We visited Huta Bolon to watch a traditional Batak dance show, and were awfully glad we did, despite the scorching temperatures. The dancers are entertaining, the wooden puppets look like something out of a Tim Burton film, and the Huta Bolon museum is quite interesting. The village itself is quite beautiful, and if you’ve never seen Batak design or architecture, you’ll be amazing. The leader of the dance, the master of ceremonies and the meanest Batak Warrior you’ve ever seen in your life. A wild and dangerous man, if you believe the stories. And I do. We arrived late to the traditional Batak Dance performance. As one can expect, we were fleeced at the gate; for the 10 minutes we did get to enjoy, we were charged half price, or roughly $3. An outrage, I tell you!* *A rip off isn’t such a rip off in Indonesia, yet we still met plenty of people ready to argue over a dollar or two on rooms, entrance fees, and the like. Give it a rest, people. Western visitors were quite bad about this in Indonesia, and I can’t tell you how many times I walked away embarrassed when I heard someone arguing in English over a few bucks. Performances (about 45 minutes): Monday-Saturday: Starts 10h30. 2nd performance starts 11h45. Sunday: Start 11h45. Entrance fee: Rp. 5.000.
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Huta Bolon, Simanindo, Samosir Island, Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia.
We visited Huta Bolon to watch a traditional Batak dance show, and were awfully glad we did, despite the scorching temperatures. The dancers are entertaining, the wooden puppets look like something out of a Tim Burton film, and the Huta Bolon museum is quite interesting. The village itself is quite beautiful, and if you’ve never seen Batak design or architecture, you’ll be amazing. The leader of the dance, the master of ceremonies and the meanest Batak Warrior you’ve ever seen in your life. A wild and dangerous man, if you believe the stories. And I do. We arrived late to the traditional Batak Dance performance. As one can expect, we were fleeced at the gate; for the 10 minutes we did get to enjoy, we were charged half price, or roughly $3. An outrage, I tell you!* *A rip off isn’t such a rip off in Indonesia, yet we still met plenty of people ready to argue over a dollar or two on rooms, entrance fees, and the like. Give it a rest, people. Western visitors were quite bad about this in Indonesia, and I can’t tell you how many times I walked away embarrassed when I heard someone arguing in English over a few bucks. Performances (about 45 minutes): Monday-Saturday: Starts 10h30. 2nd performance starts 11h45. Sunday: Start 11h45. Entrance fee: Rp. 5.000.
