Natural Soda Hotspring, Tarutung, Indonesia

Do you known that area near Taturung, in north Sumatera has a natural soda hotspring? The hotsprings in this area are attractive, especially since Tarutung is located at high elevation and is pretty cold, for Indonesian weather.

Hotsprings are not an unusual occurrence, but a soda (or carbonated) hotspring is extraordinary! It feels like you are soaking yourself in a million gallons of hot Sprite!

I didn’t believe in a soda hotspring until the day I went there myself. The natural soda hotsping is located in Parbubu Village. It was only 15 minutes drive from the heart of Tarutung city to this village. The good news is it’s FREE to enter the pool since it is actually used as a common natural bath for the local people to bathe in. It was very surprising to see people soaping their bodies or washing their hair at the edge of the pool. Once their bodies and heads are full of bubbles, they would jump in to the pool to wash off!!

Hooaaa! I can read your mind! You must be thinking that the water is dirty because people take a bath there! Well, fortunately, you are wrong! The soda water in the pool is always clean because it is constantly coming up from its source and washes out from the pool. In fact, you will also find out that the water is crystal clear. This water is also used to irrigate the rice paddies around the area.

You must be wondering why that guy in my picture has goggles with him. The reason is that you can put your goggles on and dive in the pool to see plenty of small sulfur holes, which are the source of the soda water.

The pool is sited at the corner of a rice paddy. So, while you sit and indulge yourself in the hot soda water, you can also look out and soak in the beautiful view of rice paddies and the activities of the farmers who work at that moment. The green hills behind also add another remarkable sight of Indonesian nature.

It was a very unique experience to indulge myself in the hot soda water and enjoy the beauty of nature surrounding the spring.

Felt just like heaven!
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*How to get there:
From Medan to Tarutung will take about 4 hours driving. Alternative transportations:
- Bus ticket costs Rp. 25,000 ($ 3.00)
- Rent a car + driver + fuel for 24 hours costs Rp. 550,000 ($60.00)

If you take a bus, once you arrived in Tarutung, take a public transportation (mikrolet) to Parbubu Village. It will take about 15 minutes to get there.

For your information, this review is also being published online in Travbuddy website until October 16, 2008.