On my latest trip to Sumatra, I landed in Medan around noon and exited the arrival terminal to investigate my options to get to Lake Toba. There was a private taxi available but pricey at 900,000 rupiah and kind of a waste for just me alone. If you walk out of the airport towards the train link to the city, you will find a stand with various bus companies to different destinations around Sumatra. The one I found for Lake Toba was called Damri. The staff were cheerful and helpful.
The van for Lake Toba was leaving at 2 PM which was pretty good for me as it gave me time to hit an ATM and to get a bite to eat. The trip is 170 kms and is about a three hour ride to get there. The ticket cost a mere 35,000 rupiah.
I was pleased that we did indeed set off at 2 PM. Some shared transport I have got there in the past would keep waiting until every last seat was filled. We only had about 8 passengers in this 15 sseater van. We were living the dream! We were sailing on the first half of the journey it is all on toll highway , smooth, wide-open roads. Things changed once we got off the toll highway and hit the little bus stop in the city of Siantar to pick up more people. Our little van went from 8 passengers to 22 (there may have been more, it was tough to count as people got stacked up),
The vans final destination was Ajibata which is right next to Parapat. They have ferries there which cross the lake to Samosir Island but not to the town of Tuk Tuk which I wanted to go to, only to the neighboring villages. I took the ferry over anyhow and it dropped me at the dock in Tomok and I found my own way to Tuk Tuk. The better option is to go from Ajibata to Parapat as the ferries from Parapat go right to Tuk Tuk and will stop right at most of the bigger guesthouses.
Anyhow, it all turned out pretty well, even with it being a comically over-loaded van for the last half of the trip.
Ticket cost: 35,000 rupiah ($3.00 CAD) with Damri Transport