Shroomin' on the Tuk-Tuk Peninsula

While in Thailand I unexpectedly met Keith, a Canadian English teacher whom I'd known from Japan. We decided to travel together through Malaysia and into Indonesia. Neither Keith or I were eager to spend one more hour in a Southeast Asian dirty ugly city. Georgetown, Malaysia and the Indonesian port city of Medan both really sucked. We just wanted to be in a nice and natural and mellow place. Stomper conventional wisdom (that is, talking to other travelers) advised us to go straight up to the Tuk-Tuk Peninsula on Lake Toba. We wasted no time and took an overnight bus as soon as we cleared customs in Medan.

The water buffalo blunt of our jokes.

In the morning we were blown away by the immense crater lake -- the largest in the world. Getting into a share taxi to take us to the boat terminal I instantly recognized the other passengers. They recognized me too, but we couldn't recall where we had met. It took us a few minutes to place our meeting, which went back three months to the Great Wall of China. Frank and Veronique were a French couple on a one-year world tour honeymoon. They had been on Tuk-Tuk for a month and showed Keith and I a nice guesthouse.

Blazin' on a sunny afternoon.

The next morning Frank came over with magic mushroom omelets and 30 minutes later we were all tripping our heads off. Frank took us on a psychedelic tour of the peninsula, including a huge amphitheater, an ancient graveyard, and cliff diving into the deep and clear blue lake. The funniest part of the trip was a water buffalo slinkin' in his mud pit. All upset with our jeers, he climbed out and tried to intimidate us by shaking his horns. It only sent us further into our hysterical laughter. Strange days, indeed.

[Back to Malaysia] [Next Story]