Lake Toba - North Sumatera, Indonesia

Lake Toba (Danau Toba) is the largest volcanic lake in the world and the largest lake in South East Asia is in North Sumatera, Indonesia. It’s spectacularly surrounded by tall mountains and with a large island called Samosir in the middle of the lake. If we descend from the mountain we see the lake glittering in all its beauty. This lake is way bigger than Singapore measuring 1707 sq kms.

You can get to Lake Toba from Medan by car or bus which takes about 5 to 6 hours depending on the traffic and weather conditions. There are two routes to Lake Toba which are via Permatang Siantar and Berastagi. The nearest airport to reach this destination is Polonia Airport in Medan as well.  

Lake Toba formed in a volcanic eruption around 75,000 years ago and was the largest in 25 million years. The volcanic blast was so large it deposited ash up to 15 cm all over India and up to 9 meters in Malaysia. Most of the plant and animal life across Asia was wiped out in that explosion.

 

Lake Toba is a quiet place to relax with it serene environment pleasing us all the time while we are there. There is a small market area called tuk tuk where you can buy some souvenirs and t-shirts and that’s where the ferry drops off passengers coming in from the main land ferry terminal called Parapat. It’s an hour ferry ride to get into Samosir Island from Parapat.

Few Batak villages are up for visits such as Ambarita and Tomok, the guide briefed us about the Batak tradition and history which involved cannibalism long time ago. Most of these Batak tribes are now Christians. It was pleasant to idle lazy in this peaceful island as a break from a hectic city life…