Lake Toba

Located 906 metres above sea level, Lake Toba is the largest lake in the world (100 km long and 31 km wide) and also the deepest at 450 metres. This is the hub of tourism in North Sumatera and the homeland of the Batak People. Lake Toba is the second most populated area in Indonesia after Java. The people are mostly farmers drawn there by the rich and fertile volcanic soil. Parapat, 176 km from Medan, is a booming resort and the main town on the scenic lake. There are many hotels and plenty of entertainment. Activities include, waterspots, golf, fishing, trekking and shopping for wood carvings, traditional textiles and ceramics. The Lake Toba is is the largest lake in Southeast Asia, once created by an enormous eruption less than 100,000 years ago. Th eruption was approximately 8,000 times more powerful than the eruption of Mount St.Helen in 1981.
There are of course legends on how Lake Toba was formed. The traditional Batak canoe, the solu, was 10-15 metres long. All had the same width. The canoes were decorated with carvings, the captain, the chief, sat in front and gave orders. The solu had its own spirit and when a new canoe was built offerings were made for both teh canoe spirit and to Boru Saniang Naga, the Goddess of the water. Batak feared her ad disasters could easily happen when she was angry.