Places to go in Sumatra

Places to go in Medan

There are many old buildings in Medan that still retain their Dutch architecture. These include the old City Hall, the central Post Office, the Water Tower, which is Medan City's icon, and Titi Gantung (a bridge over the railway).
There are several historic places such as the Maimun Palace (Istana Maimun), where the Sultan of Deli still lives, and the Great Mosque (Mesjid Raya) of Medan that was built by the Dutch in 1906.
You can also enjoy a nice icecream at restaurant Tiptop that dates back to colonial times.
There are some huge shopping malls of which Carrefour is the newest and largest. Some other plaza's are Medan Mall, Sun Plaza and Medan Fair Plaza.
Being a huge city, Medan offers scores of restaurants, guesthouses and hotels.
Although Medan is okay to stay for one or two nights, most tourists avoid this crowded and noisy city to head for Lake Toba or Berastagi.

Places to go in Berastagi

Cool Mountain Resort

Berastagi is a cool mountain breeze town in the highlands, belonging to the Karo Bataks. Berastagi once was the place for the Dutchmen to go on weekends, back in colonial times. There are plenty of restaurants, losmen (guesthouses) and some very good hotels.


Little Karo Batak boy, near Berastagi

Berastagi is also known as the "food chamber of Indonesia". On the fertile soil of the Karo highlands all kinds of fruit, vegetables and flowers are grown.
Go visit the market where these are being sold. This market is very clean, compared to most markets in Indonesia. Or you might want to climb the Sibayak or the (more difficult) Sinabung.

Sibayak Multinational guesthouse

A very nice place to stay is at Sibayak Multinational (watch out: there are three "Sibayaks"!). This is a very small losmen (only 8 rooms or so) right outside Berastagi, only a 15 minute walk away from the slopes of the Sibayak - one of the volcanoes surrounding Berastagi. It's a lovely and quiet place to be.

Places to go - Bukit Lawang

Rehabilitation Center

Bukit Lawang is a orangutan rehabilitation center, on the edge of the Gunung Leuser reserve, not too far from Medan, the capital of Sumatra. Here, orangutans that were illegally held captive are being taught how to live in the dense Sumatran rain forest again.

There are several losmen right across the Bohorok river. On feeding times (8.00 AM and 3.00 PM) you are allowed to enter the reserve. You will have to obtain a permit from the warden at the park. After that the Bohorok river must be crossed in a simple canoe. When on the other side, it's about a half an hour climb to the spot where the orangutans are fed.
Besides seeing the apes, it is also possible to arrange jungle treks for up to a couple of days. It's also possible to rent a big inflated tyre to float around on the Bohorok river.
It's a nice place to be, although in recent years it has become a bit of a touristic attraction.

If you have time on your hand and want to get away from the tourists, than it might be a better idea to go to the center of Gunung Leuser reserve (Ketambe) and maybe even climb Gunung Leuser itself (which is the highest peak in the northern part of Sumatra - around 3500m).