Travelling in Indonesia, like most of Asia, is a laborious process. Palembang, unfortunately, doesn't provide very many direct flights, so travelling involves long waits and connecting flights. I met Tika, one of the Indonesian teachers, in the early hours and we flew from Palembang to Batam and a few hours later to Medan. Medan is the capital city of North Sumatra and I needed to fly there in order to get to Lake Toba. You will see shortly that the travel was well worth it.
Tika dropped me off in central Medan where I met Tika's cousin and Axel's friend Bob, from Holland. So, the first stop was to get some food (obviously), and some yummy Kwetiau and fresh juice later, the belly was satisfied.
First site was the beautiful Grand Mosque, which had prayers that my fellow Muslims would truly appreciate.
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| The Medan Great Mosque by day |
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| Medan Great Mosque |
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Medan Great Mosque by night
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Then we wandered to the sultans palace...So, if the white man has low self esteem, come to Indonesia! Beautiful, pretty, handsome or not- you will be treated as Holy.
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| Bob and his fans |
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| The Sultan's carriage |
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| Maimoon Palace |
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| No idea what this is. |
The palace is just around the corner from the mosque and as far as palaces go, it isn't very regal. There are some nice pieces of furniture inside and i'm sure in it's 'hay day' the mosaic style paintwork would have been incredibly vibrant.
A short while later, Tika and her cousin took us on a motorbike tour of Medan, which ended in a great food quarter.
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| A Christmas tree made of Sprite bottles |
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| A lovely end to the day trip |
Thanks for showing me your home town Tika!
