Where
to Go
Gunung Leuser National Park
Bukit Lawang
Tangkahan
Lake Toba
Berastagi
Mt. Sibayak
volcano
Mt. Sinabung
volcano
Sipisopiso
Waterfall
Tongging
Ketembe
Lake Kawar
Medan
What
to Do
Jungle
Trekking
Elephant
Trekking
White-Water
Rafting
River-Tubing
Volcano
Climbing
Bohorok
Orangutan Centre
Maimoon Palace
What
to Know
About "Hello
Mister Travel"
Introduction
to Sumatra
Topography
History
Getting to Sumatra
Getting Around Sumatra
Terms & Conditions
Accommodation
Bukit Lawang
Tangkahan
Berastagi
Tongging
Tuk Tuk
Ketembe
The Tours
Bukit Lawang Short Stay
The Jungle Trail
The Toba Trail
The North Sumatran Trail
Introduction to Sumatra
Indonesia has had it tough for the last four or five hundred years. It has been colonised by the Portuguese and Dutch before being invaded by Japan, dictated to by a couple of ruthless and corrupt self-apponted presidents and had much of its natural resources auctioned off to other countries. But possibly one of the most unfortunate occurrences of recent times is Indonesia’s unfairly tarnished global reputation. According to tthe international media, the islands are full of suicide-bombing Islamic Fundamentalists who will stop at nothing in order to bag a few Western tourists. And if the Christian-hating Muslims don’t get you then you’ll almost certainly be killed in an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption if you haven’t fallen out of the sky in a rusty old aircraft and hit a sinking ferry.
The reality, as usual, is so exaggerated and distorted that it is slanderous. But mud sticks and the tourists have stayed away in their droves. On a purely selfish level it couldn’t be better for those of us enjoying the relative peace in these beautiful islands but for the Indonesians who have been making their living from the dwindling tourist trade it has been devastating. Here in Sumatra, an island which has traditionally been off the beaten track to those visiting the country, the visitors have been almost non-existent.
It’s a crying shame because Sumatra has some of the most wonderful places in all of Indonesia and, indeed the world, to visit. Extrordinarily rich in bio-diversity, it is the last place in the world where you can, if you’re very lucky, (or unlucky, depending on your point of view) still find tigers, elephants, rhinos, leopards and orangutans roaming in their own natural habitat. It is home to more than 10,000 species of plant, 465 species of bird (14 of which are indigenous to the island) and sixteen of 210 species of mammal are unique to the island. I would like to say that Sumatra boasts the largest and deepest crater lake in the world but what makes Sumatra special is that it doesn’t boast at all. Instead, it reveals its treasures to those who come looking.
It’s our pleasure here at Hello Mister Travel to introduce you to the island and its people.
