Though once the seat of an expanse of empire, born of the eighth century trade between its Chinese and Indian neighbors and stretched out across fractured picaresque landscape that included much of modern day Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia—today, the Indonesian province of Sumatra is probably best known in the west by virtue of the rich and popular gourmet coffee that bears its name. But, the island has been a popular traveler’s destination since the thirteenth and fourteenth century visits of both the Venetian explorer Marco Polo—who some say gave the isle its current name when he corrupted the Sanskrit term Samudra (ocean) during his famous report, and his Muslim counterpart Ibn Battutta—who is incidentally often credited with the very same feat of place naming by mistake in his journals. It would be somewhat less than prudent to say that trekking out to such a politically troubled place is completely safe, but Sumatra nevertheless offers hardier adventure travelers the kinds of wilderness sights-n-sounds, hiking locales, white-water rafting opportunities and near perfect surfing spots that are truly hard to resist.
The island of Sumatra sits on the westernmost edge of Indonesia at the outer reaches of the Indian Ocean, separated from Java by the Sunda Strait, from Borneo by the Karimata Strait and from the Malay Peninsula by the Straits of Malacca. Topographically speaking the island is dominated by its famously volcanic Barisan Mountain Range and by the Musi, Batanghari, Indragiri and Kampar rivers flowing through the vast green of its swamp, mangrove and rainforest covered eastern lowlands—where some of the world’s most exotic wildlife has so far managed to survive threats of extinction.
Unless you’ve manage to rediscover the lost art of hopping tramp steamers and working your way around the Pacific’s islands, you’ll most likely be arriving via the province capital of Medan’s International Airport. Nestled on Sumatra's northeast coast, Medan is Indonesia's fourth largest city and has thus acquired quite a reputation for being both filthy and chaotic, but for travelers it also offers up a fair number of glorious examples of nineteenth-century colonial architecture, built by the Dutch burghers—who grew rich on the back of the vast tobacco plantations that stretch up the slopes of the Bukit Barisan to the west of the city. As it was once a part of the Deli Sultanate, it’s also the home of the splendid black-domed Mesjid Besar (Grand Mosque) and the, restored to its past grandeur, Palace of the Sultan of Deli. Some may also want to visit The Bukit Barisan War Museum—on Jalan H. Zainal Arifin, the Museum of North Sumatra, the Taman Margasatwa Zoo or the Crocodile Park just five kilometers from the heart of the city, in the village Asam Kumbang—where, nearly 2,000 crocodiles of varying breeds have been hatched and raised in pools and where performances featuring brave local men fighting said animals are regularly staged.
Surfers making good their escapes from Medan’s crowds may want to head strait for either the white sands and ring-stone souvenir shops of Pandan Beach or the traditional villages and war-dancing natives of Nias Island—but hiking enthusiast should head seventy kilometers southwest through the Karo Highlands to the twin volcano guarded town of Berastagi. Known for its terraced plantations, pine forests and passion fruit, the town is also the perfect base for climbing the two volcanoes—Mt. Sibayak and Mt. Sinabung, jungle trekking through the Gunung Leuser National Park and for visiting the nearby Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center. It’s not to be missed.
Only a four hour drive away from Berastagi, you’ll find the cool, dry atmosphere and shaded inland shore of the somewhat crowded resort town of Parapat cozying up to one of Sumatra’s must-see destinations—Lake Toba. Occupying the 1,707 square kilometer caldera (crater) of an enormous volcano that collapsed in on itself, following a cataclysmic eruption over 100,000 years ago. The lake is one of the deepest bodies of fresh water in the world and a truly spectacular sight, surrounded on all sides by pine-covered beaches, steep mountain slopes and cliffs, with Samosir Island sitting right in the middle—offering up superb locales for hiking and swimming, the opportunity to visit the ancient royal tombs of the Sidabutar clan, impressive stonecarvings and a variety of fantastic examples of native Batak architecture. Even though Prapat is the main embarkation point for ferries out to Samosir and therefore a must, more introspective travelers might also want to take in Balige—an attractive market town—known for its Batak cloth vendors, located on the Lake’s southeastern shore, around sixty kilometers from Prapat.
The crowd-phobic will want to avoid the European tourist rush from July-to-August and higher prices inaugurated in February by the end of the holy month of Ramadan and instead head out in either September-to-October or May-to-June after first checking up on the island’s sometimes volatile security situation with their embassy.
