Lake Toba, A Mesmerizing Sight

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Trip Start Feb 02, 2011 Previous
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  Parapat, Sumatra, Indonesia
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The journey was approximately another 1 hour and 10 minutes. At 2.21 pm, we arrived in Parapat. The journey was filled with hair pin bends and sharp curves, with occasional sighting of the lake. Since this was a predominantly Bataknese region, there was mostly churches and mosques were hard to be sighted, despite Indonesia being the largest Islamic country in the world. 

The churches themselves were mostly Protestant and with a few Catholic churches along the way, somewhat in a ration of 1 in every 20 churches sighted being Catholic churches. When we reached the hotel, the driver assisted with the check in and we did not even have to get down from the vehicle. 

  



The bags were sent to the room by the porters, of course for a small tip and the rest of the day was for us to relax. The room was good, right by the lake. There were no fans or A/C in the room as the average day time temperature was around 19 Celsius. 

  

 



Once the check in was done, we just eased ourselves and sat by the lake watching the speed boats and ferry commuting travelers from Parapat to Samosir Island across Lake Toba. Being a sulfuric lake, we were informed by the guide that this is the third largest lake in the world, after Russia and Lake Victoria in Africa. The water was green and clear. At some points, the lake had a depth of 432 meters. There was a lot of activities happening on this lake, fresh water fish being cultivated here and this is the single source of water for the entire Samosir Island.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A unique thing at the hotel is here is that hot water is only available from 6pm up to 9 pm and again from 6 am to 9 am. After a while relaxing outside, enjoying the cool breeze, activities and beautiful roses that grow abundantly here, we decided to head to have our bath, of course taking turns not to miss the hot shower. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

At 7.20 pm, we left the hotel and the driver took us to a restaurant in town for dinner, of course again for Minangkabau food. By this time, the rest of the family had started enjoying it and we had a great meal. We finished dinner at around 8.15 pm, then just headed to buy some snacks to keep us occupied later. 

  


 
 We also did a short drive around the small town which is less than 3 kilometers in length. By 8.40 pm, we were back to the hotel, the ladies slept off early while my dad and I were sitting for a couple of beers and catching up on stories and gossips. Hehehe Finally, we called it a night at around midnight.

 

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