Wednesday, December 7, 2011

My Thanksgiving turkey earned frequent flier miles


For Thanksgiving this year, my honey bunch and I flew with two other couples to the island of Sumatra. We went there for several reasons. First, we were invited by one of the other expat wives that we know as her husband had a birthday happening very close to Thanksgiving and he wanted to go to Lake Toba which is on Sumatra. Second, none of us had been to Lake Toba before and thought that it sounded like an interesting and fun place to visit to help him celebrate his birthday. Lastly, it is good to get out of Jakarta and breath some fresh air for a little while.

As the trip approached, the birthday boy's wife, who was doing the primary organizing, decided that since we were leaving the Friday after Thanksgiving (which I am sure you know, Thanksgiving is not a holiday in this country) we should cook a turkey during our stay and have a belated Thanksgiving feast and a birthday dinner combined. Hmmmm. I think to myself. Turkeys are available on a limited basis in Jakarta. We are now flying from the capital of the country, which is pretty cosmopolitan, to a remote location on a different island. What are the chances that a turkey will be available there?

Well, the answer to the question is, "No worries." We will just bring one with us. Not only was the plan to bring a 14 pound frozen turkey in the carry on luggage, but also lots of the fixin's to go with it. I brought two cans of cranberry sauce, one can of black olives - stuffed in my hiking boots and socks - and a three bean salad that I had prepared and placed in a zip lock bag and then placed that inside of a container that sealed and would fit in my large purse. The other ladies brought a can of pumpkin and pecans with which to make pies, a turkey, stuffing mix and a few other goodies stuffed in all sorts of places in their luggage.

I would really like to know is it just me, or does everyone have these really bizzar experiences? What is it about this place that just seems to bring out all kinds of wackiness?

So early Friday morning we met at the airport. Throughly prepared to have my cranberry sauce, olives and salad confiscated, I am amazed as we pass completely through security without one question being asked.

We get to the gate and wait for everyone else to show up. Sure enough about 20 minutes later here they come. Turkey and stuffing in tow. Please tell me what you think a 14 pound frozen turkey must look like on an airport x-ray machine. With all of this stuff, and stuffing, going through the scanner maybe they thought we were taking supplies to needy children on the island and thus didn't say one word. I am still totally taken aback. In my home country this would never fly - no pun intended. After reading about the 80+ year old woman who was stripped searched at JKF, how could a turkey go on board unquestioned?

We board the plane and off we go to Medan, Sumatra which is located on the northern half of the island. Upon arrival, and lots of checked luggage confusion, we are met by two drivers who will transport us from Medan to the shores of Lake Toba where we will then catch a ferry boat that will transport us to the island of Samosir which is located in the lake.

Before we go further, let me tell you a little about Lake Toba. As I have probably mentioned before, Indonesia is located in what is known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire." What is left of Krakatau sits about five or six ours to the west of Jakarta to give you a little perspective. We have lots of volcanic activity (Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes (130+) of any other country) and earthquakes which can consequently trigger a tsunami. Lake Toba is a lake and a super volcano. The lake formed in the crater of the volcano after it erupted and cooled down a very, very long time ago. It was an even bigger explosion than Krakatau. Lake Toba is 62 miles long by 18.5 miles wide and 1,666 feet deep at its deepest point. This makes it the deepest volcanic lake in the world. It is an impressive thing to read about and is mind boggling to see.

Back to the journey. I read in the Jakarta Post, a day or two before our trip, that the fatality rate from vehicular accidents in Northern Sumatra has risen dramatically over the last year. I took note, but didn't feel like it was something I really needed to worry about.

After riding on what is fondly called "the death road" for about 4.5 hours I now get it. Imagine a two lane road filled with trucks transporting goods, vans, cars, little local taxis, and motorcycles. Also imagine that no matter what the speed, the maximum distance between the vehicles is about six inches. The speed varies from about five mph to about 40 or 50 mph. People really get antsy when they are going under 40 so all that is left to do is pass what is slowing you down.


The result is a massive game of chicken. At times, since we are on a two lane road, there are four vehicles coming head-on toward each other. We were fortunate that we made it around each time with a few too many of them being just at the very last second. After 4.5 hours of this I was a bit frayed around the edges. To highten the effect, one of the other couples who rode in the van with us decided that playing music from their ipod would make it all better. At times the music was playing, little noises were escaping my lips as we were head-on with a vehicle. There were a lot of thoughts that this was most definitely not the best idea that I had ever had and I wanted to take my cranberry sauce, my sweetie and walk back to the airport and return home.

By the time we made it to the ferry landing, the ferry is about to leave. We grab our gear and run and jump on the boat. After all of the stress of the van ride, a boat ride is welcome relief. We chug along in the clear waters of the lake and take in the fact that we are in the middle of an old volcano. Time has been kind and the volcano walls have eroded and are lush with vegetation. You see little villages along the shore of the lake. It is a predominately christian region so you see small churches dotting the shore as well.

Samosir is an island that was formed when all the gunk in the bottom of the volcano solidified and was forced up by magma to form a beautiful but rugged piece of land that is the size of the country of Singapore in the middle of the lake. As we approach, we are enticed with the views of fishermen setting out nets, a thin water fall pulsing down the side of the island mountains, simple resorts with interesting roof lines that mimic the shape of water buffalo horns - kind of a very wide and low U-shape, and a even a few jet skis. It is lovely with all the flowers and greenery.

We arrive to our destination after about 30 minutes and check-in. Our room is on the second floor of what they call a cottage. There is no air conditioning, but we have big windows and a fan. We discover that when we turn on the shower, the water is pumped up to the second floor and the shower pulses to the rhythm of the pump. Unfortunately, so do the lights in the bathroom. It is kind of like a disco when you shower minus John Travolta and the music from Saturday Night Fever.

We eat dinner at the resort and the food is delicious. Honey pie and I both had a fish and vegetable curry. WOW! Everything is open air and there are a lot of friendly dogs wandering around the property. They come lay by your feet and take a nap. Never saw one of then beg. They were too laid back for that.

Saturday morning. Honey bun and I get up early and go for a walk. One of the dogs we met the night before decided to be our escort. He was a cute black and white medium-sized dog with a tail that curled around just so. We three walked along the street together. He running ahead and waiting for us to catch up and us looking all around being amazed at all of the flowers and scenery. Tropicals of all kinds along with roses, which you don't really see in Jakarta, and huge palms and hardwood trees. It was a nice walk. We ventured up to the Catholic church which had a big wing-ding going on. It is a new church and the bishop had been brought in from Medan, and I KNOW there was a lot of praying before he got there because he had to come up the same road we did, to bless the church as well as the many young people waiting to be confirmed. There was a huge turn-out. Folks were all dressed up. Those that were not directly participating in the service were cooking large pots full of pork and vegetables. There was going to be major chowing down at the end of the ceremony. We made a small donation and got a program and wandered around a little bit. It was interesting standing looking at coffee plants, rice fields, and lush vegetation while organ music gently drifted across to you. I swear it was like the music was emmeshed in the warm moist air. You could almost see the notes.

We took some photos and moved on to leave them to their celebration. We walked past numerous water buffalo, deep in wallows of mud. They looked joyous to be all covered in cool mud. It didn't seem to bother them one little bit that it smelled pretty bad. Earth and sometimes rotting fish. I walked out in one fields and my dog friend followed. He barked at me when I got too close to the water buffalo. Not sure who he was warning; me or the water buffalo. Perhaps he was scolding me for getting too close. Whatever the case, I found it touching and heeded his friendly advice. Despite the warning, we all seemed to be happy to be where we were and in the state we were. Life was pretty good.

We walked and waved at the towns people and then returned to the cottages where we had a breakfast including locally grown and roasted coffee. Starbucks. Take that! By that time, the rest of the troops were up and we all decided to walk the other direction on the road and take in the sights that way. Once again beautiful vegetation and lovely views of the lake. Our dog buddy was taking a nap so we were on our own for that walk.

Upon returning to the cottages the second time, we decided to rent scooters and drive a little so we could get more sights in. One of the couples had their teenage daughter with them so we used it as a teaching session for her to learn to ride without very much traffic. It all went well and we had a good pizza lunch by the lake and returned to the cottages to begin the turkey preparations.

Turkey is not native to Indonesia. I feel pretty certain this was the first time most of them had ever seen a 14 pound turkey much less cranberry sauce and stuffing. We were bustling around their kitchen, mainly getting in the way, and trying to put this feast together. At times you could see they were a bit annoyed. I would have been if I had been in their shoes. A bunch of bules invading their space cooking weird looking food and asking for ingredients in very bad Bahasa Indonesian. But in Indonesian style, they were gracious and helped us where they could. Lots of modifications had to be made. They had no evaporated milk or regular containers of spices for pumpkin pies or a rolling pin. Pie is also a rather foreign concept. When told that we were making pie they thought we meant pumpkin bread. So modified pastry dough was made, rolled out with a bottle of water, sweetened condensed milk was used and cinnamon sticks and whole cloves were pulverized to add to the pie. No powdered ginger so we used fresh grated ginger instead.

By 7pm we had put it all on the table. We had taught them how to make mashed potatoes, pie dough, cook a turkey (not that they will ever see another one), make gravy and dish out cranberry sauce from a can. The three bean salad was probably the most normal looking thing on the table as there were green beans, edamame (soy beans) and black bean all in there.

It was a delicious feast and when we were done we shared it with the staff. They seemed to get over being inconvenienced and I think they enjoyed seeing even simple things like potatoes used in a different way that they can replicate at their own homes.

Sunday. The second full day of our island-within-an-island-in-a-lake experience took us walking and then scootering around the northern end of the Samosir. It was quite interesting to see many more of the traditional homes, different views of the lake, two smaller volcanoes (that were still active), hot springs, lots of water buffalo, interesting shrines that were small replicas of the traditional batak houses, many churches, children playing and friendly faces.

I will elaborate on these events another day. I am sure you are tired of the descriptions by this point. But needless to say, it was an interesting trip filled with many beautiful and unexpected sights.

If you ever get to go to Lake Toba just remember to breath deeply while you are riding from the airport to the ferry dock and lovely things await you on beautiful Samosir.