Talk:Lake Toba

Cafe recommendation
We have just returned from Samosir Island on Lake Toba. We visited many restaurants, all of which were OK, but we were particularly impressed by Todays Cafe in Tuk Tuk, the main tourist centre on the island. This cafe is run by Juliet, a young Batak woman who speaks good English and some Dutch and German as well as Bahasa. She is great fun, and loves to chat. Her food is terrific. Her dad is a local fisherman, so all the fish dishes are super fresh. If you have ever tasted rendang, try it here and see how it should be made! She is a real cook who knows how to use the most extraordinary mixtures of local spices. Honestly, you cannot but enjoy this place, we really recommend it. Gregor Benton

Split article?
I think this article should be split in to three: This is a similar situation to Halong Bay in Vietnam, where loads of tourists go to one spot but the area is far bigger. Pratyeka (talk) 00:40, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Lake Toba (regional overview)
 * Tuktuk
 * Parapat


 * I could envision a lot of village articles for places on Pulau Samosir, too, but since I haven't been there since 1976, I wouldn't be the one to create them. I think it all really depends on how much content there is. My feeling is, you usually put in a lot of great content into the articles you work on, so if you've got a lot of stuff to say, go ahead and start the separate articles, and link them here. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:47, 17 October 2013 (UTC)


 * True that Lake Toba is big, but I think individual article content will not be much. A single article IMO still can cover most of important places. --Sylphar (talk) 03:58, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
 * @Sylphar Hmm, maybe split Danau Toba article into five derivative region articles (western side,eastern side,etc)?
 * Or maybe you want to split the North Sumatra provinces into several derivative kabupaten articles? So every tourist attraction could be placed to each kabupaten. Veracious (talk) 12:11, 19 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Veracious Several derivative kabupaten articles may be too short and might be overlook by potential tourist. After all, when talking about North Sumatra, everyone seems remember only Lake Toba and/or Brastagi only. Splitting into 5 derivative region sounds good. Will try to work it out in future. Sylphar (talk) 05:43, 18 April 2024 (UTC)
 * @Sylphar Well.. Wikivoyage is low-key a platform to promote local tourism to the world, as long as you are not touting. Veracious (talk) 06:36, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

"Talk" section
I just copy edited that section, but there's something I wanted to add: When I visited Pulau Samosir in 1976, I was struck by the fact that everyone seemed to routinely use the familiar forms of "you" and "I" — "kamu" and "aku" — and not only among themselves, as was also common in rural Terengganu, where I was living at the time, but also to visitors. (In the village in Terengganu that I lived in, my parents had to protest that they didn't want to be called "Tuan", "Puan" et al.; people started using the familiar forms with all of us when they accepted us as part of the community, rather than just visitors.) In much of the rest of Indonesia, and especially in Java, people were much more formal, using "Saudara" and "Saudari" routinely.

Is this still true in the Toba Batak country? Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:16, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Exploring the wilderness
Re: this edit: Someone I know almost got himself killed wandering off on a firewood-gathering path in the interior of Pulau Samosir in the 1970s. When he did manage to get back to a village by following a stream (including a 12-foot jump he landed in a cat stance), he was all scratched up. I would be very cautious about recommending that even adventurous travelers go into the jungle without a guide who really knows where s/he is going and how to get back unscathed. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:49, 26 May 2018 (UTC)


 * @Ikan Kekek Yeah, the rule of thumb in exploring wilderness in Indonesia (even for Indonesian people) is never go into the jungle without a guide who really knows about the area. Aside from wild animal and poisonous plant, you might surprised what might be hidden in the forest like unfriendly forest tribe, secret criminal base, and supernatural being. Veracious (talk) 12:37, 19 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Interesting that you say that. When the individual I know got back to the village my parents and I were living in in Malaysia, a Main Teri (healing ceremony led by a Bomoh) was held for him in which the diagnosis was that he hadn't asked permission from the spirits of the mountain for his visit, and that's why he got all scratched up. Either way, going into the jungle by yourself is really dangerous with a significant risk of death if you are not very experienced in jungle trekking. Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:59, 19 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ikan Kekek Yup, that's why I've never done any jungle exploration, haha. Also, wild animals in there are probably become accustomed to the local people's body odor, skin color, walking movement, outfit/cloth, nor body aura/magnetism; thus, they will mark you as a food if they noticed something is off in your body. Veracious (talk) 05:51, 21 March 2024 (UTC)