Hi, everyone! I’m excited to introduce you to another interesting destination in Indonesia: Samosir, an island in Lake Toba, Sumatra!
Life in Samosir Island is very quiet and slow-paced. Usually, European tourists come here during summer to admire Lake Toba and explore the island with motorcycles.
Besides enjoying the scenery, there are some historical places, the tallest Christ statue in the world, traditional markets, and more to see on this island.
To explore Samosir leisurely, you can stay 2-3 days on the island and rent a private tour guide+car or motorcycle.
How to Get to Samosir Island, Indonesia
First, take a flight to Medan then take a taxi to Parapat. The journey from Medan to Parapat is four hours. So, if you want to travel comfortably, you can rent a private driver+car.
If you have a tight budget, you can take a public bus from the Amplas Bus Terminal. Bus No.64 will take you from Medan to Parapat.
Once you reach Parapat, you can take a ferry (arriving every 30 minutes) or speedboat. If you’re driving, you can reach Samosir Island via Aek Tano Ponggol Bridge.
When I was there, my original tour plan was to arrive on Samosir Island via land and use the ferry to return to Medan.
However, there was a landslide, so we couldn’t use the land route to Samosir Island.
Since it happened suddenly, our tour guide booked whichever ferry was available so we could reach Samosir Island. It was a budget ferry, small, smelled like smoke, but bearable.
When we returned, we had a much better and larger ferry. The ferry was spacious and very clean, decorated with some cartoon murals 😊
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Samosir Villa Resort, a Traditional Villa with a Beautiful Lake Toba View
I went to Samosir Island with my mom and sister last year. We took a private tour and stayed at Samosir Villa Resort for two days.
When I was there, there was only one five-star resort in Samosir: Marianna Resort & Convention. It had a modern design and was located just beside Lake Toba.
If you prefer to stay somewhere with a traditional Batak house design, I highly recommend Samosir Villa Resort. Get your phone and camera ready because you’ll take many photos! 🤳😉📸
This 3-star hotel was also located just beside Lake Toba. My favourite spot was the restaurant/lounge area, where I could sit and do nothing, enjoying the view…
Or during tea time, munching chocolate cheese banana fritters and sipping hot tea with this view…
Breakfast time was always busy. The food was mainly Indonesian and there were many selections, from soto, porridge, fried noodles, chicken, stir-fried vegetables, to green bean porridge with ginger.
Oh, there were varieties of sambal (chilli) and crackers too! ✨✨✨
If you don’t eat much during breakfast, you can opt for toast, pancakes, and fresh fruits. For drinks, there were tea, coffee, milk, and juices.
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In the evening, the road on Samosir Island was very quiet. I’m not sure if it’s because of the lack of bars, clubs, and shops or because I was there in October.
Actually, Samosir Island felt a bit like Bali but there was no loud music and party people because there was no club on the island.
A few bars offered Western food like pizzas, sausages, and beers and played English songs, but the music wasn’t loud.
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Huta Siallagan, an Ancient Batak Village in Samosir Island
Alright, it’s time for a culture trip! One of the must-visit destinations on Samosir Island is Huta Siallagan. It’s an ancient Batak ethnic group village.
The 2,400 square meters village was built during the reign of King Laga Siallagan, surrounded by a stone wall. Inside, you can see some Bolon and Sopo houses, traditional Batak houses in North Sumatra.
We went to Huta Siallagan with our driver cum guide, and he took us into one of the houses. I’m not sure if you can enter the house without a guide. Maybe you can ask permission from the locals?
Besides the traditional houses, you’ll see two areas with a stone table and some stone chairs. They are called Batu Parsidangan aka The Judgement Stone.
The first area was used for meetings, where the king, the queen, spiritual leaders, etc gathered. The second area had an addition of a long stone table, which was used for execution.
During that period, some people who committed crimes possessed black magic power.
Before they tortured the criminals, they would strip them of their black magic and sprinkle salt and lime on the wounds.
If they screamed in pain, it meant their black magic power had gone. After that, they would continue to torture and execute them.
On our way out of Huta Siallagan, we passed some shops selling souvenirs. The prices of the souvenirs and clothes were much higher there since Huta Siallagan was a tourist destination.
By the way, if you want to bargain, please be reasonable, as the sellers are trying to make a living. When there are no tourists, they don’t make any money.
If you plan to buy many souvenirs, you can buy them at a market near Tomok Village as they’re cheaper.
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Dancing with Sigale-gale Puppet in Tomok, Samosir Island
The next mus-visit destination in Samosir Island is Tomok Village! In this village, you can see the famous Sigale-gale puppet and do a short traditional Batak dance together 😄
So, what’s the story behind this wooden puppet, carved in a human form?
Once upon a time, a king named Rahat ruled Samosir Island. The king had only one son, Manggale, whom he loved dearly.
Ever since he was young, Manggale had shown interest in dancing. He often danced with others at events.
One day, there was a war, so the king sent Manggale to fight the enemies at the border. However, Manggale, who loved dancing, was killed in the war.
King Rahat was very sad and fell ill. He started to lose his mind.
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To prevent the king from turning crazy, the witch doctor summoned Manggale’s soul to possess a wooden puppet, which was carved to look like him.
Then, he asked the puppet to dance to cheer up the king. Seeing ‘his son’ dance for him, King Rahat was happy and gradually recovered.
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The Old Tomb of King Sidabutar in Tomok, Samosir Island
Another destination you must visit when in Tomok is the Old Tomb of King Sidabutar. Here, you will see some tombs of previous Samosir kings.
Before entering, you must wear ulos, the traditional tenun fabric of the Batak people. You can pay any amount as the entrance fee and they will lend you the ulos.
As you can see from the photos, the tombs have different shapes but are made of stones. The kings weren’t buried under the ground, but were laid inside the stone.
According to my tour guide, when a Samosir king died, his courtier must be buried with him… whether he was still alive or not 😱😱😱
But don’t worry! That was in the past! Now, the highest official in Samosir Island is the regent.
There’s another interesting story. See the two photos above?
There are three human sculptures on that tomb. The big male head is the king, and the small sculpture at another end is the queen.
The queen was very beautiful, admired by many kings and princes. They wanted to take her as their wife, but all of them were rejected.
So, when these broken-hearted royals heard that she accepted the proposal of another king, they were very angry and cursed her with black magic.
With so many curses, the queen became crazy and one day, went into the forest and never be found.
The king was very sad and he requested when he died, to be buried in a tomb with the queen’s sculpture too.
Ah, about the third sculpture, the sitting human. It was said when Samosir kings were buried, they were buried in a sitting position, not sleeping.
The sitting position symbolises the fetuses (the beginning and the end).
Wow, this blog post is very long! We almost reach the end of the trip. Before that, there’s one more destination that you should visit when in Samosir Island: the tallest Christ statue in the world!
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The Tallest Christ Statue in the World is on Samosir Island!
I’m glad that I went to Medan and Samosir Island after the construction was done! Who would have thought that the tallest Christ statue in the world would be on Samosir Island, Indonesia?
Aaand, I just knew about this fact a few months before the trip 😅😅😅
It was quite far, but luckily, the road was smooth and the scenery was beautiful ✨✨✨
My tour guide said he was happy with Joko Widodo’s presidency because it was during his presidential term that the road on Samosir was fixed.
The surroundings of the statue were beautiful, clean, and tidy. If you wish to look at the 61-meter Christ statue closely, you must take off your shoes.
Alright friends, that’s the end of our Samosir Island trip! Remember to stay a few days in Medan before flying home for food hunting 😍😍😍
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