Beristagi: Erupting Volcano and Giant Waterfall

The day before we arrived in Beristagi one of the two active volcanoes erupted, sending some of the small villages near the base of the volcanoes into evacuation. When we arrived everything was hazy and covered in Ash. On our first full day we did the hike to the Sibayak Volcano. The hike was steep. The long two hour incline to the top was well worth it. The Volcano was active but not erupting. Lucky for us there were very few people. Once again we were the only tourists, with a few other Indonesians, all of whom we took pictures with by request. We hiked around the top of the volcano and inside. It was magnificent! The smell of sulfur permeated the air and the hot steam shot out in loud bolts through the cracks of the earth. On a clear day you can see the other volcano, but because of its eruption the day before you couldnt see anything through the ashy sky and dark clouds. After an hour of exploring the volcano we made the walk back to our guesthouse. The next day we decided to catch the local bus to the Sippiso Piso waterfall. When we were dropped off in the town we walked 3km down the road towards the waterfall. We saw a sign written in Indonesian with the name of the waterfall and a dirt path. Assuming that it was the way to the waterfall we began to walk. We ended up walking to the top of a steep mountain, which lead no where. When we walked back down we tried to get directions to the waterfall but no one spoke English, so we kept walking further down the road, hoping to find the waterfall. By the time we reached the waterfall entrance we were already exhausted from our hike up the mountain that led no where. But the waterfall was so big and beautiful we couldnt let our exhaustion keep us from walking down the long flight of stairs to the bottom of the waterfall. The waterfall was 100 meters tall (300ft). At the base of the waterfall the force was so strong that you were instantly drenched with water just standing fifty feet away from the base. It was the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen. Along the walk back up the stairs we had to stop ten times to take pictures with Indonesians. At this point it became an expected daily activity. When we reached the road we asked the man at the entrance about catching a bus back into town. He told us to wait where we were and one would come shortly. After five minutes of waiting the man flagged down a pickup truck, said something to the driver and motioned for us to hop in the bed of the truck. We hopped in the back next to an Indonesian woman with orange stained teeth holding a baby, and an old man. We rode for ten minutes into town where the truck dropped us off at the bus stop free of charge. The next morning we caught a bus from Beristagi to Lake Toba. The ride was treacherous. Our driver drove like a maniac. Within thirty minutes of driving we got a flat tire, and had to stop at a bus stop to change the tire. The rest of the ride wasn't much better. Loud Indonesian pop music blasted through the speakers, and massive potholes, larger than the size of the car, made the ride slow and bumpy. Around dinner time we finally made it to Toba.