At the entrance of the second floor stand two huge statues of St. Paul, the Apostles of nations and St. Francis Xavier, the Apostles of Asia welcoming the visitors. As soon as we step into the shrine's main church we are greeted b the Lord: "Come To Me All You Who Work Hard And Who Carry Heavy Burdens And I Will Refresh You" making us at home in HIS house.

Annai Velangkanni... Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni. The infamous place in Medan where all would come be it a Catholic or not. Indeed this is one place you should not miss.

Poor Clares . . . this is a real adventure! I mean getting there. There is no proper road to the location, and our bus could not get to the location either. We got to hire their local van aka tut-tut like vehicle to drive us up. With only about 8 - 10 passengers per car. Passing through dirt road and pebbles road to get to the place. Boy it was really really bumpy ride!

It was before lunch when we reached. The kind nuns made us all tea and served us cakes and biscuits while they cooked us lunch. After our tea, we made our way to their main chapel for prayer of the day. Small little place uphill.

Mikie Holiday Resort is located mid way from Medan to Berastagi city offering a beautiful panorama of high land resort. Berastagi has been very popular weekend resort for the people of Medan and foreign leisure travelers. Berastagi town is located around 60 kms from Medan city on a high land connecting the southern part of North Sumatra the famous traditional culture of Batak and the beauty of nature such as magnificent waterfalls and lake Toba.

Mikie Holiday Resort room have different theme apparently . . . a themed hotel!.

Reaching Berastagi, we visited the St Franciscan church Fransiskus. Detailed painting in dark maroon red and white and its traditional pointy slope dark grey roof.

Falling fast asleep after the snacks at Simarjarunjung to Tongging, Sipisopiso Waterfall. The waterfall is a 110m drop from a cave opening. Didn't have much time to explore much, instead we went straight to the public toilet with a fee of RP1000 for toilet entry.

After filling up the tummy with Pisang Goreng and Teh Halia. We have a few quick snap shots before we were chased up into the bus to get moving. The nice panoramic view of the surrounding when were in the 'restaurant' having our snacks.

Leaving the Samosir Island we went through lush greenery and plantations of coffee and fruits we came up to a hill top of a place where Pisang Goreng (Banana fritters) and Teh Halia (Ginger tea) is their specialty. When we reached, there were a few locals enjoying their snacks there too.

Toledo Inn - Next morning : The walkabout before we depart from the island to our next destination.

It was indeed a beautiful landscape of land, sea and sky. With the soothing breeze in the morning and the fresh air from the lush greenery (apart from the mosquitoes) it was indeed a nice place to be in from the hectic of the busy life back home.

Located at the banks of the volcanic lake, Toledo Inn was surrounded by lush trees. They had a small place cordon off from the lake as their pool.

At the jetty of the Samosir Island. It was a short walk distance to the court of King Sialiagan. Passing through row of shops selling local handicraft such as wallets, bags, clothes, belts, wooden arts and many more.

Tomok, where the the Tomb of King Sidabutar is located a short walk away from the lake, at a little uphill from the main road passing through a small alley with souvenir stalls. Before entering the grave, one is required to put on the Ulos of the Batak to show respect, this is available at the gate.

Since we are already talking about the lake, here are the beautiful views in the morning of the lake the following day after our stay at Toledo Inn. It was more cooling in the morning comparing to the noon ride we had yesterday.

Lake Toba or Danau Toba with the Samosir Island, forms the heart of the beautiful a beautiful caldera high in the treeless mountains of northern Sumatra. The lake was formed about 100,000 years ago after a giant eruption. It is the largest lake of southeastern Asia measuring 31 kilometer and covers an area of 1146km sq. It is also the deepest lake in the world, its exact depth is still unknown, but it is for sure deeper than 450meters. Lake Toba is the homeland of the Toba Batak, of which Danau Toba forms the centre, consists of five regions. Everywhere there is enough water, there are ricefields broken up by Toba villages with their characteristic houses, churches and graves. The volcanic soils are remarkably fertile and the Toba highlands have been inhabited for centuries.

We stopped by at St Fidelis Church, a small bricked white church on our way downhill from the Niagara Hotel. There is a small compound for Mother Mary. It seems all churches had one. Sort of like a thinking pool my school has.

The walkabout at Niagara Hotel and Resort.
Do bear with me on the whole load of pictures! I could not resist on sharing them . . . (^▽^)

Waking up a as early as at 5am to proceed to our next destination after our breakfast – Lake Toba. We seize the time available before and after breakfast to capture the beautiful surroundings of the hotel before checking out to Samosir Island.

Niagara Hotel and Resort is situated high on a hill overlooking the Lake Toba at Parapat. It does indeed the most beautiful scenery of Lake Toba as they claimed in their website. We could not get a better looking picture of the accomodation

Other than the father and some sisters in the area, we did not meet other Capuchins friar in the area. Anyway, after lunch father show us around the compound and the facilities available there.