02/09/2025
Lakes & Apes: Is North Sumatra Southeast Asia’s best kept secret?
It hardly counts as undiscovered. Travellers flock to Bukit Lawang for a glimpse of wild orangutans, yet compared to Bali, Lombok or Flores, this vast island gets only a fraction of the attention.
From Medan’s chaos of malls, traffic and coffee shops we rode toward Lake Toba, the world’s largest volcanic lake. The first sight stops you cold. An expanse of blue ringed by steep green mountains. Hard to imagine this calm was born from one of Earth’s most violent eruptions.
On Samosir Island days drift by with kayaking, swims and grilled lake fish smothered in sambal, while evenings belong to Batak culture. Pointed roof houses, tuak palm wine and long lazy dinners.
The road to Berastagi twisted above the lake, all sweeping curves and shifting views. In the cool Karo Highlands markets overflowed with fruit and chillies, and Gunung Sibayak tempted hikers with a steaming crater. Nearby Sinabung loomed, restless and unpredictable.
Finally Bukit Lawang, gateway to Gunung Leuser National Park. Treks here are tough. Mud, leeches and tangled roots. But the reward of locking eyes with a Sumatran orangutan in the wild is unforgettable.
We however, took the day off, feet in the Bahorok River, Bintang in hand. At dusk another species of ape descended. Red faced, leech bitten backpackers, pounding their chests, hooting about their life changing experience before collapsing on benches with the same glazed look as the primates we had come to see. A spectacle in its own right.
North Sumatra is a journey of volcanic drama, lakeside calm, highland markets and dense rainforest. Life changing? Maybe that phrase is overused. But here, it somehow fits.
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