After a bit of rest and relaxation we prepared ourselves for the bus journey back to Medan. It wasn't any better, but at least we knew to pounce on the woman selling those swiss roll things as soon as she stepped on the bus. We were forced to spend a night in Medan to catch the ferry the next day. JJ's guest house was a real saviour in the centre of the town, very homely and just what we needed. The security was excellent too so that was a load off our minds. The...

We set off on our journey south to Lake Toba at 6am, expecting slow travelling conditions. However, I dont think either of us could ever have prepared for the journey that awaited us. The first (and definately the most comfortable) stage involved getting a batak motorcycle from our accommodation to the bus station. We then boarded our first bus to Medan which was very rickety but attractively decorated with all kinds of jungle themed accessories in the front wind...

We had booked our ferry ride and to be honest we thought we were getting on a large ferry to Sumatra, similar to the one that runs between the North and South Islands of NZ. We were, however, in for a shock. Our backpacks were loaded onto the top of what can only be described as an oversized speedboat that could carry about 200 people in some very cramped and odd travel conditions below. I say odd because not only was it full of people carrying way too much stuff...