The picturesque town of Berastagi is situated in Karo highlands in North Sumtra. It is a cool mountain retreat with busy markets, Dutch traders established it to escape from heat of capital Medan. The main attraction of Berastagi is to trek the Volcano of Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung. The indigenous Karo Batak culture is still intact even after so much of colonization, trade and war. The Bataks are well known for richness in architecture.

Batak style houses
Batak traditional way of dressing

While traveling around Somasir Island in North Sumatra got the news that Mt.Sinabung in Brestagi was erupting. We haven’t seen an active volcano erupt and planned to go there to experience the life around an erupting volcano. Reached Parapat in the morning and inquired about the buses for Beratagi. Since the eruption was intense, most of the buses were cancelled and only option was to hire a taxi. A friend of mine from Jersey and I alone hired a taxi since nobody were there to share the ride.

Waterfall on the way to Berstagi

Since we have hired a taxi now, thought of exploring some near by sites on the way. As we wanted to spend more time in Berstagi, did a quick visit to a waterfall and spent some time in a tea plantation area. We reached Berstagi around afternoon and went straight to Mt.Sinabung. We were stopped good 5-6 km before the Volcano by the authorities due to safety measures. Locals told us previous day few people lost their lives while hiking the mountain on their own and eruption happened all of a sudden.

Cafe in the middle of plantation

We were guided to a view point from where the eruption can be seen. Berstagi generally has a cool weather but when we got down at the view point, felt really hot. And within few seconds my grey t-shirt started to change color slightly due to small particles of ash getting deposited.

Gunung Sinabung – Smoke during eruption

We waited for sometime for the smoke to clear up, although we were able to see the lava flow path with naked eyes, huge column of smoke made it very difficult for camera lens to capture it. Most of the houses and the cars parked were covered with layers of ash.

Sulphur in Gunung Sibayak (light yellow)

After spending time observing the volcanic eruption, we went for a hike in another volcano near by called Gunung Sibayak. On a clear day one can see both Gunung Sinabung to the west and the smoking Gunung Sibayak to the north. But during this eruption time, it was very difficult to see this view. We hired an authorised trekking guide, he gave us lot of inputs about both the volcanos. He told us if at all some smoke clears up, we could still see the eruption of Sinabung from Sibayak.

Crater like formation in Sibayak

Although Sibayak’s last eruption was in 1881, geothermal activity in the form of steam vents and hot springs remains high on and around the volcano. The sulfurous gases have also caused acidic discoloration of the small crater lake. We hiked around the Volcano and observed all these activities.

The view from Sibayak was covered by smoke

The climb was easy but had a good learning experience about Volcano. Got to know the day today challenges locals face because of eruption. Wasn’t lucky enough to get the view of Sinabung eruption due to thick smoke cover but still this hike was something to be remembered.