Adventure, mystery and natural beauty are what I seek in a destination, and a chance trip to Berastagi (also known as Brastagi) in Indonesia gave me loads of all three. Berastagi is a cosy hill station just two hours from Medan, the commercial capital of North Sumatera, Indonesia. It is a step-sister of sorts to the much-hyped tourist destination of Danau Toba, more popularly known as Lake Toba. Berastagi was meant to be a stop on my way to Lake Toba. But, eventually, I never made it to the Lake...

I am not sure if it was the sheer difference in climate, culture and landscape from Aceh that held me captive, or the fact that Berastagi was one of the most charming and unique little places I had been to. Having spent two years in a place just a few hundred kilometers away, I felt regret at not having explored this area earlier. It can be best described as a hill resort built around two active volcanoes, although it is a township that probably came into existence to make use of the fertile land surrounding the volcanoes.

Berastagi makes up for its lack of spa hotels with some beautifully maintained, clean, spacious three-star hotels on the way to the town and in its midst as well. These hotels offer moderately priced rooms with great views of the smoking volcanoes or the poolside. A nice, long, hot shower is always a great way to begin and end a day, and our hotel had hot water available for four hours in the morning and evening.

Our exploration of the township began at the main market, which had the sights and smells of a festive, tourist hot spot. Among the things on offer were horse and pony rides around the countryside and a buggy ride around town. The street market had an eclectic selection of items from souvenirs to vegetables, fruits and plant nurseries, and even a pets section selling the cutest choice of hamsters, white mice, puppies and rabbits. We spent more hours playing (with the animals) in this part of the market than picking up souvenirs.

Boiled or roasted, corn on the cob seemed to be the main item on the menu at the food stalls. It made a nice, healthy snack before we stuffed ourselves with some padang-style food at one of the local restaurants. After a hearty meal and a conversation with the corn seller, we found out that the key attraction in Berastagi was not the main market but two active volcanoes: Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabuk. While Gunung Sibayak, at 2100 metres, is smaller and easy to walk up, Gunung Sinabuk is a serious trek up to the crater at 2,400 metres above sea level.

The prospect of seeing a live volcano was a strong enough incentive to forego our planned journey to Lake Toba. We decided to trek instead! This required some preparation as I had not planned on a holiday where I would be doing anything other than sitting by a lake and drinking. I had to buy trekking shoes and we soon found out that there was more to the main market than met the eye. In the heart of the town was a market for the local people. Similar in layout to the market for tourists, it too had vegetable and clothes stalls interspersed. The prices, however, were not tourist prices and therefore a steal. Beautiful batik material, child and adult clothing and shoes straight from China were available at bargain prices and would make great gifts for family.

It would seem a sin, however, to spend too much time wandering around a market when there was so much to see and so many stories to be heard from the surrounding mountains. The next morning began with much excitement at the prospect of seeing a live volcano. No amount of TV views of a volcano on Discovery and Nat Geo could have prepared us for what we were to see. There were two options to the trek. The first being to walk from the base of the mountain through a winding paved road along with the cars, scooters and trekkers that were on their way up. Option B was to drive up to the point where a landslide had blocked the road and left one no choice but to walk the rest of the way. Of course, we chose the relatively easier Option B.

The incline became steep after landslide point, leaving us puffing and panting at the resting spot before the real hike began. The resting spot, as I have decided to call it, is a place for overnight campers to put up their tents as well as a meeting place for all who had seen it and those who were on their way... It was a place for exchange of stories and legends of lost trekkers, volcanoes, Sumatran tigers and insurmountable mountains. After catching up with the newest stories, our breaths and a hot cup of black coffee, we were on our way again.

The first couple of kilometres lay along a narrow, winding, not so wild, paved path, albeit through a dense tropical forest. The foliage here was thick fern, shrubs and bushes in various hues of the palette. As we moved further, the path gave into dilapidated stairs that got steeper as we trudged along. The high points of the climb are literally the high points where the foliage clears and one can shout to the mountains and hear them echo, or take a moment to admire the horizon. As the destination got closer, more trails branched off to the crater...some tried and tested, most waiting to be discovered. We chose one along a narrow stream and over a mountain of sulphuric rock formations. The rotten-egg-like smell of sulphur grew stronger as we got closer to our destination. There was a hissing sound of a boiling kettle which grew progressively louder. We found out that it was the mountain hissing and spewing out steam from its bosom.

The sight of a giant natural cauldron left us gaping at its sheer force and magnitude. Just watching it was not enough; a few of us got close and stuck our hands into the crevice only to have them scalded. A good exposure to the power of nature! That, we were soon to realize, was only the welcome at the entrance of the crater - the inner chamber. Although Gunung Sibayak was one of the smaller craters compared to the others around the world, it was nevertheless magnificent. It was nature in its most active, volatile form with steam blowing fissures, a bubbling lake of warm rain water and giant sulphur and lava rocks. Sitting on one of those rocks, it evoked both fear and awe. The trek to Gunung Sibayak left everyone spellbound and craving for another look and a few more hours. It was only natural to feel overly confident after the successful climb that all those years of smoking and a depreciatory lifestyle had not in fact affected our stamina and fitness. We felt excited at the prospect of climbing Sinabuk the next day.

And then the myths began to emerge. We met one of our local friends later that evening, as we were ambling along the main market. During the course of our chat, we mentioned our plan to ‘conquer’ Sinabuk the next day. Our friend’s expression very quickly changed to a frown as he started to narrate an incident that happened less than two months ago. A foreign journalist, considering himself an expert trekker equipped with a GPS and all other gadgets needed to scale heights, decided to ‘conquer’ Sinabuk as well. The local people warned him to take a guide along. They warned him against offending the god of the mountains by trespassing without permission. The local guides offered regular prayers atop the volcanoes to appease the gods and were respectful of the norms when guiding tourists. As any man of reason, the journalist dismissed these tales as a money-making ploy and went on his way armed with all his modern day tools. He was lost in the mountains for three months before being tracked by the local emergency response team.

Our friend explained how the mountains were the guardians of the community and we must not offend them as they had the power to destroy. Every year, the entire township conducts elaborate rituals to ensure that the mountains continue to protect and provide for the community while outsiders without respect for local traditions break these norms and suffer the consequences. He ended by saying that it was not an easy feat to scale Sinabuk and a guide was necessary if we were to trek. The tale left us doubtful of our capacity to make a three-hour climb one way and return in a day. We made a ‘practical’ choice of foregoing the second volcano, although in our hearts, we felt very thankful to be allowed a few hours in the heart of a smoking mountain.