I was at Brastagi a few days ago.It is a district further inland just after Medan in Indonesia. It is in the highlands part of a hill station that stretched to cover the scenic Lake Toba area further up the hills. This part of the country comprised the Bataks who in the main are Christians. It was a proliferation of dainty little churches, many of them amidst the sweet corn, strawberry and cabbage patches.
Back from Brastagi
Lake Toba in the distance
Undisturbed beauty
Image:7 A lucky snap of a group of ladies on their way to a wedding
Submitted for Poet United's Poetry Pantry #88 and d'Verse OpenLinkNights week #32
welcome back man...loving the view across the water....def looks warm and peaceful...hope it was a great trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian,
DeleteHad it redone again. Was in the midst posting it when it got disconnected.
Hank
all the colors they are wearing for the wedding are so cool and bright...very nice...
DeleteI love this. Once again reminds me of home, home in the Philippines....
ReplyDeleteNice post and welcome back Pare!
Pareng JJ
Thanks ParengJJ,
DeleteGlad to be back. A bit of a rush though!
Hank
Lake Toba is so blue. I had never been, it looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHank, I can't get through the words verifications, they are tough. I'm trying again and will continue.
Oceangirl Ma'am,
DeleteAs explained to Brian I had difficulty in connection while posting. Should be ok now.
We were rushing through. I saw Lake Toba only in the distance. The day was cloudy. We couldn't get a good snap even.
Hank
Looks like an amazing trip once more here at your shore. Really must have be a grand scene and oh so green.
ReplyDeleteHank, the best shot was of the women on their way to the wedding. I loved the colors! Thanks again for another view of your lovely shores... peace, Amy
ReplyDeletehttp://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/crystalline/
Hank, gorgeous country! I love the colours of the clothing on the women.
ReplyDeletePamela
Beautiful country! :)
ReplyDeleteUncle Hank,
ReplyDeleteEhem....when were travelling from Medan to Lake Toba, we also thought how odd that there are so many dainty little churches here there and everywhere. Apparently not. Seems that to hinder future generations from selling off their land, the Batak bury their dead and lamented beloveds on the land. Thus, those dainty churches are actually graves of the people, on their own land. There's no communal cemetery there. In the same vein, I believe this was also the practice of some Malay tribes in Melaka. Been to some areas in Masjid Tanah where the graves of their beloveds are in the front yard. For the same reason - no selling of hereditary land. purrr....meow!
** just my 2-sen worth
Cat,
DeleteNo wonder! There were so many of them dotted along the whole stretch of the road. I thought these were unusual. So that's the reason. Interesting!
Uncle Hank
Beautiful images and haiku!
ReplyDeleteMadeleine Begun Kane
Ahh, the beauty of exploring.......
ReplyDeleteMimi
Collage Pirate
These are so lovely. So green, so spangled! Thanks for posting. I am having a very difficult time commenting on your blog because blogger doesn't always like wordpress people! Agh. It is Manicddaily, but I may end up commenting under a different site. Mine is http://Manicddaily.wordpress.com. K.
ReplyDeleteI miss these scenic images ~ Thanks for the pictures and share...and welcome back ~
ReplyDeleteThe colors are always so beautiful. Hope you had a good time.
ReplyDeleteVery nice, Hank--I love the color and feel, and truly appreciate getting a chance to see places and people I would never otherwise even know about. That is a gorgeous lake.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me live vicariously through you... looks like a great time.
ReplyDeletelooks like a great trip...I love travelling and this made me want to hit the road and do a little adventuring. Great poem, great pictures.
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate to travel to exotic, beautiful places. Really enjoyed reading this, and the pictures are wonderful. Thanks Hank.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful lake, Hank. It definitely looks volcanic in origin. I love the truck full of ladies on their way to a wedding. So wonderful.
ReplyDeleteK
PS, don't you hate the new word verification? Lots of us have decided to turn it off, because it is discouraging to our blog-followers and friends.
Kay Ma'am,
DeleteHow true it is! I don't have it for myself. But lately it has taken some changes and makes it a bother to type the somewhat hidden words. I can do without it!
Hank
Thanks for sharing the visuals. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThe area looks and sounds delightful. Thanks for showing
ReplyDeleteLake toba looks majestic
ReplyDeleteHello Hank.
ReplyDeleteLove your photos. The ladies are very colorful too.
The scenery reminds me of my trip last year to the Caribbean.
Thanks for sharing.
Urgh word verification...it's becoming a real pain in the @#!* trying to decipher some of the words. Please consider removing it.
A Cheerful Glance
awesome pics...indonesia is surely on my countries-to-visit list.. great to hear you had a good time..and welcome back
ReplyDeleteOh Hank. I love to travel. This is a part of the world I'm not likely to see. Thank you for giving it to me. Great!
ReplyDeleteI have failed to get my comment accepted.It is like sitting for Cambridge School Cert 50 years ago!
DeleteDear Pak Cik,
DeleteI see your comments more frequently now. That is already a great thing to me! Thanks!
Hank
Dear Hank,
ReplyDeleteI remember a brief stop at one of the rest house in Brastagi a very long time ago. It was a refreshing stop and there were plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables being sold by the roadside. The Batak Karo land was one of the places my ancestors did not manage to spread the Islamic religion. But the areas where he did became Mandahiling.
It was a rush thing for us. We did what we came for and back again. I realized that many churches seemed somewhat dotting the landscape in unusual numbers! Cat-in-Sydney has an explanation for that!
DeleteHank
Thanks for sharing your fun photos!
ReplyDeleteMadeleine Begun Kane