Sumatra: Medan, Tangkahan, Gunung Leuser National Park, Aceh, Banda Aceh and Pulau Weh

We flew into Medan, visited Tangkahan to see the elephants, then worked our way through Gunung Leuser National Park (via Brestagi, Ketambe, Takengon) to Banda Aceh and Pulau Weh.

Tangkahan: Great place to relax and unwind along the river in the rainforest, however, the only major draw here is the elephants so make sure you have a reservation first! Could easily be done in one night if you do the morning elephant ride (leave Medan in the morning, sleep, elephant ride, back late the next day), 2 or 3 nights if you’re looking to relax.

We flew Air Asia to Medan direct from Surabaya. We went straight from the airport to the Pinang Baris bus terminal and caught the 1.30 bus (which left the terminal on time, and then spent another hour picking people up on the way out of town) to Tangkahan. It was a big bus, pretty straight forward, interesting ride through seemingly endless palm oil and rubber plantations for about 5 hours, 30,000Rp. We arrived in Tangkahan around 7.30, which means the boat going across the river to the majority of the hotels had stopped for the night. We slept in a basic guesthouse behind the visitor’s center & neighboring restaurant (fyi, their noodles were quite good). There is one other place to stay on the bus-side of the river, but it is 20minutes away (quite near the elephants, and it looked like another guesthouse was in construction when we were there) and it was pouring rain. We paid 100,000 Rp for the guesthouse.

Right when we arrived we met a local guide (Nanta?) who ended up shepherding us through the rest of our time in Tangkahan. He was nice and helpful. We stayed at the Jungle Lodge (where our guide’s sister worked), in a basic room for 80,000Rp per night, though they tried to convince us to take one of the nicer rooms for 125,000Rp (though they offered it to us for 100,000Rp). The staff was nice, the views were serene, swimming in the river below (including a small hot springs) was relaxing, food was good, coffee was great and we saw monkeys outside our room twice. Our guide took us on a tubing trip down the river to a waterfall which included fried-rice lunch, recommended if you have time in Tangkahan, not worth a special trip to Tangkahan.

Jungle Lodge:

Cell: 0813.7633.4787

Email: SSitepu@aol.com

http://www.junglelodge.co.id

We went to Tangkahan solely for the elephants, so were quite disappointed to find out we couldn’t ride them and then to get rained out of our appointment to bathe them. Grrr. A few elephants were sent somewhere else to help with an issue, 1 is pregnant and 2 had babies, so there is only one elephant giving rides. The people we talked to that did get to ride and/or bathe the elephants raved, so it’s probably worth it the trip.  Reservations were completely booked. We asked to be informed if there were any cancellations; no dice. To avoid this happening to you, here is the visitor’s center info. Call in advance to make sure you have a reservation.

Community Tour Operator – Visitor Center

Cell: +62.813.6142.3245         +62.852.7560.5865

Email: cto_tangkahan@yahoo.com

www.tangkahanecotourism.com

naikgajah@gmail.com

http://www.elephantjunglepatrol.com

Unfortunately Tangkahan is the end of the road, if you want to go anywhere from here you basically have to go back to Medan (or Binjai if you’re heading for Bukit Lawang). First bus to Medan leaves Tangkahan at 7.30am. Naturally, the boat to cross the river doesn’t start until 7.30 or 8am (you could always stay at the guesthouse behind the visitor’s center to avoid that issue, which we tried to do). Be careful, if there is a major rainstorm – as there was for us – the river may be too high for the boat to cross and you could get stuck on one side or the other. If you’re flexible it’s no problem obviously, and the rain in the jungle is pretty great.

Brestagi: Nice town with good tourism infrastructure and excellent access to North Sumatra’s many natural attractions.

We took the bus back to Medan, got off right outside the Pinang Baris terminal and hopped on a mini-bus going to Brestagi for 50,000Rp. We were very sad to only spend one night in Brestagi, but we had a lot of ground to cover and had ‘wasted’ 2 days in Tangkahan trying to ride/bathe the elephants. Brestagi is a picturesque town with a bustling main street (that really comes alive at night with great street-food vendors, including a guy that sells rice/coconut/gula-merah ‘bamboo shooters’ near the monument, Tugu Perjuangan). Don’t pass up eating on the street in favor of Café Raymond – it is NOT worth it, despite what Lonely Planet says. Try the fresh marquisa (passionfruit!?) juice! The market on the way up to Gundaling Hill is full of entertaining souvenirs, and has a lovely fruit market inside. Berastagi is also a great place to bag volcanoes – Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung – both of which are possible to do in a day (guide is recommended), though we didn’t have time for either. There are also other points of interests/hikes including a lake, hot springs and a waterfall. We stayed at Wisma Sibayak Guest House (around 100,000Rp) by the Giant Cabbage statue. It was nice, the proprieter was very knowledgeable & helpful. They have 2 other locations in Berastagi, and one on Lake Toba. They can also help with travel & tour arrangements in the region.

Wisma Sibayak Guesthouse

Jl. Udara No. 1, Brestagi

+62.891.1049.1683

081.9601.9577

Ketambe: Small village, mostly guesthouses, with gorgeous views, cheap, comfortable places to stay, excellent trekking and wildlife opportunities. Definitely worth a night or two (or three if one is an overnight trek).

From Berastagi, we took a bus to Kutacane (company in Berastagi was called BTN, basically a school desk set up on Jln. Veteran outside the pasar/bus station for 50,000Rp – don’t let the guy selling you tickets rip you off!). This was a pretty, though long, drive along a winding, though generally good, road that is almost guaranteed to induce one or two vomits in your bus! We were heading straight for Ketambe, so we hopped off outside the terminal and got right on an open-air angkot (aka ‘the party bus’ due to the bumping Indonesian techno music blasting from the speaker) heading to Ketambe, another 20minutes. The driver took us straight to Friendship Guesthouse (50,000Rp), without asking us where we were heading. This worked out fine as it is indeed a nice guesthouse, though all seem pretty similar. Many of the 8 local guides hang out at Friendship, though they cycle between all the guesthouses. While Kutacane (Kuta-cha-ne) was larger than we expected, Ketambe was smaller than we expected, there is, essentially, nothing here except a string of guesthouses, some very small tokos, an SD and some local houses.  Our guide, Fitri, said that he liked Friendship the best because the owner tries to help the community out, though he also said Pak Mus and Cinta Alam were good. A lot of young guys hang out at Friendship every night, drinking the local brew (palm wine) and with durian thrown in to make it extra… gag worthy? We were also offered ganja and told that Kedah (near Blangkejeran) was famous for its marijuana, so… welcome to sharia law!?

Friendship Guesthouse – 085.9688.3624

If you want to save time by skipping some of the buses & town hopping, a reasonable option is the NBA flights to Kutacane, though you’ll miss out on the impressive scenery and local adventuring. They fly from Medan to Kutacane on Tuesday and Saturday at 9am for 140,000Rp. You’ll probably spend that much on buses & hotels if you go by land. The owner at Friendship can pick you up at the airport, or the buses should be pretty easy. Susi Air flies from Medan to Kutacane every day EXCEPT Tuesday for 405,000Rp. A Swiss guy we met said the Susi flight was very nice, with European pilots. According to Lonely Planet, NBA also has flights from Banda Aceh to Kutacane.

NBA in Medan: +62.61.453.4680

NBA in Banda Aceh: +62.651.333.777

Susi Air in Medan: +62.61.785.2169

This seems like a great place for an overnight trek (guide provides camping gear), but we just did a day hike. We spent part of the morning wandering around hoping to spot orangutans, with no luck. We were there in late December, which is not the fruit season, so the orangutans head to other parts of the forest, apparently. Our guide recommended June-July as fruit season, when it is more likely to see orangutans – perfect for the school holiday! We also went to the hot springs, which was really nice. Lunch provided by the guesthouse. Don’t miss the opportunity to play Tarzan. We did see some monkeys, including a black gibbon – which sounds like a small child imitating an ambulance siren! – and an emo (though unfortunately the emo did not have absurd bangs, piercings or skinny jeans, despite what its name might imply). Our guide said rafting was better in Kedah (better rapids) than in Ketambe. I would recommend some light/quick-dry pants for the hike because I got a few leaches (that we pulled off immediately, no harm done, but keep your eye out!), though the river crossings did go up to our waists.

We also saw a newly reopened hotel called the Gurah Ketambe Villa, which is actually located a little further into the national park. This looks like it was once a really nice place, allowed to fall into disrepair during the violence in Aceh, but it’s getting a facelift and was reopened to international tourists. It looked like it will be a nice (though more expensive) alternative to the guesthouses in the village, with even more privacy and a touch more ‘luxury’. Unfortunately, no contact info was available.

We caught an early morning bus from Ketambe going through the national park to Blangkejeran (often called ‘Blangk’ to avoid the tongue twister). Blangkejeran had a lot of character. We spent a couple hours wandering around the center of town waiting for our next bus to depart, but we wish we had more time to spend there. Also, the nearby town of Kedah came highly recommended by everyone we talked to – for its rafting, trekking, wildlife and marijuana; what more could you ask!? I would recommend adding this town to your itinerary if you have time.

Can’t vouch for this guide, but I saw his card and picked it up: Umar Tour Guide – Kedah via Blangkerjeren (orangutan & tiger area leuseur top mountain). Hp: 0853.7183.1940

From Blangkejeran we caught a bus to Takengon. Our company was Robby Karya – the minibus was about the nicest I’ve been on (though the dvd player blasting dangdut music videos and Achenese techno was not appreciated), though they left nearly 3 hours late because the driver ‘fell asleep’ and that meant that much of our drive was in the dark, which means we missed the scenery and it was unnerving as this is a winding mountain road and our driver was Indonesian. There were at least two other companies at the Blangkejeran bus terminal offering the same route to Takengon.

Takengon: Really nice city on a lake; very accessible on foot and/or motorized becak if you’re going a bit farther.

We stayed at Hotel Mahara on Jl. Sengeda for 200,000Rp, which was nice & accommodating, right in the heart of downtown. The good coffee and the view of the lake from the third-floor restaurant will be the perfect start to your morning. There are lots of places to stay in town – along Jl. Sengeda, near the bus terminal are: Hotel Arizona, Hotel Grand, Wisma Nacara, a couple of losmens. Near the big mosque on Jl. Lebe Kadir Hotel Bayu Hill looked pretty nice, as did the coffee shop ‘Central Kopi’ though we didn’t go in. From Hotel Mahara go left for the bus terminal (and at night, bustling food market), go right for Simpang Lima, the major intersection in town where you can find the warung Rakan Singkile – which does indeed have cold Bintang! – a good souvenir shop and the big mosque in town.  Delicious coffee is indeed everywhere in Takengon, we got coffee at Blessing Café, down from Simpang 5 and it was great, including VOA on the radio and nice cakes. For good local souvenirs (mostly embroideries, slightly less authentic versions of which you will see again in Banda Aceh for slightly more money) head to Toko Keramat Mufakat on Jl. Lebe Kader no. 24 (Simpang Lima, across from the mosque).

Some German tourists we ran into said Loyang Koro (buffalo caves) were nice, they had hired a guide to drive them around to some of the nearby sites – including caves & a hot springs. We took a becak out to Hotel Renggali for about 20,000Rp. The hotel is indeed in a picturesque spot on the lake, but it is right on the main road and not so far out of town to truly feel you have escaped, though far enough to be slightly inconvenient. It is also more expensive than places in town. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend staying here. There are other places (Ketambe, Kedah) where the relaxing in a quiet, natural setting are much cheaper and Takengon is a pretty nice city.

We took a mini-bus from the terminal to the village of Teritit. Look for a Ronga-ronga bus and ask to be let off in Teritit. This is a nice 30min drive up into the mountains above Takengon. The main attraction is Bergendal Gayo Coffee. They have a nice coffee shop and this is the place to buy Bergendal Gayo coffee from the source (it is one of the best coffees in Aceh, and which you will see at higher prices in Banda Aceh) including luwak coffee! We walked down into town to the main three-way intersection and had fried noodles across from another nice-looking coffee shop called kickocoffee, which was closed when we were there.

After some false starts we found that there is indeed a boat that takes you out onto the lake for an hour so. We found it after it had stopped for the day, so can’t tell you about the ride, but it sounds & looks nice. To get to the boat walk down Jl. Terminal (traffic light across from the bus terminal) toward the lake until you come to the dock. It was brand new and still under construction when we were there, so hopefully it’s up and running regularly soon. The little kids we talked to said it normally leaves around 9am.

There are a ton of bus companies offering buses to Banda Aceh. We took Bintang Lestari, which was right next to Hotel Mahara, and the hotel recommended the one right across the street (Lestari Baru?) for 80,000Rp. We took the overnight bus, scheduled to leave at 8, actual departure time a little after 9pm. This is a good option if you’re scrunched for time, as we were, but it’s a shame to miss out on all the scenery going from the highlands down to the coast. Many bus companies also offer morning departures around 9am, for the same price. Buy your tickets in advance! Most were mini-buses, but one company, Kurnia, seemed to have a bigger tourist bus going to Banda Aceh (as well as to Medan if you’re going the other direction). Takengon – 0643.22474, Banda Aceh – 0651.32922.

One general note on this region… most inter-city buses are presented as public buses, but actually seem to function more like travel cars. They may leave from the terminal, but then you’ll spend some time picking up people at home on the way out of town, and most will drop you at a specific location if you know where you’re going in your destination.

Banda Aceh: Nice city to visit. Hit Pulau Weh first for a couple days then spend a day visiting tsunami sites and walking around the comparatively pedestrian-friendly city, drink great coffee.

We arrived in Banda Aceh at about 5am and the city was dead. Even the hotels were still closed for the night. We got dropped off in front of Hotel Prapat, but ended up staying at Hotel Wisata (right next door) because it was open when we arrived. Hotel Wisata was fine, but the room was uninspiring at best. I would suggest taking a walk around because there are several hotels along Jl. Khairil Anwar and Jl. Ahmad Yani. If you’re following our itinerary and are arriving early in the morning, I would suggest grabbing a coffee somewhere in the city and then heading straight to the port Ulee Lheu where you can take the morning ferry to Pulau Weh. Motorized becak (called a tok-tok, I think) should be about 25,000Rp.

The many becak drivers are happy to act as impromptu tour guides, shuttling you from tsunami site to tsunami site and waiting until your finished (none of them take long, with the possible exception of the museum). Two of the sites – the PLTD Apung/ Tsunami Education Park (currently under construction and so only partially accessible) and the Meuraxa mass grave – are both on the way to the Ulee Lheu port. Most of downtown Banda Aceh is accessible on foot – it’s only about a 15 minute walk from the Tsunami Museum to Baiturrahman Mosque, and then another 15 minutes to where all the hotels are. The Tsunami Museum is a really nice building, and has a couple of powerful points, but other parts feel, unfortunately, a bit… amateurish. The Gunongan is disappointing (read: not worth the 5minute walk unless you really have a lot of time and energy). The big mosque is indeed beautiful, we were told we weren’t allowed to go inside unless we are Muslim. The ‘boat on the house’ at Lampulo is interesting but is not going to change your life, especially since they put up scaffolding that takes away from the impact of the site.

Simpang Lima is the place to be in the evenings. PP Café and Restaurant is indeed bumping (we had already eaten, so can’t review the food itself), as was Five Corners Coffee. We ate at the food court (all street food) in front of the hotels, there were tons of options, and lots of locals. Stop by Cek Coffee (on Jl. Chik Pante Kulu, the road that runs along the river across from the Military Complex) for the perfect cup of coffee, no joke. But make sure to specify NO sugar (if that’s important to you). Their cakes are also pretty tasty. Most souvenir shops (and ATMs) are clustered along Jl. Sri Ratu Safiatuddin (veering off to the right from the intersection with all the hotels, toward Simpang Lima).

We didn’t get a chance to explore outside the city much, but according to the tourism map, it looks like there are some cool things to do in the area – including nice beaches at Lampuuk and Lho Nga, hot springs, cave swimming pools, waterfalls and an elephant training center. There is a tourism office at the Ulee Lheu port, and the guy seemed very helpful, and actually had a stock of useful maps and brochures for both Pulau Weh and greater Banda Aceh area. Definitely worth stopping in for the map. Heads up the ‘culinary centers’ sound exciting but are basically just food courts. Try the terong belanda juice! www.bandaacehtourism.com

Pulau Weh: Great island to relax on, sprinkling of laidback tourists but in our limited experience nothing like Bali or Lombok, excellent snorkeling/diving though we didn’t partake.

Getting to Pulau Weh is reasonably painless. Below is as close to a comprehensive ferry schedule as we were able to piece together, obviously it’s subject to change (and other Indonesian vagaries). Note, it is nearly impossible to buy tickets in advance, so plan to get to the port early (economy seems to sell out quickly on the fast ferry). The fast ferry is called the Express Bahari.

From Banda Aceh (Ulee Lheu) to Pulau Weh (Balohan/Sabang)

Fast Ferry at 9.30 and 14.00 (about an hour, economy seats for 60,000Rp)

Slow Ferry at 11.00 and 14.00 or 16.00 (1.5 to 2 hours)

From Pulau Weh to Banda Aceh

Fast Ferry at 8.00 and 16.00

Slow Ferry at 8.00 and 14.00

When you get off the ferry there are tons of people offering all kinds of rides. There are the standard mini-bus taxis with predetermined routes, kid on ojeks and, if you’re heading to one of the popular destinations, you can probably split a car with some other tourists heading to the same place. We were going to Freddie’s in Sumur Tiga as well as a handful of other tourists, so we paid 25,000Rp for a ride directly to the hotel. I think the angkot cost about 20,000.

We stayed at Freddie’s because it sounded great and was closer to the port than some of the other places (Iboih and Gapang), and we didn’t have a ton of time. The island looks interesting – has some other activities (hot springs, waterfall, volcano, lake) for those that don’t want to just snorkel/dive/beach the whole time. Again, get a map from the tourist office at the Ulee Lheu port. Freddie’s was great, we definitely recommend it. The beach was nice, especially if you walk to the right where the sand is nicer, and isolated, the food was pretty good, they had cold bintang, lovely views from the private bungalows and helpful staff. You can order food ala carte from the restaurant or you can sign up when you arrive for the buffet meals the provide to guests. The breakfast buffet was pretty excellent, so if the dinner buffet is the same quality (& quantity) it might be a worthwhile splurge. The Italian place down the beach also looked nice.

We flew Sriwijaya from Banda Aceh to Surabay (via Jakarta). Service was excellent. They offer a shuttle from their office in Banda Aceh (at Simpang Surabaya) to the airport for 15,000Rp which is a pretty awesome deal because the airport is a ways out of town and a taxi would probably be pretty expensive.

We had a great time, especially in the Gayo Highlands, but felt like we spent most of the time traveling (luckily the roads were mostly pretty good and the scenery almost always spectacular), so wish we had a bit more time to relax and enjoy some of the spots we liked – Brestagi, Ketambe, Kedah, Pulau Weh. Happy Travels!

Scott Lea, PCV Indo 4