Highlights of Sumatra

Today is departure day, where you will fly to Medan with connecting flights along the way.

You arrive in the capital of Sumatra, Medan. You go through immigration and receive your visa before collecting your luggage. In the arrivals hall, your guide awaits with a TourCompass sign, and you immediately feel the warm Indonesian welcome. Outside the airport, your driver is ready to take you to the hotel in Medan. After check-in, the day is yours to explore at your leisure, allowing you to relax and enjoy the city on your own.

After breakfast and check-out, you will go on a guided city tour of Medan, where you will experience the city’s magnificent buildings. The first stop is the Sultan’s Palace, Maimun, which was designed by Italian architects. You will also visit the octagonal mosque Masjid Raya Al Mashun, known as the ‘Grand Mosque’. At the end of the morning, you will visit the Chinese temple Vihara Gunung Timur, which was founded by the Taoist and Buddhist communities in the city.

Around noon, you will be driven to Bukit Lawang, about 100 km west of Medan. On the way, you will pass rubber and palm oil plantations, and the closer you get to Bukit Lawang, the more dominant the rainforest surrounding the city becomes.

Upon arrival at Bukit Lawang, you will check in at the hotel, and the rest of the day is at your own disposal.

Bukit Lawang is a charming small town bordering Sumatra’s rainforest, which is part of Gunung Leuser National Park. The forest has one of the richest ecosystems in the world and is one of the few places where the endangered Sumatran orangutan still lives. There are also langurs, gibbon monkeys, macaques, wild boars, peacocks, giant squirrels and flying squirrels. Rarer animals such as tigers, leopards, Sumatran elephants and Sumatran rhinos can also be found here, but you have to be more than lucky to see them.

Today, one of the absolute highlights of the tour awaits you when you go looking for a sight of the rainforest’s endangered orangutans in Gunung Leuser National Park. We recommend that you bring a small backpack with water and snacks.

After a hearty breakfast, you will go on a thrilling 3-hour hike in the lush rainforest. You will walk along the riverbank and cross the Bohorok River via a wooden bridge. Here you will experience Sumatra’s unique flora and fauna. You will be accompanied by a local guide as well as a ranger who knows the rainforest like the back of his hand. He will help locate the orangutans, but be aware that the orangutans are wild animals and there is consequently no guarantee of seeing them.

You then return to your hotel, where you have the afternoon at your own disposal to enjoy Bukit Lawang’s fantastic surroundings. You may visit the nearby village, where you can feel the local atmosphere. Down by the river, you can see the village women washing clothes and the town’s children playing and bathing.

This morning, you will be driven to Sumatra’s inner highland Berastagi, which is located in an area dominated by the volcanoes Sinabung and Sibayak.

Upon arrival at Berastagi, you will visit Lumbini Park, which offers beautiful views of the mountain landscape and evergreen natural surroundings. The park is especially known for its beautiful gold pagoda, which is Indonesia’s tallest and a replica of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar.

You will then visit Berastagi’s colourful fruit market, where you can taste the excellent passion fruit.

Well arrived at the hotel, the rest of the day is at your own disposal.

Today, the tour continues to Lake Toba and Samosir Island.

You will be picked up at the hotel after breakfast and driven to Parapat via the Japanese road. En route, you will make a stop in the traditional Batak village of Dokan, where you will experience the old traditional houses where up to six families can live. At each end of the roofs of the houses hang buffalo horns, which were originally to protect the residents from evil spirits and demonstrate the household status. Over time, they have become simply a reminder of past traditions.

You will proceed to Indonesia’s tallest waterfall, Sipiso-piso, which has a height of 120 metres and is located in the Tonggiang village.

The tour continues to Parapat, where you will take a ferry to Samosir Island, which takes about 45 minutes. Samosir lies like a gem in the middle of Lake Toba, which is 100 km long, 30 km wide and 505 metres deep. With its enormous size, Lake Toba is the world’s largest crater lake.

You will arrive at your hotel in the afternoon, and the rest of the day is at your own disposal.

After a hearty breakfast, you will go on an island tour where you will visit the villages of Ambarita and Tomok. Here you will gain insight into the Batak culture and its history.

Ambarita is known as the meeting place of the Sialagan Kings, the leaders of the Sialagan clan belonging to the Batak people. The Sialagan Kings were particularly famous for their legal system, which involved trials held within stone circles. Criminals were convicted and, in some cases, executed within a stone circle in the village. The kings played an important role in society by maintaining law and order as well as protecting their people from enemies. Many of the cultural traditions and historical sites from the time of the Sialagan Kings have been preserved and can still be experienced. This includes the execution site.

In Tomok, you can experience the unique Batak houses with their characteristic curved roofs. The houses are built on stilts and adorned with ornate wood carvings. There is also a small museum offering insight into the Batak culture and its history. One of the most famous sights in Tomok is King Sidabutar’s tomb. The tomb monument is made of stone and decorated with traditional carvings and symbols.

You will be back at your hotel in the afternoon.

The day is at your leisure to explore this beautiful island. You can choose to relax or go on a combined bike ride and hike, which you can arrange on site. This tour starts at Tomok and takes you past green paddy fields and plantations. You stop at the village of Garoga, where you meet the smiling inhabitants and see their traditional houses. You can park your bicycle and hike down to a small waterfall with a local guide, a tour of about 45 minutes. From Garoga, you  cycle on through small villages, passing various plantations where chilli, cocoa, peanuts, beans, etc., are grown. The tour ends at Ambarita, and you cycle back to the hotel where you can enjoy the rest of the day.

Today you will leave Samosir Island. You will be sailed back to Parapat, from where you will be driven to Medan – a journey of about six hours.

You will have a single night in Medan before heading home.

You are picked up from the hotel and driven to the airport, from where you fly back home with connecting flights along the way.

You will land at your chosen airport after a fantastic holiday.