Don't eat dog with the locals!
i have done quite a bit of traveling in the last three years primarily in southeast asia and europe. i knew that this trip the trip of all trips, the trek of all treks would be truly adventerous. and it was.
i began my journey to north sumatra via boat which i picked up in penang and took about 5 hours. i arrived in the port on my way to Medan the third largest city in indonesia. the port terminal is quite hectic with touts. ignore them and get right on the bus. ignore the many moneychangers that will approach you. if you got a few bucks i would stay at the Danau Toba hotel complex. its in a well kept neiborrhood with many mansions that used to belong to the dutch aristocrats. it will cost about 20 dollars a night. if you are on a budget the Shahiba guest houst has rooms with bath for about 1.50
My journey gets interesting the moment i get off the bus in Berastahi, a highly elevated town which is home to two volcanoes. The town is basically one main road (JL Veteran) and el haddaj guesthouse is your best bet on the strip if you are a westerner. next door to the guesthouse there is an store which looks like a restaurant, although they dont make food. its just a place where i think the local mob (or something like that) takes extorsion money, sell drug and protitutes. they also have slot machines. I meet these great guys there that were dangerous looking but pretty fun guys in general. they took me around to where the locals go. hot springs, excellent jungle treks! but their main specialty is the cooking and eating of DOGS.
Yeah thats right DOGS. I was invited for this activiity which the local Batak people have been doing for centuries. I didn't bother to ask them where they got the dog, but all i do know is that we go to this picnic type area where my friend JIMMY strips some bamboo to make skewers and they take out this big bag of dark meat and another bag which contained the heart stomach brain etc.
they skewer the meat chunks and place them on the fire. they take in innards and place them in a pot with onions, chilis, garlic, dog blood and whisky. this is to make the famous dog stew which they are known to do.
as we began to eat the grilled dog i became quite hesitant, especially when they brought out the dipping sauce which was flour dog blood and chillies. but i tried it and it was not all that bad! pretty good actually, especially is you can get past the fact that you are chompin on lassie. what i didnt like was the stew which is horrible and they eat the heart, liver, stomach while chasing it down with of all things Kahlua.
so my advice, if you are gonna eat dog with the native Batak in Sumatra, pass on the stew!
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