The province of North Sumatera is large with one of the biggest lakes in the world, Lake Toba, at its navel. The continuous mountain of Bukit Barisan, which extends from Aceh at the tip of the island of Sumatera to Lampung at the bottom of the island, guards the province on the west side, providing home for thick, tropical jungles and lush vegetations. As you go down the western mountains towards the beaches of the east, mountain streams, strong rivers, and gorgeous waterfalls will accompany you.

North Sumatera has very heterogenous ethnic groups, and thus, cultures. The people of the eastern coasts, also known as the Malays (Melayu) have markedly different traditions and culture from the Batak highlanders who live around Lake Toba and Samosir Island. Further south, the Mandailings and Angkolas, and the Island of Nias, have yet more flavors of traditions and culture. There are many places to see in this cultural salad bowl:

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 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 75,000 years ago. The eruption was approximately 8,000 times more powerful than the eruption of Mount St.Helen in 1981. The bottom of the volcano rose and formed the island of Samosir which is beautifully situated in the middle of the blue waters of Toba.
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.