| 7th | Top potentially dangerous volcanic eruptions |
| 26th | Top Indonesia-related topics |
| Lake Toba | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Landsat photo | |
| Location | North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 2°41′04″N 98°52′32″E / 2.6845°N 98.8756°ECoordinates: 2°41′04″N 98°52′32″E / 2.6845°N 98.8756°E |
| Lake type | Volcanic/ tectonic |
| Primary outflows | Asahan River |
| Basin countries | Indonesia |
| Max. length | 100 km (62 mi) |
| Max. width | 30 km (19 mi) |
| Surface area | 1,130 km2 (440 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 505 m (1,660 ft)[1] |
| Water volume | 240 km3 (58 cu mi) |
| Surface elevation | 905 m (2,970 ft) |
| Islands | Samosir |
| References | [1] |
Lake Toba (Indonesian: Danau Toba) is a lake and supervolcano, 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres (1,666 ft) at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 metres (2,953 ft), the lake stretches from 2°53′N 98°31′E / 2.88°N 98.52°E to 2°21′N 99°06′E / 2.35°N 99.1°E. It is the largest volcanic lake in the world.[1] In addition, it is the site of a supervolcanic eruption that occurred 69,000-77,000 years ago,[2][3][4] a massive climate-changing event. The eruption is believed to have had a VEI intensity of 8. This eruption is believed to have been the largest anywhere on Earth in the last 25 million years. According to the Toba catastrophe theory to which some anthropologists and archeologists subscribe, it had global consequences, killing most humans then alive and creating a population bottleneck in Central Eastern Africa and India that affected the genetic inheritance of all humans today.[5]
Contents |
The Toba caldera complex in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia consists of four overlapping volcanic craters that adjoin the Sumatran "volcanic front". The youngest and fourth caldera is the world's largest Quaternary caldera (100 by 30 kilometres) and intercepts the three older calderas. An estimate of 2,500 to 3,000 km2 (3.3×109 to 3.9×109 cu yd) of dense-rock equivalent pyroclastic material, known the Youngest Toba tuff, was blasted from the youngest caldera during one of the largest single eruptions in geologic history. Following the "Youngest Toba tuff eruption", a typical resurgent dome formed within the new caldera, joining two half-domes separated by a longitudinal graben.[3]
There are at least four cones, four stratovolcanoes and three craters visible in the lake. The Tandukbenua cone on the NW edge of the caldera is relatively lacking in vegetation, suggesting a young age of only several hundred years. Also, the Pusubukit volcano on the south edge of the caldera is solfatarically active.[6]
The Toba eruption (the Toba event) occurred at what is now Lake Toba about 67,500 to 75,500 years ago.[7] The Toba eruption was the latest of a series of at least three caldera-forming eruptions which have occurred at the volcano, with earlier calderas having formed around 700,000 and 840,000 years ago.[8] The last eruption had an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8 (described as "mega-colossal"), making it possibly the largest explosive volcanic eruption within the last twenty-five million years.
Bill Rose and Craig Chesner of Michigan Technological University have deduced that the total amount of erupted material was about 2,800 km3 (670 cu mi)[9] — around 2,000 km3 (480 cu mi) of ignimbrite that flowed over the ground, and around 800 km3 (190 cu mi) that fell as ash, with the wind blowing most of it to the west. The pyroclastic flows of the eruption destroyed an area of 20,000 square kilometres (7,722 sq mi), with ash deposits as thick as 600 metres (1,969 ft) by the main vent.[9]
To give an idea of its magnitude, consider that although the eruption took place in Indonesia, it deposited an ash layer approximately 15 centimetres thick over the entire Indian subcontinent; at one site in central India, the Toba ash layer today is up to 6 metres thick[10] and parts of Malaysia were covered with 9 m of ashfall.[11] In addition it has been calculated that 10,000 million metric tons of sulfuric acid[citation needed]was ejected into the atmosphere by the event, causing acid rain fallout.[12] But Alan Robock et al.,[13] simulated an emission of 6,000 million tons of sulfur dioxide.
The Toba caldera is the only supervolcano in existence that can be described as Yellowstone's "bigger" sister. With 2,800 km3 of ejecta, it was an even greater eruption than the supereruption (2,500 km3) of 2.1 million years ago that created the Island Park Caldera in Idaho, USA. The eruption was also about three times the size of the latest Yellowstone eruption of Lava Creek 630,000 years ago. For further comparison, the largest volcanic eruption in historic times, in 1815 at Mount Tambora (Indonesia), ejected the equivalent of around 100 km3 (24 cu mi) of dense rock and made 1816 the "Year Without a Summer" in the whole northern hemisphere, whilst the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State ejected around 1.2 km3 (0.29 cu mi) of material.
The subsequent collapse formed a caldera that, after filling with water, created Lake Toba. The island in the center of the lake is formed by a resurgent dome.
Though the year may never be precisely determined, the season can: only the summer monsoon could have deposited Toba ashfall in the South China Sea, implying that the eruption took place sometime during the northern summer.[14] The eruption lasted perhaps two weeks, but the ensuing "volcanic winter" resulted in a decrease in average global temperatures by 3 to 3.5 degrees Celsius for several years. Greenland ice cores record a pulse of starkly reduced levels of organic carbon sequestration. Very few plants or animals in southeast Asia would have survived, and it is possible that the eruption caused a planet-wide die-off. There is some evidence, based on mitochondrial DNA, that the human race may have passed through a genetic bottleneck around this time, reducing genetic diversity below what would be expected from the age of the species. According to the Toba catastrophe theory proposed by Stanley H. Ambrose of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998, human populations may have been reduced to only a few tens of thousands of individuals by the Toba eruption.[15]
Smaller eruptions have occurred at Toba since. The small cone of Pusukbukit has formed on the southwestern margin of the caldera and lava domes. The most recent eruption may have been at Tandukbenua on the northwestern caldera edge, since the present lack of vegetation could be due to an eruption within the last few hundred years.[16]
Some parts of the caldera have experienced uplift due to partial refilling of the magma chamber, for example pushing Samosir Island and the Uluan Peninsula above the surface of the lake. The lake sediments on Samosir Island show that it has been uplifted by at least 450 metres[8] since the cataclysmic eruption. Such uplifts are common in very large calderas, apparently due to the upward pressure of unerupted magma. Toba is probably the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. Large earthquakes have occurred in the vicinity of the volcano more recently, notably in 1987 along the southern shore of the lake at a depth of 11 km.[17] Other earthquakes have occurred in the area in 1892, 1916, and 1920-1922.[8]
Lake Toba lies near the Great Sumatran fault which runs along the centre of Sumatra in the Sumatra Fracture Zone.[8] The volcanoes of Sumatra and Java are part of the Sunda Arc, a result of the northeasterly movement of the Indo-Australian Plate which is sliding under the eastward-moving Eurasian Plate. The subduction zone in this area is very active: the seabed near the west coast of Sumatra has had several major earthquakes since 1995, including the 9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and the 8.7 2005 Sumatra earthquake, the epicenters of which were around 300 km from Toba.
On 12 September 2007, a magnitude 8.5 Earthquake shook the ground in Sumatra and was felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The epicenter for this earthquake was not as close as the previous two earthquakes, but it was in the same vicinity.
Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks. Traditional Batak houses are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colorful decor.[18]
Lake Toba offers a nurturing environment for fish such as tilapia mossambica, aplocheilus panchax, lebistes reticulatus, osphronemus goramy, trichogaster trichopterus, channa striata, channa gachua, clarias batrachus, clarias nieuhofi, clarias. sp., nemachilus fasciatus, cyprinus carpio, puntius javanicus, puntius binotatus, osteochilus nasselti, lissochilus sp., labeobarbus sora, and rasbora sp.[19]
Many other types of plants and animals live within the boundaries of Lake Toba. Flora organisms include various types of phytoplankton, emerged macrophytes, floating macrophytes, and submerged macrophytes. Fauna include several variations of zooplankton and benthos.[19]
 Toba Lake viewed from Parapat |
 Toba Lake viewed from Parapat |
 Toba Lake viewed from Ambarita |
 Toba Lake Villages Samosir |
| Lake Toba | |
|---|---|
| File:Toba | |
| Landsat photo | |
| Location | North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 2°41′04″N 98°52′32″E / 2.6845°N 98.8756°ECoordinates: 2°41′04″N 98°52′32″E / 2.6845°N 98.8756°E |
| Lake type | Volcanic/ tectonic |
| Primary outflows | Asahan River |
| Basin countries | Indonesia |
| Max. length | 100 km (62 mi) |
| Max. width | 30 km (19 mi) |
| Surface area | 1,130 km2 (440 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 505 m (1,657 ft)[1] |
| Water volume | 240 km3 (58 cu mi) |
| Surface elevation | 905 m (2,969 ft) |
| Islands | Samosir |
| References | [1] |
Lake Toba (Indonesian: Danau Toba) is a lake and supervolcano, 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres (1,666 ft) at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 metres (2,953 ft), the lake stretches from 2°53′N 98°31′E / 2.88°N 98.52°E to 2°21′N 99°06′E / 2.35°N 99.1°E. It is the largest volcanic lake in the world.[1]
Lake Toba is the site of a supervolcanic eruption that occurred 69,000-77,000 years ago,[2][3][4] a massive climate-changing event. The eruption is believed to have had a VEI intensity of 8. It is believed to be the largest explosive eruption anywhere on Earth in the last 25 million years. According to the Toba catastrophe theory to which some anthropologists and archeologists subscribe, it had global consequences, killing most humans then alive and creating a population bottleneck in Central Eastern Africa and India that affected the genetic inheritance of all humans today.[5] This theory however, has been largely debated as there is no evidence for any other animal decline or extinction, even in environmentally sensitive species.[6] However, it has been accepted that the eruption of Toba led to a volcanic winter with a worldwide decline in temperatures between 3-5 degrees C, and up to 15 degrees C in higher latitudes.
Contents |
The Toba caldera complex in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia consists of four overlapping volcanic craters that adjoin the Sumatran "volcanic front". The youngest and fourth caldera is the world's largest Quaternary caldera (100 km (62 mi) by 30 km (19 mi)) and intersects the three older calderas. An estimate of 2,800 km3 (670 cu mi) of dense-rock equivalent pyroclastic material, known the Youngest Toba tuff, was blasted from the youngest caldera during one of the largest single explosive volcanic eruptions in geologic history. Following the "Youngest Toba tuff eruption", a typical resurgent dome formed within the new caldera, joining two half-domes separated by a longitudinal graben.[3]
There are at least four cones, four stratovolcanoes and three craters visible in the lake. The Tandukbenua cone on the NW edge of the caldera is relatively lacking in vegetation, suggesting a young age of only several hundred years. Also, the Pusubukit volcano on the south edge of the caldera is solfatarically active.[7]
[[File:|right|thumb|Aerial view of the southern shore with Sibandang Island visible in the background.]]
The Toba eruption (the Toba event) occurred at what is now Lake Toba about 67,500 to 75,500 years ago.[8] The Toba eruption was the latest of a series of at least three caldera-forming eruptions which have occurred at the volcano, with earlier calderas having formed around 700,000 and 840,000 years ago.[9] The last eruption had an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8 (described as "mega-colossal"), making it possibly the largest explosive volcanic eruption within the last twenty-five million years.
Bill Rose and Craig Chesner of Michigan Technological University have deduced that the total amount of erupted material was about 2,800 km3 (670 cu mi)[10] — around 2,000 km3 (480 cu mi) of ignimbrite that flowed over the ground, and around 800 km3 (190 cu mi) that fell as ash, with the wind blowing most of it to the west. The pyroclastic flows of the eruption destroyed an area of 20,000 square kilometres (7,722 sq mi), with ash deposits as thick as 600 metres (1,969 ft) by the main vent.[10]
To give an idea of its magnitude, consider that although the eruption took place in Indonesia, it deposited an ash layer approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) thick over the entire South Asia; at one site in central India, the Toba ash layer today is up to 6 m (20 ft) thick[11] and parts of Malaysia were covered with 9 m (30 ft) of ashfall.[12] In addition it has been calculated that 10,000 million metric tons of sulfuric acid[citation needed]were ejected into the atmosphere by the event, causing acid rain fallout.[13] But Alan Robock et al.,[14] simulated an emission of 6,000 million tons of sulfur dioxide.
The Toba caldera is the only supervolcano in existence that can be described as Yellowstone's "bigger" sister. With 2,800 km3 (670 cu mi) of ejecta, it was an even greater eruption than the supereruption (2,500 km3) of 2.1 million years ago that created the Island Park Caldera in Idaho, USA. The eruption was also about three times the size of the latest Yellowstone eruption of Lava Creek 630,000 years ago. For further comparison, the largest volcanic eruption in historic times, in 1815 at Mount Tambora (Indonesia), ejected the equivalent of around 100 km3 (24 cu mi) of dense rock and made 1816 the "Year Without a Summer" in the whole northern hemisphere, whilst the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State ejected around 1.2 km3 (0.29 cu mi) of material. The largest known eruption since the Toba event, the Oruanui eruption, ejected the equivalent of 530 km3of magma.
The subsequent collapse formed a caldera that, after filling with water, created Lake Toba. The island in the center of the lake is formed by a resurgent dome.
Though the year may never be precisely determined, the season can: only the summer monsoon could have deposited Toba ashfall in the South China Sea, implying that the eruption took place sometime during the northern summer.[15] The eruption lasted perhaps two weeks, but the ensuing "volcanic winter" resulted in a decrease in average global temperatures by 3 to 3.5 degrees Celsius for several years. Greenland ice cores record a pulse of starkly reduced levels of organic carbon sequestration. Very few plants or animals in southeast Asia would have survived, and it is possible that the eruption caused a planet-wide die-off. There is some evidence, based on mitochondrial DNA, that the human race may have passed through a genetic bottleneck around this time, reducing genetic diversity below what would be expected from the age of the species. According to the Toba catastrophe theory proposed by Stanley H. Ambrose of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998, human populations may have been reduced to only a few tens of thousands of individuals by the Toba eruption.[16]
Smaller eruptions have occurred at Toba since. The small cone of Pusukbukit has formed on the southwestern margin of the caldera and lava domes. The most recent eruption may have been at Tandukbenua on the northwestern caldera edge, since the present lack of vegetation could be due to an eruption within the last few hundred years.[17]
Some parts of the caldera have experienced uplift due to partial refilling of the magma chamber, for example pushing Samosir Island and the Uluan Peninsula above the surface of the lake. The lake sediments on Samosir Island show that it has been uplifted by at least 450 metres (1,476 ft)[9] since the cataclysmic eruption. Such uplifts are common in very large calderas, apparently due to the upward pressure of unerupted magma. Toba is probably the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. Large earthquakes have occurred in the vicinity of the volcano more recently, notably in 1987 along the southern shore of the lake at a depth of 11 km (6.8 mi).[18] Other earthquakes have occurred in the area in 1892, 1916, and 1920-1922.[9]
Lake Toba lies near the Great Sumatran fault which runs along the centre of Sumatra in the Sumatra Fracture Zone.[9] The volcanoes of Sumatra and Java are part of the Sunda Arc, a result of the northeasterly movement of the Indo-Australian Plate which is sliding under the eastward-moving Eurasian Plate. The subduction zone in this area is very active: the seabed near the west coast of Sumatra has had several major earthquakes since 1995, including the 9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and the 8.7 2005 Sumatra earthquake, the epicenters of which were around 300 km (190 mi) from Toba.
On 12 September 2007, a magnitude 8.5 Earthquake shook the ground in Sumatra and was felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The epicenter for this earthquake was not as close as the previous two earthquakes, but it was in the same vicinity. [[File:|thumbnail|left|View of the lake with an example of Batak architecture in the foreground.]] [[File:|thumbnail|upright|Traditional Batak house at Ambarita, Lake Toba]]
Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks. Traditional Batak houses are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colorful decor.[19]
The flora of the lake includes various types of phytoplankton, emerged macrophytes, floating macrophytes, and submerged macrophytes, while the surrounding countryside is rainforest including areas of Sumatran tropical pine forests on the higher mountainsides.[20]
Fauna include several variations of zooplankton and benthos animals. Lake Toba offers a nurturing environment for fish such as Tilapia mossambica, Aplocheilus panchax, Lebistes reticulatus, Osphronemus goramy, Trichogaster trichopterus, Channa striata, Channa gachua, Clarias batrachus, Clarias nieuhofii, Clarias sp., Nemacheilus fasciatus, Cyprinus carpio, Puntius javanicus, Puntius binotatus, Osteochilus nasselti, Lissochilus sp., Labeobarbus sora, and Rasbora sp..[20]
Toba Lake Parapat
Toba Lake viewed from Parapat |
Lake Toba Driver
Toba Lake viewed from Ambarita |
Toba Lake Villages
Toba Lake Villages Samosir |
Parapat-harbor
Parapat harbor |
Batak-village
Batak village |
Simanindo
Simanindo lake view |
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lake Toba |
Lake Toba (Danau Toba) is the largest lake in South East Asia and is in Sumatra, Indonesia. Samosir island within the lake is the island within the island of Sumatra.
Lake Toba is an immense volcanic lake covering area 1707 sq km (bigger than Singapore) with an island in the center. Formed by a gigantic volcanic eruption some 70,000 years ago, it is probably the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. Some studies say it might have been associated with causing previous ice age/climate change and the largest human population bottleneck ever. The island in the middle - Pulau Samosir - was joined to the caldera wall by a narrow isthmus, which was cut through to enable boats to pass; a road bridge crosses the cutting. Samosir island is the cultural centre of Batak tribe who are mostly Christians in the modern days.
Lake Toba used to be popular tourist destination but now not many tourist come, which means many services, no crowds, cheap prices and friendly locals grateful for your business. It is a great laid back place to chill out for a few days after jungle trekking etc. The location is very popular with Chinese tourists around Chinese New Year, when availability drops dramatically and accommodation costs are known to sky rocket.
Most visitors fly to Medan and then travel by land to Parapat, the town by Lake Toba. Parapat is about 4 hours by car from Medan (4-6 hours by public bus). Public Bus fee is 22,000 IDR. A scheduled and shared 7 passenger minivan costs 60,000 IDR and can be arranged by most hotels in Medan (Feb 08). Raja Taxi +62 (0)617 366-555 operates a shared cab service leaving from Medan airport at scheduled times that costs 75,000 IDR per person (Dec 08). Alternatively, you can book the whole taxi, a Toyota Avanza which seats seven, for 450,000 IDR. Parapat is a nice little town with reasonable hotels/guest houses, good food options and so on. However its on the island itself that you get the real feeling of Danau Toba.
Parapat is connected to Tomok and Tuk Tuk on the Samosir Island by boat/ferry that run every 1-2 hours, the last one at 6:00PM (Rp 7000). Self proclaimed 'Tourist Hunters' may befriend you on the boat but are harmless and often helpful to find things, arrangements etc. Tuk Tuk is the main town to stay on Samosir. Please take note that there is no ATM machine on Samosir Island (Feb 2009), be sure to get enough cash at Parapat before crossing the lake to the island.
Another great way to get to Lake Toba is by train. Two or three trains leave each day in that direction and you want to get off either at PT Siantar or Tebing Tinggi (note: the train stops at one or the other). The train is a wonderful way to travel. Once you are in your seat and have a stream of buskers, food vendors and friendly local passing by you will know why this is often the best way to travel overland. From Siantar (1 hour Taxi) or T Tinggi (2 hour Taxi) you will need to hire a taxi or a bus for road transport to Parapat.
The ferry ride over is fantastic, just truly peaceful, apart from the car radios playing, the ladies selling peanuts, aqua, mee or pretty much anything else. Some spoke excellent English which was a little surprising. Landing at the other end of the one hour ferry journey is daunting, but again, behave like everyone else in Indonesia and just push, ever so politely, but firmly and eventually you will get off the ferry and onto the main road.
The road signs are pretty much useless, as is asking the locals for directions, why is it so hard? Anyway if you are going to Tuk Tuk keep going, even though it may seem to be taking forever and you have been stuck in the Kijang for 8 hours with 10 other people, but you will get there and the hosts will be wonderful.
Do not, I repeat, do not try to drive out of Samosir Island by going up and over the top to the land bridge. The road is very bad and even my Indonesian relatives eventually gave up, took my advice and turned around (perilously) and headed back to the ferry.
Local transportation around the lake takes the form of boats (cheaper, school boats with limited schedules and more expensive public boats that operate throughout the day).
Public Boats from Parapat and surrounding areas sail from either Ajibata or Tigaraja to Tuktuk or Tomok at Samosir Island. The fee is 7,000 IDR per trip. There is also bigger ship which transports Cars and Busses sailing between Tigaraja and Tomok.
Hire a motorcycle for a day or two and get out and about (Rp.70,000 per day inclusive of 4 litres of petrol). Take a map. There are no police checking licenses and there is not much traffic - just watch out for the big trucks, buses and diabolical bridges. A good journey to take on a motorcycle would be to travel North from Tuk Tuk around to the western shore, stopping at the tourist sites along the way such as the many and varied traditional houses and villages. The roads are very bad in the centre of the island (bumpy and washed out) and it takes half a day to cross this way (verse 1-2 hours by coast road which is more scenic anyway). You can expect to ride at least up to 100km in the day.
It may be obvious but just remember there are no taxis around Tuk Tuk. Sure you can walk the small part of the island in an hour or so but if you are heading out for the night plan ahead on how you will get back home. The locals are very friendly people who will go out of their way to help. However, some corners of the island are very quiet at night and you may find yourself on a long long walk.
Most of the cottages and guest houses at Tuk Tuk will rent you a very serviceable bicycle for a nominal fee, this is a very much preferred way to get around, but be very careful for the cars as nobody looks and there does not seem to be any right side of the road, even when its the left side.
There are hot springs on the western side of the island just across the causeway from Pangururan. The water is hot. Locals usually use their hands to get some water out of the pool, standing in the pool is possible, but you probably won't be able to swim. The fee to enter to the surroundings is Rp. 2'000. The pools are free, there's some special foreigner pool for Rp 5'000.
Kick back and relax after the frenetic atmosphere of Indonesia. Swim in the volcanically warmed waters of the lake or arrange an overnight 'party' boat out on the lake if you can get enough volunteers together. A beautiful place to do nothing at all. Plenty of second hand book shops to stock up on reading material. Traditional Batak Dance in Restaurant Bagus Bay every Wednesday and Saturday from 8.15PM onwards. After the dance, sit back and enjoy the folk songs done by a group of men.
The main road around Tuktuk is lined with small restaurants of varying quality. Also on offer is magic mushroom and various "happy herb" pizzas if you want that.
There is one discotheque on Fri and Sat nights - expect the latest 80s music. Better to drink at your guest house generally.
Saturday night is often the highlight on the local calendar. You can hear a chorus of parties going around the Tuk Tuk area. At Samosir Cottages you will also see a wonderful local Batak performance that is a mixture of traditional dances and fantastic drinking songs (Lesoy!!- Cheers!!). Everyone is so talented it seems as the local people watching the performance also join in or start up their own sing along table after the main show. Harry and his Dad both perform in the band and sell a fantastic souvenir that you will enjoy when back at home.
There are also a number of fine spots around the Tuk Tuk area to catch a sunset beer. Reggae Bar is perched high up looking over the lake while the Hibiscus Bar on main street is hosted by two wonderful local girls and plays cool tunes with a little encouragement. Thats the thing to remember in Tuk Tuk. This area is in a depressed tourist state but is actual a wonderful gem that should be on the world stage. So while some places may look like not much is going on- GO IN - and the momemtum will build into a fun filled night with new friends.
There are numerous hotels and guest houses, mainly in Tuk tuk but with a few scattered in other small towns around the island. During Chinese New Year (end of Jan/early Feb), many Indonesians come for vacation and will pay generously for their rooms (about triple the rate). To accommodate these guests, some guest house owners may ask their existing guests to vacate their rooms, but only giving them very short notice. Therefore, when arriving before Chinese New Year, check with the guest house owner to ensure your stay will not be interrupted.
The local Batak people are very respectful and loving christians. Some of the local males may try turn on the charm too much especially if you are a group females. Be cautious as always but from our travels we saw no material need for specific security concerns day or night.
There seem to be a few 'Taksi Trans' operators that carry passengers between Parapat and Medan. Takes four hours, costs (July 2009) 65,000 rp per person. There are seven to a van, and if you book early, you can get the passenger seat next to the driver. John from Raja Taksi Trans speaks good English, and operates from a table in a cafe just up (70m) from the Tuk Tuk ferry, in the Harbour area of Parapat. Telephone 081362397309 (John). At the Medan end, the airport desk no is 061 7366333, or 7366555. I don't know how responsive or reliable the Medan end is. I booked the 9.30AM van from Parapat, on the understanding that it would not go until I arrived from Tuk Tuk on the 9.00AM ferry. Trouble is, the 9.00AM ferry is sometimes cancelled, and the 8.00AM ferry is often cancelled. Best to take the 7.00AM ferry from Tuk Tuk, and have breakfast in Parapat.
| This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow! |
Category: Usable articles
   | Joel Achenbach, ''Who Knew'', National Geographic - National Geographic Magazine |
| | Significant Earthquakes of the World - Significant Earthquakes of the World |
| | Toba volcano (Indonesia, Sumatra) - VolcanoDiscovery: volcano adventure tours & travel/ VolcanoDiscovery: Jun, 15 - Jul, 10 2009 |
| | George Weber, ''Toba Volcano'' - Toba Volcano, ch. 1 - Introduction |
|
|
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
