Many people in Samosir live like Efrida (I’ve been spelling her name wrong) to a greater or lesser degree. Very few will get to experience the rest of the world, Efrida went to Bali and worked as a teacher in a primary school there ( just wait to see her with children later), which probably explains her no nonsense attitude. A couple of her sisters live and have partners in Europe.
The average life expectancy here is 65 for men and 70 for women. There are exceptions of course. A great deal of the men smoke and the women chew betel nut (which is just as bad). I realise this may take into account deaths by accident.
We had the opportunity to see lots of Batak dwellings, and even a few that have been tidied up for tourists as a sort of living museum.
They are extraordinary wooden structures, originally no nails involved at all. The original would have had a kind of shingle roof or palm leaf thatch. The modern equivalent is corrugated iron. The houses are airy inside and quite cool compared to outside. They come in various sizes and nowadays have an extension on the back. Traditionally a group of families would live in one house, some of the buildings were for storing rice and the others for cloth I think.
All the houses are on stilts to protect against animals and floods.
There are stone chairs and table at this one place, for the elders in days past to make important decisions and another set with an oblong table for executions. It seems a lot of rumours abound about the trials that took place but much of it conjecture. The seats are set under Hariara Trees, (related to the Banyan tree and the Bodhi tree I saw in Nepal) these have religious significance. The seats themselves are thought only to be a couple of hundred years old and this surprises me.
New Batak houses do not appear to be being built so I hope they can keep some of the older ones for future generations.
We saw many in little villages dotted about.
We gradually settled into a daily rhythm with Ibu and her family
We visited Pea Farmhouse (same meaning but pronounced Peah). This gorgeous spot overlooking the Lake Toba is owned by Efrida’s brother Hery. He worked of a few years on the cruises as a cook and has been running this place for four years. He runs the Farmhouse as a camping area, and provides the tents and bedding for his guests, meals and drinks also. The area is close to the mountainous spine of Samosir a very steep ridge ( from the east side of the island at least)
He is an organic farmer like the rest of his family, growing watermelon, pineapple, coffee and so on. His place is idyllic. He has one person to help farming (he was too shy to sit with us at dinner) and Efrida who sometimes comes up to cook. We helped with the washing up of course!
The place is a haven for wildlife too. I spent a good deal of time watching a Black Eagle wheeling below me. Oh and the butterflies! I’ve never seen so many! Sooty headed Bulbuls also added even more entertainment.
When we set off back to our home, we passed Ibu’s maize plantation, she was dismayed to find a boar (probably) had been knocking the plants over and eating the corn she was waiting to harvest!
That set off a chain of events where we really could help out…
The Travelling Bee 