the grip as well as also opting to try a dragon boat style method. Little things to keep the experience fresh. In our hike up, we had an interesting time slowly walking up a very steep slope and crossing a strong white water river crossing.

Lunch was at a seaside restaurant with a beautiful view of the lake!

After lunch, we commenced the most brutal part of our trip. We were to make a channel cross over to the island in the middle of the lake, which was about 6km. However, we faced strong headwind against us, which was an absolute killer for me. I never quite felt so helpless as I fatigued out from pushing against the wind, but not being able to take a break as the wind would start to push the kayak back. Little waves also continually crashed against the kayak, sending increasing amounts of water in.

Still, I think it is in tough times like these that having a team really helps. We continued to get a positive spirit and even did some filming (I have no idea how i summoned any energy to smile at the point). Towards the end, I think I was so tired that I actually got high. Everything seemed funny and comedic to me, I started to laugh at the waves, the birds and well practically everything LOL! And yes, obviously we made it, though we arrived to the accommodations just as the sun disappeared for the day.

Our accommodations this time was rated 3/5, and was more resort-like! Truly refreshing after the previous night in a 0.1 star accomms DED.

Day 5 | Distance: 7km

The fifth day was pretty much a leisure day as we woke up late, visited a museum in the morning before doing a final 7km paddle to our last accommodations in the afternoon. This time the accommodations was luxurious and served as a fitting ending to our trip. We spent the late afternoon lazing around the swimming pool before heading to a local pizzeria for dinner and finished with drinks back in our room.

Lake Toba was an excellent introduction trip to kayaking for me, I found it pretty challenging at times, but thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, atmosphere and adventure that the trip provided. Also, I loved all the laughter and support from my team mates.