Danau Toba Local Custom Tips by schlumpf Top 5 Page for this destination

Do not be in hurry when you are changing money

Another pretty strange situation I met myself in, was on my first money exchanging.

First of all, you gotta bargain on the rate exchange, which was already pretty crazy, but the super crazy thing was that when I did beg him to change some dollars, the owner reply to me.... “ Well yes, no problem, take a sit”...Take a sit?? And what that hell does it mean? You should just change my dollars into Rupias, is not so complicated or long, I tought...but at that time I was not realizing what was waiting for me...

Well, the man came back to me with a Cola, asking again to take a sit, and I did...at the end he spent more then ONE HOUR to change 100box...

And this is not unusual..I fall in the same situation every single time I had to change my money...

So, my suggestion is...if you are in hurry, do not stop to change money...o ahead...

Indoensian are so great!

Their ospitality is simply so HUGE!

I have been in Sumatra during the monson season and it was raining definitely sooo much!
Once I was walking troguh Samosir streets, making some shopping on the streets shops then I decided to get back to the hotel.

At a certain point, in the middle of nothing, it starts to rain so hard (D’you know monson rain!!??) and i did not understand where to go, what to do, my hands where full of stuff...d’you know such situation?

Well, it cames a little boy telling me somethign in indonesian and I understood to follow him...he brought me in a small street where his family has a shop where I could chill for a while waiting that the rain stops....and when i was checking the stuff out to buy something, you know something like to say thak you, they watch me and say me that I had not to buy...becasue i was not there for shopping, i was there because it was raining...then we drunk a tea and I left for my own way....

Thnaks young boy!!!

The red fish and the marriage...

I am italian, and a red fish for me means the small fish that we keep in a small “aquarium” for our kids...when I got to Indonesia and moreover to Lake Toba, I have been visiting the open food market in parapat and there I saw a huge Red Fish (something like 40/50 cm!!!!) on sale!

I couldn’t understand it as I never saw such a big red fish, but then a freind from Samosir told me that is a common thing for them eat a piece of it during the celebration of the marriage....cool common situation!