Since I have not found much to occupy my time in Medan, I’ve been spending the weekdays working and the weekends traveling. Since January 26, when I went to Penang, I’ve managed to sneak away every weekend. I did not know much about Sumatra a few months ago, but I’ve found some wonderful and beautiful things to see and do. Since Penang, I haven’t even left Sumatra.
The weekend after going to Penang, I hitched a ride with my co-worker to Berastagi, a mountain town a few hours outside of Medan. He had to visit a supplier of ours. He went back to Medan after the visit, but I stayed in the area overnight. Berastagi is known for cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and plants. I like to call it the Rooftop Garden, because it’s high up, and when you look out around the city, small farms are neatly arranged across the land and rolling hills.
Our own rooftop coffee nursery
Berastagi is also in the shadow of two volcanoes. If I had had more time I would have hiked up the shorter and safer of the two for what I am told is a beautiful view of Berastagi and its surroundings. However, I did get to visit thermal baths near Mt. Sibayak and a nice view of the cloud covered Mt. Sinabung from a hill-top park in Berastagi.
The weekend after Berastagi I was off to Bukit Lawang, a riverside town at the southern edge of North Sumatra’s rainforest. The town is quiet. The section along the river with the guest lodges and restaurants has no roads wide enough for cars. There are only footbridges that cross the river. The attraction is the jungle, which is home to elephants, monkeys, Sumatran tigers, two-horned rhinoceroses, durian-loving sun bears, and clouded leopards. I trekked into the jungle hoping to see orangatuns, and I saw five of them. There was one male slowly making his way from tree to tree. He seemed uneasy when he had to pass by a group of humans. There were also two females, each with a baby, who were less bothered by our presence.
Nestled in the middle of North Sumatra is Lake Toba, the largest volcanic crater lake in the world, and Samosir Island, the largest island on an island in the world. The Toba Supervolcano exploded about 70,000 years ago, causing an eight-year mini-ice age that destroyed food sources around the world and very nearly wiped out all humans. All of us today descend from the few thousand who survived the volcanic winter.
In the interim 69,992 years, I found the lake and island completely cleared of ash and debris. I stayed in a lakeside cabin. There was a rope swing that I could grab on to and leap right into the lake water. Samosir Island is the ancestral homeland for the Batak people, a tribe of Sumatra. They have their own language and cultural tradition. One of the most distinctive aspects of their culture is their homes. They live in stilted rectangular houses with roofs that look like cradles that come to a sharp point on either end. The gables on either end are pitched outwards. They are brightly painted and made out of wood, woven bark, and wooden sculptures.
The Batak people have a long history. It’s possible that they made contact with Marco Polo and he mentioned them in his book about his travels. They were known as cannibals during the European occupation of Sumatra. They resisted Dutch rule and control, and this seems to have come to a head over a century again when their king was executed. They are now known for dancing, woven shawls and scarves, their beautiful homes, brightly flavored dishes, and the beautiful lake and island that they call their home. The company I work for also buys some high-quality coffee from Samosir Island and Batak people living all around North Sumatra.
Mid-week last week I took a short flight north of Medan to Takengon in Aceh Province, which is the northernmost province of Sumatra. I stayed through Sunday morning. The central highlands of Aceh, around Takengon, house some of the most productive coffee farms of all of Indonesia. I was here for work, but I was still able to spend a little bit of time driving around the region to see the natural beauty. It seems that every available plot of dirt has coffee planted on it. The branches are growing heavy with green berries now, and in a month they will all turn red and will be ready to be picked. Takengon itself is in a valley that is half filled by a lake. Tall hills hug the lake and the city on both sides.
Along the way I’ve collected a few trinkets as souvenirs. I bought some small wood carved statues in Bukit Lawang. One of them has the Batak calendar etched on to a cylindrical base. On Samosir I purchased a few of the Ulos woven scarves. I pilfered from the hotel in Takengon small soaps made from coffee. We shall see what else I come across in my remaining month in Indonesia.
One thing I’ve noticed around North Sumatra is lots of palm oil plantations (and one enormous Goodyear rubber plantation). They’re not hard to spot. They feature palm trees neatly arranged in rows. Palm oil has been blamed for deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia and Malaysia. The company I work for does not own any palm or rubber plantations in Southeast Asia, but we do in Africa. However, we do buy palm oil and rubber from Indonesia (although we are entirely exiting the rubber business). I recommend that anyone interested in learning about palm oil reads this articles (I’ll give away the punchline: it’s all Bush’s fault!):
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html
And then this one:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/
As of now, I do not have any trips planned for next weekend. In March I expect to branch out from Sumatra to visit our coffee buying units in other parts of Indonesia, including Java and Sulawesi. These trips should give me the opportunities to visit Bali and the wonderful cities of Yogyakarta and Bandung. However, the longer I am on Sumatra, the more I find out about. Some possibilities for next weekend:
- Pulau Weh Island, the most northern point of Indonesia
- North Nias Island, off the west coast of Sumatra
- The city of Padang, on the west coast of Sumatra
The weekend after next I will be in India for a friend’s wedding. I’ll unload some of my new souvenirs on him and his bride as gifts, otherwise my bags will be overstuffed when I have to leave Indonesia for good.
what an awesome time exploring.
Thank you!