After driving for less less than 2 hours from Pematang Siantar, the magnificent view of Lake Toba became visible from an elevation. Soon after, we got to Tomok, Parapat, a small town on the edge of the lake, where we drove our car onto a scheduled ferry heading back to Samosir Island in the middle of the waters.
Lake Toba emerged out of a super volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago. The eruption was the last in a series of at least four-caldera forming eruptions at the location. Bill Rose and Craig Chesner of Michigan Technological University have estimated that the eruptions sent thick ash over all of South Asia. The subsequent collapse formed a caldera filled with water that led to the formation of Lake Toba. Samosir Island, in the center of the lake. was formed by a resurgent dome.
From a closer distance, Lake Toba looks more like an ocean than a lake.
Check out our Lake Toba gallery.