Traveling in the land of the Bataks

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Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world. The lake is 100 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide, and up to 505 metres (1,666 ft) deep. It is the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world. The size of the crater, is actually the size of Singapore! Lake Toba is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption estimated at VEI 8 that occurred 69,000 to 77,000 years ago, representing a climate-changing event. It is the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years. According to the Toba catastrophe theory, it had global consequences for human populations: it killed most humans living at that time and is believed to have created a population bottleneck in central east Africa and India, which affects the genetic make up of the human world-wide population to the present. This hypothesis is not widely accepted because evidence is lacking for a decline or extinction of other animals, including species that are sensitive to changes in the environment. It has been accepted that the eruption of Toba led to a volcanic winter with a worldwide decrease in temperature between 3 to 5 C, and up to 15C in higher latitudes. [Source: Wikipedia].

To reach Lake Toba from Singapore, JetStar has direct flights to Medan (30mins), the largest city of Sumatra. The Volcano is easily accessible from Medan after approximately 2 to 3 hours drive. (Transport can be arranged directly from the airport) Once at Parapat (The town near the lake), nice old-style ferries will make you cross over to Samosir "island" in 15-20 minutes, over the beautiful & calm waters of the lake. On Samosir their are many hotels to chose from. The sights are impressive but there is not much to do apart from relaxing along the shores of the lake, and renting bikes to ride around the island.

What is surprising on this island is the large number of wooden churches, built by the Missionaries who took on the task of bringing Christanism to the famous canibal Batak tribes. There are lots of Batak style houses with boat-hull shaped roofs, very similar to the Bugis & Toraja architectures in Sulawesi. Most of the inhabitants of Samosir Island are Batak tribes, who still practice their ancestral rituals.

The Bike ride around Samosir is very enjoyable, with Volcanic Sulphuric sources scattered around, small villages and vast scenaries!