Panoramas of North Sumatra and Lake Toba

The jetty at Parapat,
where most visitors embark on a
short boat ride to Samosir Island.

Visitors to North Sumatra have been extolling the beauties of Lake Toba for decades, and this is the first time I had a chance to experience it for myself. Danau Toba is one of the world's largest volcano lakes, formed after a mega-eruption on the island of Sumatra tens of thousands of years ago. 

What we have is a very scenic and relatively unspoilt destination, visited mostly by Indonesians and Southeast Asian tourists (with none of the avarice that Caucasians bring out from the locals). The portal of entry is the city of Medan, just an hour's flight from Singapore. However its a 5-hour car ride through rugged country roads (no highways to speak of) lined by rubber and oil palm estates. Once one reaches the lake at the town of Parapat, the true beauty of Lake Toba is unveiled. 

A view of Parapat from the lake.

Boats and ferries ply between the
towns of Parapat and Tomok
and Tuktuk, two coastal  towns
on Samosir Island.

 

A most delightful view of the
Samosir Island town of Tomok.
The island, located in the centre of
Lake Toba, is dotted with churches 
like this (the Toba Batak inhabitants are
mostly Christian and Catholics),
which give it a resemblance of a parish
in Austria or Switzerland.
The sheer volcanic cliff in the background,
site of several plunging waterfalls,
makes it look a bit like Hawaii.
Switzerland and Hawaii in Indonesia,
its a novel idea!

The earlier generations of Toba Bataks
were animists, which explain the number
of  idol statues at the cemetery of
King Sidabuta at Tomok,
on Samosir Island.

 

The jetty at Tomok,
on the return trip to Parapat.

A hotel with a view:
Lake Toba from Hotel Niagara
on the hills of Parapat.

A view of Lake Toba
from its northernmost end.

The spectacular bridal veil waterfall
of Sipisopiso at the northernmost end
of  Lake Toba, as it plunges from
the Karo Plateau into a deep canyon.

The marketplace of Berastagi,
a hill station on the road from
Lake Toba to Medan.

The smoking volcano of Mount Sinabung
near Berastagi, from the plush grounds
of the Grand Mutiara Hotel.

Istana Maimoen, the official
home of the Sultan of Medan.