Toba Earth Explorer

       When I received the assignment from Ravelino Tours Travel to take care of six Belgian guests during their journey in North Sumatra, I knew this would not be an ordinary tour. They were three married couples who had been close friends for many years. They decided to travel together in Indonesia, and I was assigned to be their Sumatra Tour Guide during their six-day journey through North Sumatra. From the beginning, I tried not to make our journey only about visiting places and taking pictures. I wanted to create conversations with them. I wanted them to feel that travelling with a local guide was also an opportunity to understand how people live in Sumatra. The six of them had different professional backgrounds. Among the husbands, one worked as a banker , another was an entrepreneur , and another was a police officer . The banker was interested in many things, especially when we talked about the economy and the palm oil industry in Sumatra. The entrepreneur ...

       Samosir, NINNA.ID – Kesuksesan sebuah event olahraga kelas dunia tidak hanya ditentukan oleh keindahan lintasan atau profesionalitas penyelenggara. Di balik setiap pelari yang berhasil mencapai garis finis, terdapat ribuan tangan yang bekerja, mulai dari pemerintah daerah, masyarakat desa, relawan, tim medis, pelaku UMKM, hingga anak-anak yang berdiri di pinggir jalur untuk memberikan semangat. Inilah yang terlihat dalam penyelenggaraan Trail of The Kings (TOTK) – Lake Toba by UTMB 2026 di Kabupaten Samosir. Event lari lintas alam internasional ini tidak hanya memperlihatkan kemegahan lanskap Danau Toba, tetapi juga menunjukkan bagaimana sebuah masyarakat mampu menjadi tuan rumah yang hangat bagi para tamu dari berbagai negara. Bahkan bagi Paul Huddle, Senior Director of Global Trail Running Operations di IRONMAN Group, kesan paling mendalam selama berada di Danau Toba bukan hanya berasal dari pemandangan alamnya. “Bagi saya, ini sederhana. Yang paling berkes...

    When I received the assignment to accompany the Bron family from Switzerland on their journey through North Sumatra, I knew that my responsibility as a Sumatra Tour Guide would be more than taking them from one destination to another. The family consisted of a mother and her two sons. Their journey followed a program that covered Medan, Tangkahan, Bukit Lawang, Berastagi, and Samosir Island on Lake Toba. Each destination offered something different. There were opportunities to explore the jungle, learn about local life, discover the landscapes of North Sumatra, and experience the culture of the Batak people. But what made this journey memorable for me was not only the places we visited. It was the way I learned to communicate with them and understand what they wanted from their trip. The Bron family did not use English very often. Sometimes, I needed to repeat my explanations or find simpler words to help them understand what I was saying. So, I tried to speak more slowly...