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Untitled Information about Sumatra hotels and Travel Guide
SUMATRA
INFORMATION
HOTELS
TRAVEL AGENTS
RESTAURANTS
INTERNET
PLACES:
  • Medan
  • Palembang
  • Padang
  • Bukittinggi
  • Lake Toba
  • Tuk Tuk
  • Riau Island
  • Batam Island
Sumatra
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Warnings:
Previously Aceh Province in the north was potentially dangerous.
Now it seems quiet.
Visas: see Indonesia Introduction page
Coming & Going:
AIR
If flying to Sumatra, you should go to Medan or Padang first because there are no airports in the often-visited tourist attractions like Bukittinggi and Lake Toba. Flights linking Medan and Padang run rather frequently. You can take a flight from Jakarta to the cities in Sumatra and from Singapore, Penang and Kuala Lumpur to Medan.

BUS and FERRY.
There are ships/ferries between Java and various ports in Sumatra. The Merak-Bakauheni ferry is probably the most popular, but you can also go from Padang to Jakarta. There are also ferries between Penang and Medan; Melaka and Dumai; and Singapore and Pakanburi via the Indonesian island of Tanjung Pinang.
GETTING AROUND:
Indonesia has a variety of airlines servicing domestic routes including Garuda, Mandala, Merpati and Bouraq. Each airline publishes a nationwide timetable which can be obtained from their respective head offices in Jakarta. On more popular routes, book well in advance, especially in the peak tourist season around July andAugust. Airport tax on domestic flights is usually between $2 and $4.

Sumatra's main roads are generally good, although they get worse the farther you go from the major towns. Bus is the most common form of transport, and in many cases is the only form of intercity travel. Sumatra has a very limited rail network. The trains are pretty much a mixed bag: slow, miserable and cheap or comfortable and expensive. It's advisable to buy train tickets a day in advance to assure a seat. You can rent cars, motorbikes and bicycles in the main cities and tourist centres, and there are regular ferries from Sumatra to surrounding islands.
When to Go
May/June and September/October are the best months to visit, and though they're very busy periods you can usually find a place away from the crowds. The main tourist season is during the European summer in July and August. Travel in the less developed areas can be difficult during the wet season, from about November to March.

ATTRACTIONS:
I did read article that said Riau Island is the big weekend escape for Singapore men to have a "good time".
Aceh:
The Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated parts of Aceh on 26 December 2004. Aceh was the closest landmass to the earthquake. With the near total destruction of the area's infrastructure and the threat of disease, travel advisories warn against travel to the area for the time being.

Aceh's population is a melding of Indonesian, Arab, Tamil, Chinese and indigenous groups. The state is the most staunchly Muslim in the country and is run under Islamic law. However, the Achenese also embrace animism, and offerings and rituals continue to play an important part in their lives.

Aceh's attractions include the laid-back lifestyle of the island Pulau We, the deserted beaches of the rugged west coast and the jungle wilderness of Gunung Leuser National Park. The national park, which is one of the largest in the world, includes the Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre, an area containing orang-utans, gibbons, monkeys, elephants, tigers and the elusive Sumatran rhinoceros.

Berastagi:
This picturesque hill town in the Karo Highlands, 70km (43mi) from Medan, is dominated by two volcanoes: Gunung Sinabung and Gunung Sibayak. At 1300m (4260ft) above sea level, the climate is pleasantly cool and the atmosphere refreshingly relaxed. Travellers come to Berastagi to experience the culture of the Karo Batak people and to go trekking. There are guided treks into the Gunung Leuser National Park and to surrounding volcanoes and attractions.

Lake Toba:
Lake Toba is one of Sumatra's spectacular sights - a remarkable volcanic crater set in the middle of northern Sumatra. The lake is huge (the largest in South-East Asia), occupying the caldera of a giant volcano that collapsed on itself after a massive eruption 100,000 years ago.

In comparison, Krakatau's 1883 effort was little more than a belch. The lake is surrounded by steep mountains, ridges and sandy, pine-sheltered beaches.

Samosir, the wedge-shaped island in the middle of the lake, is thought to have been created by subsequent upheavals between 30,000 and 75,000 years ago. Samosir has long been northern Sumatra's premier attraction for travellers and has an abundant supply of accommodation and eateries ringing the shoreline. The main town in the area is Parapat, on the eastern shore of Lake Toba.

Medan:
Medan is the capital of north Sumatra and the third largest city in Indonesia. It is a huge, sprawling city and a popular entry/exit point for travellers. The solid Dutch buildings of the affluent older suburbs contrast wildly with the jerry-built lean-tos which house the bulk of its population.

The city's two finest buildings are the Istana Maimoon (Maimoun Palace) and the magnificent black-domed Mesjid Raya. There are some fine examples of European architecture along Jalan Sukarno-Hatta, such as Bank Indonesia and the High Court. There are a number of museums, including the Museum of North Sumatra, which has excellent coverage of the region's culture and history, and the weaponry-and-warfare-influenced Bukit Barisan Military Museum.

Danau Ranau
The beautiful mountain lake of Danau Ranau is in the Bukit Barisan mountains of southern Sumatra. It is one of the least spoiled - and least accessible - of Sumatra's mountain lakes, and you can hike, climb Gunung Seminung (1881m/6170ft) or relax in the quiet atmosphere and cool climate.

Time, patience and endurance are vital if you intend to wander off Sumatra's tourist trail. Most routes to Danau Ranau go through the Trans-Sumatran Highway town of Baturaja, which you can reach from the main terminal in Palembang. From Baturaja it is a three and a half hour trip to Bandar Agung, by the lake, with a change at Simpangsender.

Karo Batak Highlands
If you're interested in the Sumatra's unusual domestic architecture, head for the remote villages of Kampung Peceren, Lingga, Cingkes and Barusjahe in the Karo Batak Highlands to see the pointed roofs. Cingkes is the largest of the villages and well worth the effort to get there. It has at least two dozen houses, all occupied and in good condition.

Kerinci
Kerinci is a relaxing, a rich, green mountain valley in Sumatra's eastern province of Jambi. The valley is dominated by a 3800m (12,464ft) peak at one end and a lake at the other. The area abounds with stone carvings, and attractions include hot springs, a tea plantation, lakeside tours and a waterfall.

Riau Archipelago
More than 3000 islands curve southeast from Sumatra to Kalimantan and north to Malaysia in the Riau Archipelago, making it possible to island-hop through over 170,000 sq km (66,300 sq mi) of sea. An interesting trip to Singapore could go via Pulau Tebingtinggi, Pulau Batam and Pulau Bintan.
Facts:
Religion & People
Sumatra is a diverse island. There are many indigenous ethnic groups, and they have retained their unique traditions and culture up to the present. For example, Batak near Lake Toba and Minangbakau in West Sumatra show definitely different lifestyles even though they are on the same island.
The religion is basically Islam. In fact, Aceh in northern Sumatra first adopted Islam and is still the most conservative Islamic city in Indonesia. However, various ethnic groups including the Malayans, the Batak and the Minang of Sumatra still hold to ancient beliefs like nature worship. The Buddhist and Hindu cultures also remain in places. The mixing of these ancient religions with Islam creates the unique culture of Sumatra.
History:
Knowledge of Sumatra's pre-Islamic history is sketchy. Hunter-gatherers were living along the Strait of Melaka (Selat Malaka) 13,000 years ago. Otherwise there is little evidence of human activity until the appearance, about 2000 years ago, of two megalithic cultures, one in the mountains of western Sumatra, the other on Pulau Nias.

Sumatra had little contact with the outside world until the kingdom of Sriwijaya emerged at the end of the 7th century. Presumed to have been based near the modern city of Palembang, Sriwijayan power was attained through control of the Strait of Melaka – the main trade route between India and China. At its peak in the 11th century, Sriwijaya ruled a huge slab of Southeast Asia, covering most of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand and Cambodia. Sriwijayan influence collapsed after the kingdom was conquered by the south Indian king Ravendra Choladewa in 1025. For the next 200 years, the void was partly filled by Sriwijaya’s main regional rival, the Jambi-based kingdom of Malayu.

After Malayu was defeated by a Javanese expedition in 1278, the focus of power moved north to a cluster of Islamic sultanates on the east coast of what is now the province of Aceh. These sultanates began life as ports servicing trade through the Strait of Melaka. Many of the traders were Muslims from Gujarat (west India), and the animist locals were soon persuaded to adopt the faith of their visitors – giving Islam its first foothold in the Indonesian archipelago. These traders also provided the island with its modern name, which is derived from Samudra, meaning 'ocean' in Sanskrit.

Samudra was a small port near modern Lhokseumawe that became the most powerful of the sultanates. As Samudran influence spread around the coast of Sumatra and beyond, the name gradually came to refer to the island as a whole. Marco Polo corrupted the name to Sumatra in his 1292 report on the area.

After the Portuguese occupied Melaka on the Malay Peninsula in 1511, Aceh took over as the main power base on Sumatra. The sultanate eventually carved out a substantial territory, covering much of northern Sumatra as well as large chunks of the Malay Peninsula. Acehnese power prevailed until the beginning of the 17th century, when Dutch traders began their probings into Sumatra.

Based in Padang, the Dutch made little military effort to impose themselves until after the Napoleonic Wars (1800–15). By then, their influence in Sumatra had all but evaporated. The British ruled in Bencoolen (now Bengkulu), American traders were monopolising pepper exports from Aceh, and the Chinese were exploiting the rich tin reserves on the islands of Bangka and Belitung, east of Palembang. The subsequent Dutch campaign to control Sumatra resulted in some of the most protracted fighting of the colonial era. It began with a failed attempt to capture Palembang in 1818; a second attempt in 1825 succeeded, but fighting dragged on in the South Sumatran interior until 1847. Meanwhile in West Sumatra, fighting had broken out between supporters of traditional law and Islamic fundamentalists. By 1821, the latter had won control of much of the highlands when the Dutch entered the fray in support of the traditional leaders. The war dragged on until 1837, when the Dutch finally captured the equator town of Bonjol.

In 1863, after three military expeditions, the Dutch finally established authority over Nias. Treaties and alliances brought other areas of Sumatra under Dutch rule, including Bengkulu, which the British willingly traded for Melaka. The war against the Acehnese, however, proved to be the bloodiest and the longest lasting. The Acehnese turned back the first Dutch attack in 1873 before succumbing to a massive assault two years later. They then took to the jungles to wage a guerrilla struggle that lasted until 1903, when the Acehnese sultan Tuanku Muhamat Dawot surrendered.

The Dutch were booted out of Aceh for the last time in 1942, immediately before the WWII Japanese occupation of Sumatra. From 1945 until Indonesia achieved independence in 1949, Aceh was ruled by Daud Beureueh, the leader of an Islamic modernist movement.

Sumatra contributed several key figures to the independence struggle, including future vice-president Mohammed Hatta and the first prime minister, Sutan Syahrir. The island also provided the new nation with its fair share of problems. Not least of all Aceh. The new nation's living-together philosophy didn't go down too well with the staunchly Muslim Acehnese, who rebelled against being lumped together with the Christian Bataks in the newly created province of North Sumatra in 1951. Led by Beureueh, they declared an independent Islamic republic in 1953. Aceh was conferred special provincial status within Indonesia in 1959, which provided for substantial autonomy in religious, educational and cultural affairs.

The Sumatran rebellion of 1958–61 posed a much greater threat to Indonesian nationalism. The Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI) was declared in Bukittinggi in February 1958. While many local grievances were involved, the main argument with Jakarta concerned the Communist Party's growing influence with President Soekarno. The central government showed no interest in negotiations and moved quickly to quash the rebellion, capturing the main cities of Medan and Palembang within a month. By mid-1958 Jakarta had regained control of all the major towns, but the rebel fighting continued in the mountains of South Sumatra for another three years.

In the late 1970s Aceh remerged as a problem area. Growing opposition to Jakarta's stranglehold on Aceh's rich natural resources led the province's religious and intellectual leaders, as well as the newly formed Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to call for autonomy and secession from the Indonesian republic. In 1989 GAM began a low-level uprising and the government reacted forcefully.

For the next eight years the province came under near martial law. Following Soeharto's resignation in 1998, GAM upped the tempo of its resistance and the conflict spread across the province.

The late 1990s were particularly violent years, and deaths, tortures, disappearances and arbitrary arrests became the norm. A brief ceasefire in 2000 was followed by renewed fighting and the emergence of militia groups bringing terror and mayhem across the province.

In December 2002 an internationally brokered peace deal was signed by both sides, but deep hostility remained. In mid-May 2003 peace talks broke down and martial law was imposed in Aceh. A fullscale military assault followed with death and destruction widespread. The election in September 2004 of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono is unlikely to herald a change of government tactics. The former general is as committed to the preservation of Indonesia's territorial integrity as his predecessors.

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