Did not complete it if you been to North Sumatera not stopping to Lake Toba, a volcanic lake is the largest lake in Indonesia, and even Southeast Asia. The exotic charm of the sea like a vast expanse of the lake with shady trees and a charming hills. The lake, measuring 1700 square meters with a depth of approximately 450 meters and is located 906 meters above sea level, in the middle of the lake there is Samosir Island are not less interesting to visit tourist attractions.
During his visit in 1996, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands even expressed his admiration for the beautiful panorama of the lake. "Sell me a name for this lake. I can not describe how beautiful Lake Toba, "he says enthusiastically.
There are seven counties surrounding the lake, namely Simalungun, Toba Samosir, North Tapanuli, Humbang Hasundutan, Dairi, Karo, and Naidoo who has a wonderful natural panorama and a tourist destination. Tourists generally enjoy the beauty of Lake Toba from Parapat in Simalungun and Tuktuk Siadong on the island.
Lake Toba is expected explosion occurred at around 73 thousand-75 thousand years ago and is a super volcano eruption (super volcano) the most recent. Bill Rose and Craig Chesner of Michigan Technological University estimate that the volcanic materials spewed out of the mountain as much as 2800 km ³, with 800 km ³ of rock overlies and 2,000 km ³ of volcanic ash which is expected in the wind to the west for two weeks.
Volcanic dust in the wind has spread to half the earth, from China to South Africa. The explosion occurred during a week and throw the dust up to 10 km above sea level.
This incident caused mass death and, in some species, also followed extinction. According to some DNA evidence, this eruption also reduced the number of people to about 60% of the total human population of the earth at that time, which is about 60 million people. The eruption also caused the ice age, although experts are still debating.
After the eruption, the caldera formed which was then filled with water and became what is now known as Lake Toba. Upward pressure by magma that has not come out cause the appearance of the island. When enjoying the beauty of this lake, you might not imagine that the charm of the place comes from the catastrophic volcanic eruption that brings fear and horror at the time.
Road trip to Lake Toba, specifically to Parapat, takes four to five hours from Medan. There is a bus or travel directly to Parapat. The route passes Lubuk Pakam, Cliff High, and turn toward Siantar. Along the way, we are treated to a panorama of palm oil and rubber.
If by train, from Medan select a route to Siantar. From here the journey continues by bus to Parapat. Latency time of one hour.
For places to stay and stay longer to enjoy the beauty of Lake Toba, there are many hotels and inns. In Parapat, there are at least 900 hotel rooms of various types, ranging from four star to the homestay, on Tuktuk also not different. Both in Parapat and Tuktuk, tourists can instantly enjoy the lake from the rim. Hotel rates in Tuktuk and Parapat vary, according to the typical tourist who comes. Starting from USD 30 thousand to $ 500 thousand per night depending on the type of hotel.
A travel company even offers to enjoy the beauty of Lake Toba from the air, which is using the paragliding. Each was given a chance to fly tourists to use paragliding from the mountains Tongging, Tanah Karo, North Sumatra. For tourists who want to try paragliding will be accompanied by an experienced instructor, but of course the determination to fly or not depends on the weather and wind conditions.
Not only that, enjoy the beautiful sunrise and sunset you can enjoy from the coastal lakes. Of the Karo highlands to the north, the beauty of the lake looks elongated viewed from Sikodonkodon. However, there is only one resort here. On the west side, overlooking the lake and the island of Samosir be perfectly seen from the Tele. There is a substation of view at an altitude of about 1,000 meters from sea level to enjoy the sunset at Lake Toba.
Recent weeks, a travel company, to promote the beauty of Lake Toba from the air using the paragliding. Every tourist was given the opportunity to use the kite flying from the mountains Tongging, Tanah Karo, North Sumatra.
For tourists who want to try the kite, will be accompanied an experienced instructor. But you also have to be prepared to be disappointed, because paragliding is very dependent on weather and wind conditions.
Before flying, the instructor first to see the wind speed, and then set up an umbrella that is able to fly two people, which was an instructor and a tourist. If you've experienced, you can fly with your partner.
Next, you will freefall from the top of the hill, and then hovering over the lake and landed right on that point has been determined.
The cliffs at Lake Toba recognized the drive is capable of producing strong winds, so that you can hover over Lake Toba between ten to twenty minutes. Woow!
