Tuk Tuk on foot

There's a 2.5 mile loop road that goes around the village of Tuk Tuk. In case you're wondering, the name of the village has no relation to the vehicles in Thailand*. In fact, this is one of the few places I've been in South East Asia where there haven't been vehicles similar to tuk tuks! Which is why I walked.

It's an interesting town. It's meant to be one of the major tourist hotspots of Sumatra, yet every restaurant and shop I passed was completely empty (and there were loads). The only time I saw any foreigners was at a fancy lake-side resort with a swimming pool and German bakery. I read that this area was extremely popular with foreign tourists in the 80s and 90s until it stopped abruptly in the late 90s for political reasons and it's never fully recovered.

Apparently the town fills up with Indonesian tourists at weekends, mostly from Medan. This weekend will be busier than normal as tomorrow is 'Ascension Day', a public holiday, so the weekend will be four days long. I've been told it will get very crowded and noisy. I've decided to stay longer than I planned in order to see how Indonesians party!

The views on the walk were gorgeous (see the extra photos) and there's lots of wildlife. Today I saw an eagle and kingfisher. It's (currently) a very peaceful place to spend some time. The daily massive thunderstorms are fun too!

* I was told that the meaning of the town's name is like a pestle & mortar and relates to the local legend of how the lake and island were formed.