Toba Lake

      World famous is the crater Toba Lake in the Batak highlands; approximately five hours drive from Medan. Toba Lake is the largest lake in South East Asia and also one of the most spectacular, surrounded by tall mountains and with the large island of Samosir in the middle. If we descend from the mountain we see the lake glittering in all its beauty. The Dutch writer Rudy Kousbroek even called Toba Lake, 'the most beautiful place on earth'. Most visitors stay on the peninsula of Tuk Tuk on Samosir, named after the linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk. In general people stay several days on Samosir to discover the island, to visit traditional Batak villages, to swim in the lake and go to the hot springs in Pangururan.
The centerpiece of North Sumatra, Lake Toba's bracing climate and magnificent panoramas clear the mind and soothe the soul. For decades a magnet from regional and foreign visitors alike, Toba has developed into a full-featured highland resort while retaining the rustic charm and relaxed ambiance that define Toba's attraction. Formed by a stupendous prehistoric volcanic explosion, the 100 km long lake is the largest in Southeast Asia and one of the deepest and the highest in the world. The drama of that cataclysmic birth persist in 500 meter cliffs dropping into the blue-green waters, surrounded by steep, pine covered sloped, the climate is fresh and pleasant, with just enough rain to support the lush vegetation.
Toba Lake is a 100kms x 30kms volcanic lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Toba Lake has become one of the main tourist attractions for a long time in North Sumatra apart from Bukit Lawang and Nias, visited by both domestic and foreign tourist.
he Origin of Toba Lake
It is estimated that Toba Lake was formed during a volcanic eruption about 73.000-75.000 years ago and which was the most recent super volcano eruption. Bill Rose and Craig Chesner from Michigan Technological University estimated that volcanic materials that were spewed out the mountain totaling 2800km3, with 800km3 ignimbrites rock and 2000km3 volcanic ash that is estimated was blown (wind) to the west for 2 weeks. This incident caused mass death (destruction) and to several species also causes extinction. According to some DNA proof, this eruption also shrinks the humankind population to around thousands back then.


After this eruption, a caldera was formed that was filled by water afterwards and now known as Toba Lake. The pressure from the dormant magma, which has not yet erupted, caused Samosir Island to emerge. The region that now known as Samosir Island originally was a peninsula that attached to the Sumatran mainland. In this peninsula the Netherlands built the water canal 10 m width.


For the first time visitors, going through Medan-Parapat route seeing a lake as big as that made Samosir appear like an amazing grand island. However, the island perspective will certainly faded with the increase in Toba plateau visitor, Nias and the other places in the south, through Medan-Berastagi route. Samosir occupied a central geographical position in the Toba plateau region. With the declaration of the Toba Samosir Regency (the inhabitants 302.000 lives, the area with wide of 3.440 km including the lake) it finally ascend from only a shadow into a Regency. Moreover, the width of Samosir Island exceed Singapore (647 km), in fact Toba Lake almost twice bigger than Singapore. The Samosir image in tourism books as the backpackers location must be changed because this historic place must restore the greatness of its past.

Legend of Toba Lake
     Once upon a time, lived a young orphan farmer in the northern part of the Sumatran Island. This area was very dry. The young man lived from farming and fishing. One day he went fishing, he already fishing for half of the day but still not getting any fish yet. So he returned home for the day turns to night, but when he nearly left he saw a big beautiful golden fish, he then caught the fish and brought it home. He intended to cook the fish right away but watched the beauty of this fish he then cancelled his intention. He chose to keep it as pet, and then he placed it in a big pond and feed it. On the next day, like usual, he went to his farm, and on the noon he comeback home, to have lunch. But when he arrived in his house he was very startled for the meal had prepared to be eaten. He then fears that the fish might be stolen, and then hastily he ran to the back of his house.


However, the fish was still in place, for a long time he thinks, “Who cooks those meals”, but because his is very hungry, he ate those meals. But this incident continued to occur again repeatedly, every time he came home for lunch, the meals are prepared on the table. Then one day this young man made a strategy to find out who cooks those meals, the next day he then began to commence his strategy, he then hide around the trees close to his house. He was waiting for a long time, but the smoke in his kitchen still has not been seen, and when he then intended to return home, he began to see the smoke in the kitchen.


"Hey woman, who are you, and where are you came from?” the woman began to drop tears, and then the young man saw his fish was no longer in the pond. He asked the woman, “hey woman, where is the fish in that pond?” the Woman cried intensely, but this young man continued to ask and finally the woman answers, “I was the fish that was caught by you”. The young man then startled, but because he felt that he had hurt the feelings this woman, then he said, “Hey woman, did you want to become my wife??” the Woman then startled, he stay quiet, then the young man said “Why are you silent??” Then the woman said, “I wanted to become your wife. But with one condition.” ”What is the condition?” the young man quickly asked, the woman then said, “In the future if our child was born and grew, never even once you said that he/she was anakni Dekke (child of a fish) ”. The young man then agreed to that condition and swore he will never say it.


Then they were married and granted a child. When the child was 6 years old, this child turn to be very naughty. Then one day the mother told her child to deliver meals to his father field, the child then went to deliver rice to his father. But in the middle of the trip, this child was felt hungry, then the child opened food package for his father, and ate the food. After finished eating, the child then wrapped it back and continued the trip to his father's field. On arrival the child gave the food package to the father, the father was very happy, the father then sat and immediately opened the food package that was sent by his wife to be carried by his child. But he was very startled when he opened the package there is only bones remained. The father then asked his child “Hay my child, why there are only bones left in this package??” And the child answers,” In my trip I felt hungry, so I ate the food.” Listened to that the father was very angry, he then slap his child and said, "Botul maho anakni dekke (Why you child of a fish),". The child is then ran home crying and ask to his mother “Mak, Olo do na in dokkon amangi, botul do au anakni dekke? (Mother, is it true what father said, that I am a child from a fish?) ” Heard his child's words his mother was startled. While dropping tears and saying in her heart, “My husband has violated his swore, and now I must return to my place.” Then the sky was suddenly become dark followed with lightning, thunder, storm, and rain. The child and the mother disappeared, from their footprint emerged a spring that flowed water as swiftly as possible. Until this area was turned into a lake, that was named as “Tuba Lake” the lake without mercy, but because of the bataks was difficult to say “Tuba”, then this lake was mentioned as


TOBA LAKE.
According to the local Citizen, the mother return as a huge fish (the lake guardian), and until today no one is able to measure the depth of this lake. Many tourists that tried to dive into the lake but never return. The lake depth in the book is only estimation not as a fact.

HISTORY OF INDONESIA

From the mid 5th century, insciption and footprints of Purnavarman - Hindu ruler of Tarumanegara in West Java.

     

     The history of Indonesia can be said to date back at least half a million years for that is the date ascribe to the hominid fossils found in 1809 by Eugene Dubois near the village of Trinil, East Java. Indonesia’s history, has been profoundly affected by the sea. Major waves of human immigration to the islands occurred as long ago as 3000BC, and continued piecemeal for the best part of 3000 years. It is not known, though exactly where these people came from southern China or the Pacific islands. Certainly they brought with them their language, Austronesian, However, because they arrived in smallish groups and established independently settlements all around the coast, sometimes co-existing with the distant descendants of Java Man, this language rapidly diversified, so that now there are something like 200 different languages, all derived from Austronesian, spoken within Indonesia. However, the national language in Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia or many foreigners refer to it simply as "bahasa". Bahasa Indonesia is used in formal conversations and understood nationwide. At the same time that people were immigrating to Indonesia, earlier settlement were sailing to other parts of the world in order to trade. The first records of this are probably in the works fo Pliny Elder, whose Historia Naturalis seems to refer to trade between people from Indonesia and the cultures of eastern Africa. It was about this time that Hinduism first came to Indonesia, with the arrival of Indian traders. However, the real impact of Hinduism was to come to Indonesia much later, as a deliberate missionary act by Brahmans, probably in the 5th century, by luck of coincidence some of the basic ideas of Hindusim accorded well with existing Indonesian mountainworship, and a strange hybrid of the two religions emerged. Indonesia’s major trading partner by this time was southern China, thus Buddhist influences also began to play a part.

                                             Candi Plaosan, a Buddhist sanctuary built in the 9th century

   

     Until perhaps as late as the 7th century the peoples of Indonesia still retained their multiplicity of comparatively small communities, trading and sometimes fighting with each other. By then, however, a major Buddhist kingdom, Sriwijaya, had established itself with its centre probably just to the west of modern Palembang, in Sumatra. It seems the rulers of Srivijaya had considerable wealth as a result of both an extensive trade network and great industry in the region. At the end of the 7th century Sriwijaya moved to conquer all the smaller communities along the northern coast of Sumatra and thereby snatched a monopoly of the lucrative trade with China. The Maharajahs made various treaties with the natives of smaller islands in the region so that merchant ships could pass unmolested. In this way, the kingdom survived until the10th century, it being convenient for the Chinese to deal with only one centre. However, the Chinese then began trading with local production centres elsewhere in the region, and there was little Sriwijaya could do to stop them. The kingdom may have dragged on until sometime in the 14th century, but by then its power was a mere husk.

Meanwhile, from about the 8th century, central Java had been ruled by the Sailendra princes. Their small kingdom was argriculturally rich, and they were able to spend lavishly on the erection of religious monuments. The vast sanctuary and burial edifice of Borobudur was built over some 50 years from the end of the 8th century onwards. The Temple to Siva at Prambanan began to be constructed at about the same time that Borobudur was completed, although its builder were not the Sailendras. However, something seems to have happened at about the start of the 10th century, for there was a sudden cessation in the production of monuments, inscriptions and other artefacts from central Java.

In 1268, the Javaneses King Kertanagara came to the throne, and within a few years he extended his kingdom to include southern Sumatra’s ancient kingdom of Malayu. He was overthrown and killed in 1292, but not before he stupidly sent the envoy of Kublai Khan home with his nose cut off and ‘No’ tattoo on his forehead. By the time a punitive Mongol expedition arrived in Java, the usurper himself had been despatched by Kertanagara’s son-in-law Kertarajasa, who used wile to repel the threat from overseas, then set up his new capital at Majaphit. Kertarajasa and his successors gradually established dominance over most of today’s Indonesia as well as parts of Malaysia.

                           Tombstone of Sultan Malik al Saleh - the first Islamicmonarch.

     In the 11th century, traders brought Islam to the islands of the archipelago. Just as the Indonesian had earlier adapted Buddhism to their own needs and beliefs, so they accepted Islam very much on their own terms. However, there was no centre of Indonesian Islamic culture, this scatteredness influence provide a major weakness when the Dutch arrived.

The Dutch were not the first Europeans to occupy Indonesia, the Portuguese and British had been here before them, but with little effect. From 1602 to 1799, the country was ruled by the Dutch East India Company. In the latter year the ailing company was wound up by the Dutch Government, its finances deteriorating largely because Indonesia itself was now too mature a nation to suffer colonialism any longer, and was establishing illicit trading links of its own that subverted the Dutch East India Company. Despite rebellions, Indonesia remained a Dutch colony until 1942. The Japanese occupied the islands from 1942 - 1945 before the Dutch returned to claims their colony however fierce resistance ensued and at the end of 1949 the Ducth conceded sovereignty in all Indonesia except West Irian. In 1956 the last ties with the Netherlands were severed.

     It was in 1956 that Sukarno introduced his concept of Guided Democracy, which involved the rejection of links with the West. One of the main consequences was a rapid decline into economic chaos. Irian Jaya joined Indonesia in 1963. An attempted communist coup in 1965 was suppressed with uncommon brutality, a campaign of extirpation that was continued even more ruthlessly by the authoritarian right-wing regime of General Raden Suharto, which overthrew Sukarno in 1966. Suharto also ended the confrontation with Malaysia that had persisted through the Sukarno years, took Indonesia back into the United Nations, came to an accomodation with Papua New Guinea, and in 1975 invaded East Timor. This occupation has led to considerable loss of life and Indonesia’s claims to the region are still unrecognised by the United Nations.