Islands and Lakes
Bangkok, Thailand June 20, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Selamat,

I got "itchy feet." I decided to "get out of the house" and "hit the road."

On Sunday night I am flying south to an island, a very big island. I wanted to know just how big it is, so I did some research on the largest islands in the world.

Australia and Antarctica are surrounded by water but geographers define them as continental land masses rather than islands. Greenland is the largest island in the world.

New Guinea is second and Borneo is third followed by Madagascar, Baffin Island and Sumatra. Then come Honshu, Great Britain and Victoria Island. Ellesmere Island rounds out the top ten.

Other islands in the top twenty are Java (13), Newfoundland (16), Cuba (17), Iceland 18) and Ireland (20).

In the top fifty are Hispaniola (22), Sri Lanka (25), Taiwan (39), Vancouver Island (43), Sicily (45) and Sardinia (48).

Sorry, New York . Long Island comes in at a respectable 149 but Manhattan, Staten and Coney are not on any list I could find. Of course Manhattan is still my favorite island. For sure, it's the "tallest" island in the world.

In my research about islands and lakes I found another list of unusual statistics.

The largest lake is the Caspian Sea.

The largest lake on an island is Nettilling Lake on Baffin Island (Canada).

The largest island on a lake is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron (Canada).

The largest lake on an island in a lake is Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron (Canada).

The largest lake on an island in a lake on an island is Crater Lake on Vulcano Island in Lake Taal on Luzon (Philippines).

The largest island in a lake on an island in a lake is an island in Mindemoya Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron (Canada).

The largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island is Vulcan point in Crater Lake on Vulcano Island in Lake Taal on Luzon (Philippines).

Are you dizzy yet?

Okay. Here's an easy one:

What's the largest island in a lake on an island?

Why it's Pulau Samosir in Danau Toba on the island of Sumatra. Sumatra, number six, is one the thousands of islands that make up the largest island nation in the world.

That's where I'm headed. I fly from Bangkok to Jakarta to Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. From Medan I will travel south to Lake Toba and Samosir.

If I have time, I'll fly to a larger island, number three on the list.

If I have lots of time, maybe I will cruise on one of those old Makassar schooners that I wrote about three years ago. *

I'll be back home in Bangkok on July 23.

Be well.

Sorry Boston. Cape Cod, Newport and Martha's didn't make any list either.

Selamat tinggal,

Jan

* http://travelwithjan.com/indonesiajavacruise

02-20-22 - 364