There are many beautiful places in the world where you want to return again and again. One of these unforgettable places is Lake Toba.
Lake Toba
Today, many people dream of traveling. They want to visit the most popular, "loud" places, so that in the future they will have something to brag about. But do not forget that there are other equally worthy and interesting places. One of them is Lake Toba, located on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
It strikes and delights with its beauty and grandeur. This place will not leave anyone indifferent. People go to the lake to find inspiration, because the environment with delightfully green hills and trees, fresh air, interesting architecture and almost always warm weather helps tourists to meditate and focus on their work or just relax. This heavenly place is surrounded by palm trees, poplars, coniferous trees. The island is home to a wide variety of living creatures, you will even meet monkeys on the roadsides.
What is Lake Toba?
In Indonesia, Lake Toba is the largestbody of water, and in the world - the largest volcanic lake. It appeared about 75 thousand years ago as a result of the eruption of the Toba volcano. Lake Toba is located at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level, reaches about 90 km in length and 30 km in width, and the maximum depth is 505 m. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 1100 square kilometers.
In the middle of the lake is the island of Samosir, which is popular with tourists. In Indonesia, in Sumatra, Lake Toba took almost 1,500 years to fill after a volcanic eruption. But, despite such an intriguing history of occurrence, you will not meet a large crowd of tourists near the lake. There is a large Sumatran Fault near Sumatra, even small shifts of plates are sometimes felt here, which makes the area almost the most seismically active in this part of the planet. The explosion of the Toba volcano is rated on an eight-point scale and is considered the most powerful eruption in the last 20 million years. There are many interesting facts connected with this. So, many scientists believe that this eruption was the cause of the "volcanic winter" and radically changed the climate of our planet.
New eruptions
The area where Lake Toba is located is still seismically active. So, here quite large earthquakes with a magnitude of over 9 points occurred in 2004 and 2005. After one of them, the Grace satellites caught a slight change in the shape of the Earth and a shift of the island of Sumatra by several tens of centimeters. Seismologists are confident that powerful local seismic activity canlead to a new large-scale eruption.
Population
The indigenous people of the Stsmatra are the Bataks. Their number on the island is about 4 million people. They are mainly engaged in fishing and agriculture. The inhabitants of the island preach Christianity and Islam, but until the 1920s they retained their archaic forms of life: slavery, hunting for human heads and cannibalism. In some places, traditional Batak houses are still found, distinguished by skillful carvings and decoration. Also of interest are the boats that the Bataks decorate with unusually beautiful carvings.
Climate
Lake Toba is located in the equatorial climate zone. It is summer here all year round, the days are very warm, the air temperature is kept at 26-28 degrees Celsius. The difference in seasons is determined only by the amount of precipitation. Most of them fall from October (approximately from the middle of the month) to April. Therefore, the best time to visit the lake is May. But because of the Chinese New Year, tourists come in January.
Value in the economy
Due to its location and economic potential, Toba is of great importance in the national economy of Indonesia. Approximately 65% of the structure of the economy is occupied by agriculture. Jobs provide rice and coffee picking, as well as corn, cinnamon and cloves.
Bathing in the lake
Many tourists wonder if it is possible to swim in Lake Toba. An unequivocal answer cannot be given due to the fact that the ecology of this reservoir has recently deteriorated significantly. The reason for this is the activeeconomic activity of the islanders without the use of treatment facilities. Therefore, swimming is prohibited in some places of the lake. I would also like to note that in certain months an increased bloom is observed in the lake, which is caused by the presence of a large amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in its waters. Therefore, you can swim here, but only in designated areas.
Tourist information
On the island of Samosir, which is located in the center of the lake, there is a small Tuk-Tuk peninsula. It is the most popular tourist destination. The Tuk-Tuk is very small and can be walked around in less than an hour. This tiny piece of land is completely built up with guesthouses, hotels, and entertainment facilities. In restaurants and cafes you can find a wide variety of dishes at a variety of prices. But if you take it in general, then the prices for Samosir are lower than in all of Indonesia. Now there is not a large flow of tourists, but all infrastructure facilities are working stably. In the hotels of the island, you can rent a room from $ 2. As you can see, it's not expensive. There are many souvenir shops in Tuk-Tuk where you can buy exclusive products. Tourists can spend leisure time visiting local attractions. One of the most popular places is the tomb of the Batak ruler Sidabutar, as well as the tomb in Khutaraja. The ruins of the ancient Batak settlement, located near the village of Ambarita, are also popular with travelers.
The island of Samosir is called the island of the dead, but you shouldn't be afraid of it. It received this name because many graves were found here andsarcophagi, which the Bataks called "houses of adat". They are scattered all over the island. The oldest grave is located in the village of Tomak. She is about two hundred years old. King Sidabutara rests in it. An interesting fact: only the skulls of the dead are kept in sarcophagi, so all relatives can fit in one such "house". If the sarcophagus has several tiers, then the newly deceased is placed at the very bottom and slowly raised to the upper "floors". The higher the skull is, the higher its status.
Child your holiday with daily Batak dances, which take place in the restored royal residence of Simalungun in the Batak Museum. An interesting and spectacular holiday for tourists is "Sigale-Gale" - the annual puppet festival. At this festival, only beautiful girls dance to please the eyes of the spectator, and the spectators are the Bataks of all tribes.
Insanely beautiful place in Sumatra is the Sipiso Piso waterfall. It is the highest in Indonesia, reaching a height of 120 meters. Translated into Russian, the name means "waterfall like a knife".
Locals of Sumatra are peaceful and polite. Most of them speak only local dialects. Few even speak English here.
Interesting facts
The consequences of the volcanic eruption that occurred in this region of the globe in the late Pleistocene were enormous. Those scientists who believe they led to the volcanic winter insist that mankind survived thanks to the so-called "bottleneck effect".neck". Another interesting fact is that you will find the ashes from the volcano throughout Southeast Asia, and not just in Indonesia. It is also proved that after the eruption the temperature in this region dropped, and some species of flora and fauna disappeared from the face of the Earth forever.
Lake Toba, coordinates and reviews
As already mentioned, tourists are attracted by the magnificent surrounding views and the clean, clear water of Lake Toba. The city of Parapat is a resort center on the lake. It is a link between the lake and the administrative center of the province of North Sumatra, the city of Medan. Every day excursion boats run between Parapat and Samosir island. In Parapat, travelers can take part in fishing, canoeing, water skiing. To get to Lake Toba, you need to fly to the city of Medan (Indonesia, Sumatra). From there, you can get to Parapat by minibus or taxi. If you wish, then you can go to the Tuk-Tuk Peninsula. The cost of a minibus from Medan to Parapat is 20-25 thousand Indonesian rupees. If you want to get there in comfort, you can order a minibus for 40-45 thousand rupees. You can rent a room with a gorgeous view of the lake In Parapat for 50 thousand rupees, and dine for only 7 thousand rupees, but you can order dishes (for example, fish with a side dish) for 20 thousand rupees.
Whoever visits this unique lake, everyone leaves here with the most pleasant impressions of a lifetime and with promisescome back to this lake at least once more. Many people who have visited this place leave only rave reviews about it. There are many celebrities among such tourists.
So, the famous traveler and blogger Ivan Leshukov, who visited this lake, wrote that he did not know what he liked more here: the fact that you are in the crater of the largest volcano, the architecture of the local tribe, or the surrounding hills and trees.
And the poetess Viktoria Sklyarova wrote in her blog that Lake Toba is one of the best places on Earth, although it is quite difficult to get to it. But not all tourists experience only the delight of being on the lake. Many in the reviews note the poor ecology in the region, the unsettled life of local residents, respectively, unsanitary conditions in common areas, the climate is not suitable for everyone (due to high humidity, hypertensive patients do not feel very well here) and poorly developed medical care.
