Enjoy to Bakkara

Vacation to hometown is everyone's dream when the holidays have arrived. The atmosphere of the Christmas holidays and school holidays is the perfect moment to meet miss with extended family. My family and I went on vacation to my parents' village from my mother's family, which is in Dolok Sanggul. Dolok Sanggul is a highland area which can be reached in around 5-6 hours by road from Medan City, North Sumatra. From the town of Dolok Sanggul, it takes about 1 hour to get to the house of Oppung and Tulang (mother's brother). In bunk bun we have to wear warm clothes because the air is very cold even during the day.

The first day my family and I arrived at the village, we were warmly welcomed by the local residents because the overseas children had returned to their hometown, namely my mother. This is where I can learn Batak customs and get to know my family from my mother's side closer. In the evening there is a joint dinner with the extended family and we gather in the living room, we can tell stories and share about past memories with full of happiness and warmth.

Stepping on New Year's Eve at 00:00, to be precise, is the time for our extended family to gather to worship, pray, give thanks and end with mandok hata (apologizing and hoping for the future) starting from the youngest child to oppung.

After the Christmas and New Year traditions, our family and I decided to go on vacation to Bakkara. Bakkara is actually not a new name for me. A name that is often called by villagers because Bakkara is located not so far from my mother's hometown in Dolok Sanggul. In addition, Bakkara is also known as the hometown of one of the national heroes from the Batak lands, namely Sisingamangaraja XII.

What is going on over there? Until the Christmas and New Year holidays when I went to school we went there. 

Woww, Bakkara is really pretty!

My brother took a lot of pictures of the beauty of Lake Toba from a height, to be precise at Panatapan Bakkara, sometime before arriving in Bakara village. When we were heading to Bakkaran itok (my mother's sister's son) gave me a spoiler of what Bakkaran was like and where I was going. I was really amazed that from my mother's village, Dolok Sanggul, I could actually see this beautiful Lake Toba. Our car descended along the road with ravines on its side and surrounded by views of the green valley and the blue color of Lake Toba. We also stopped at one of the resorts built by the local government, namely Panatapan Bakkara. I am very excited to see the beautiful view from up here. You can see that there are many houses, Kampung Bakkara, which is located in a valley on the edge of Lake Toba.

  

We continued our journey until we reached the Promise Bakkara Waterfall. The waterfall is so high that it comes from the mountains of the Kampung Tippang spring. In this waterfall tour, it is divided into 2 places and separated between men's and women's baths. From the Promise Bakkara Waterfall, our main goal is to visit the Palace of the King of Sisingamangaraja. This is where we worship, pray and pilgrimage. We also study the history of King Sisingamangaraja from the first to the twelfth. Sirajaoloan is a descendant of King Sisingamangaraja XII which consists of the Naibaho, Sihotang, Bakkara, Sinambela, Sihite, and Simanullang clans.

The next trip we headed to Aek Sipangolu. In this place there is a history of King Sisingamangaraja I and it is believed that when we pray and drink the water that comes from the stone he has stuck, it can cure various diseases.

It turns out that you don't need to go far abroad to see beauty because in your own area it is very beautiful that God has given and we should preserve so as to create jobs. If you want to go to Bakkara, you can take a plane directly to Silangit Airport in Borong Borong.