Medan Day 2

14 Nov - For this trip, we had the luxury to wake up a bit later than usual before we start the day. We went down to level 1 of the hotel to have our buffet breakfast. I must say that the spread was wonderful. The hotel served local dishes, western, Chinese, pastry and fruits. Once you entered the cafe, the staff will ask if you like a coffee or tea. The dishes are cleared promptly and the services rendered are top notch. It is no wonder I took a liking to this hotel.

Good morning Medan City!

After breakfast, we took to the mountains to enjoy some fresh air, bath in sulfuric hot spring and enjoy the cool mountain weather.

Beautiful scenery

For our first stop, we stopped by the local famous golden temple to take some pictures before we continue on our journey. This is our typical "Been here, take picture, move on" style.

The local famous golden temple

Interior of the temple

The mini garden in the temple

A chance to ride in a wagon pulled by a horse in a nearby village

Weather was not on our side as torrential rain came falling down during our horse ride

After standing in the shelter for a short while to let the rain subside a little, we proceed in our rented car to our main highlight of the day - Hot Spring Bathing! Sensing a few tourist buses around,  our driver decided to re-route us from the main hot spring resort (which will likely be crowded with tourist) and brought us to a off beaten hot spring bath just a short distance away. The facility was not great (broken doors with no locks, and physically looking a little run down), but given the price of the entrance fee, we have no complains.

Hot spring time!

A great view of the mountain with clouds rolling by

We are literally right next to an active volcano

After our hot spring bath, we slowly made our 3 hours car journey back to Medan City. Along the way, we stopped by a small town to have some steamed and BBQ corns. The Medan corns are really delicious. This is the first time that I had eaten such a sweet and juicy corn! For dinner, we had grilled seafood, the traditional way cooked over a tray of charcoal. The seafood are indeed very fresh and the meat are so tender that one bite into it will set you loving it.