Visit to Lake Toba, Sumatra

While I was over in Vietnam for work I added a too-short side trip to visit my friend Ningrum, who lives in Medan, on the island of Sumatra. While there I enjoyed the tremendous hospitality of Ningrum and her friends and family. The highlight was a trip up to Lake Toba, which is an enormous high-elevation lake that fills the caldera of the last "super volcano" to erupt on our overactive planet. Ningrum is friends with the family that owns the Toledo Inn, which is a sprawling hotel complex on the island that sits in the middle of the lake.

The cool mountain air was a very welcome relief from the heat of the lower altitudes, and that must have added to my appetite. We had awesome meals while we were up there, and I even went local and tried eating without the benefit of utensils...other than the ones at the end of my arms, that is.