It was about 74,000 years ago that a volcanic explosion tore a gash sixty miles wide into a section of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was phenomenally loud and violent, spewing an estimated 670 cubic miles of rock and ash into the sky (compare this to the well under one cubic mile that the Mount St. Helens eruption threw up in 1980). The blast laid the foundation for what today is the world's largest crater lake. It is called Lake Toba, and it is a place of serenity.

Below are several photographs of the lake and surrounding people and landscape.

The view from my room, which cost approximately U.S.$1 per night.

Children

Traditional architecture

Girl and family dog in a village

Water buffalo

Child in the lake

Rice field

Stalk of bananas

Sunset

Joel Carillet, chief editor of wanderingeducators, is a freelance writer and photographer based in Tennessee. He is the author of 30 Reasons to Travel: Photographs and Reflections from Southeast Asia. To learn more about him, follow his regular photoblog, or purchase images, visit www.joelcarillet.com