The Little Things of SouthEast Asia

Our second day at Lake Toba takes us on a motorbike adventure across the island of Tuk-Tuk in Northern Sumatra. We set out with a homemade type written map and intend to follow the dotted line to the hot springs that we hear exist just a day’s trip away.
Driving through the countryside felt enchanting -- small houses lined the road and groups of children played, the older little ones taking care of the littler little ones and always shouted an enthusiastic “hello!!” as we drove by. When we would drive through a little hamlet there were always roves of school aged children in navy and white uniforms walking in groups in the midday heat, home for the most important meal of the day, lunch. Nearer to the water’s edge stood dozens of traditional Batak style houses; they were wooden with a sloped roof and raised on stilts, their structural shape resembled a boat and there was often carvings around the entrances. We drove through a wedding, passing through a blur of joyful people dressed in colorful formal attire. We pass water buffalo frequently as they slowly amble along the road, and elaborate and colorful tombs, many of them shaped like boats, stand on most properties. It is around four in the afternoon when we cross the isthmus towards the hot springs. The smell of sulphur is overwhelming as we come nearer. We follow concrete steps and the painted arrow that directs us to the air panas. The upper level is tiled in pastel yellow and blue tiles with a sitting area outside the two large rectangular pools. We are the only ones in the pools and the silence creates an atmosphere that is almost mesmerizing. There are benches for sitting around the edge of the pool and I begin with only dipping my feet in - the shock of the heat is intense enough even in this small dose. I eventually acclimate the rest of my body and sit in the boiling water for a while. My arms and legs start to turn red from the heat and I feel myself melting into the water - I feel simultaneously relaxed and dizzy. I step slowly out of the pool, leaving my boyfriend to soak up more, and head to the benches outside. I light a cigarette and the sky seems to break open, it pours on the tin roof above me and washes trash down gutters and chases cats out of hiding places. The rain pours from the sky into the springs, sending vibrations across its formerly placid surface. The smell of the rain combined with the sulfurous hot springs fills me up and clears me out.