Berestagi

There is a volcano in Berestagi which is very accessible, a few hours to climb up and down, so, after stocking up on chocolate and peanut pancakes, that is what we did. The trek to the top is a simple if tiring route to the crater where yellow sulphurous vents make the air smell, but look like something from another world. There are thousands of bowling ball sized stones in the crater which had fallen off the cliff face which surrounds the crater. People had arranged them to spell out messages, so we resolved to make the largest message in the whole crater, perhaps I am biased but it must have been 4 metres tall and almost 20 wide.
The trek down was far more difficult, it was slippery, rocky, steep, and in places it was difficult to find the path.
The end was rewarding however, we found a hot spring on the way down, nothing could possibly have been more welcome than some time on the hot water, although we did smell a little of sulphur for a while afterwards.
We got a cab home and spent the evening eating and watching rubbish films.
The following morning we sought started the trip to Lake Toba which entailed changing buses twice, and driving at break neck speed down some of the worst roads I had ever seen.