Hotelupwell.com – Lake Toba is now Indonesia’s main tourist destination. Proclaimed by the Ministry of Tourism as a Super Destination. It’s not wrong, because Lake Toba is very interesting to visit.
For those of you who have plans to visit Lake Toba, you can follow in my footsteps by visiting several tourist attractions close to Silangit Airport which I think are really worth a visit.
1. Huta Ginjang, Muara, North Tapanuli
Huta Ginjang, which means Upper Village, was my first destination, immediately after I landed at Silangit Airport. Deliberately chosen because it is the closest.
Huta Ginjang is a plain where we can see the full view of Lake Toba. Travel Kompas named Huta Ginjang as the “Best Place to See the View of Lake Toba”. Here I was amazed to see Lake Toba which was majestic, dashing and beautiful.
The expanse of lake water, the green of the land and cliffs and hills, the blueness of Samosir Island on the mainland combined with the clear blue sky make me have to be grateful: Masha Allah. God gave Lake Toba such powerful beauty. I immediately thought that this was the most beautiful place in Indonesia that I had ever visited.
2. Bakkara, Bakti Raja, Humbang Hasundutan
Actually there is a good location not far from Huta Ginjang. That is Sipinsur which Pak Jokowi visited. But I didn’t stop by because the theme was the same as Huta Ginjang. Observation point.
It’s just a different angle of view, as well as the surrounding atmosphere with lots of bamboo trees. I chose to follow a friend’s recommendation, namely Bakkara.
Actually, I didn’t know what my goal was at that time. However, it turns out that there are several tourist locations waiting there. And I chose Janji Waterfall as a stop.
It turned out it wasn’t wrong, the waterfall was high and open. I was very interested in going down and bathing under the rushing water. However, I followed a friend’s advice to give up on it. During the rainy season, the strong water that is captured will bring many large and loose stones to fall from the waterfall.
If you look at the map, Bakkara is located quite far from Huta Ginjang. But, I really recommend coming here because I really enjoyed the car trip. The road is very smooth, it is on the edge of the lake. The road is winding, with views of Lake Toba that can be seen from various sides. Very beautiful.
3. Tarabunga Hill
On the way to the hotel in Balige, I stopped at three places. The first is the roadside where we can see the meandering river in the Bakkara Valley.
On social media, beautiful photos of the Bakkara river are often compared to views in Norway. Then, I also stopped at the King Sisingamangaraja Palace Complex. Unfortunately, the complex is currently closed. The effects of the pandemic, perhaps. Finally I was taken to a place called Tarabunga.
At first I thought her name was Tiara Bunga. In Lintong Nihuta, Tampahan, Toba Samosir. It’s called a hill, so of course the view you get is a beautiful view of Lake Toba.
Seen from the other side. Here there is a platform for taking photos, typical of millennial children. There are also swings and several interesting spots for young people. However, what is interesting to me is that on this hill there are several typical Batak buildings with prominent construction with a cross at the top.
Here my curiosity arose about what the building actually is, what its function is and how it is used. My curiosity was answered after I received enlightenment about the structure, meaning and how to use the building, which is a tomb or cemetery.
4. Lumban Bul Bul Beach
Towards the accommodation in Balige, I was invited to take the road along the edge of Lake Toba, not on the main road. It’s interesting, because on the side of the road, which means right next to the lake, there are quite a lot of restaurants and eateries.
If I were still hungry, of course I would stop by to eat grilled fish typical of Lake Toba. But, I continued via the artistic Balige Market towards the Labersa Hotel. The only star hotel in Balige, he said.
Although frankly the view from the Labersa hotel is very beautiful, you can see part of Lake Toba in the background and the water park in front, but I enjoyed the morning trip more.
By running around the hotel. Towards Lumban Bul-bul Beach. I thought it would be an interesting experience to run in a completely new place, with lots of interesting things. Back with graves everywhere, with various shapes and heights.
Meeting local people and greeting them to prove whether the Batak people were indeed fierce, which turned out to be wrong. Also seeing various typical houses, school children and of course running among so many animals that used to be scary: dogs.
Actually, Bul-bul Beach is not the main destination, because the main thing is to see the beautiful daily views of the people there.
But, like it or not, I certainly didn’t miss the opportunity to visit there. A beach that is not on the seashore, but on the edge of a lake. Which at that time was quite quiet. Just see the children there playing volleyball, ball or just playing in the water.
5. TB Silalahi Museum
So, this is the tourist destination I visited in connection with the Toba Heritage Conference. However, apart from visiting as part of a conference, the museum in Silalahi Pagar Batu, Balige is a good place to visit. Mainly to understand everything about the Batak Tribe.
For me, the most interesting part of this museum is the museum’s landscape with the backdrop of Lake Toba. It’s a very interesting spot, especially if the sunlight is shining at that time. Also the rows of traditional Batak houses in Huta Batak are also interesting photo spots. It could be said to be getting to know Batak traditional houses before seeing them directly in other places as people’s houses.
Those are five interesting tourist spots close to Silangit Airport that I visited. Actually, there are many other tourist attractions in Balige, Siborong-borong and areas close to the airport. Unfortunately, I had to choose only a few tourist spots, due to a fairly busy travel schedule.
