NOMADIC JOURNEYS: Medan and Bukit Lawang

Medan

Medan is Sumatra's largest City and the fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung. It covers a total of 265 Sq Km and has a population of 2.4 million residents. The majority of the population in North Sumatra adheres to Islam (63%), followed by Protestantism (27%), Catholicism (7%), Buddhism (2%) and 1% others.

Sultan's Palace

The Sultanate of Deli was a kingdom founded in 1630, as a tributary kingdom of the larger Sultanate of Aceh with Medan as the capital.

The modern development of Medan began in the 1860s when Dutch entrepreneurs recognized the area's agricultural potential, particularly for tobacco cultivation. Under Dutch colonial rule, tobacco planters moved into Sumatra, causing the city of Medan to expand rapidly. The Deli Company, which began a tobacco enterprise near the Deli River, made use of Medan’s port and set up tobacco warehouses, contributing to the population increase. Parts of Medan still bear names such as Polonia and Helvetia, after the Polish and Swiss planters who used to own the land.

Today, Medan is recognized for its colonial architecture and serves as Indonesia's largest port in terms of export value.

Stay in Medan

The bus from Banda Aceh to Medan takes almost 16 hours, so I decided to take the flight which was for an hour. The ticket was around 800000 IDR which is around Rs. 4200, double of what it would cost for a bus. The decision was worth it as it would save time and not compromise on sleep. The Medan airport is a bigger one than Aceh and there is an airport train that takes you directly into the city for 35000 IDR.

I checked into the LePolonia Hotel & Convention Center which is a beautiful and inexpensive hotel. The next day, I set out to experience Medan. All the main attractions are along a straight single road near the Center of the city.

Mosque and Palace

Masjid

I first went to the Masjid Raya Al-Mashun and opposite that is the Palace, Istana Maimun where the descendants of the royal family still stay. The Palace is unremarkable and in need for maintenance. Its interiors combine elements of Deli Malay, Islamic, Spanish, Indian, Dutch and Italian styles.

The Masjid was constructed in 1909 and its architectural style has Middle Eastern, Indian and Spanish elements. The financing was done by the Sultan, the Dutch company and Tjong A Fie, the richest businessman in Medan whose family home near the city center was next in line for me to explore.

Tjong A Fie Mansion

Tjong A Fie Mansion - Exterior

Similar to what I had seen in Malaysia, the immigrant Chinese have had a great economic influence in the region as successful businessmen. Tjong A Fie was a Chinese businessman and banker in the 1900s of Hakka descent who successfully built a large plantation business in Sumatra Because of his success, Tjong A Fie was close to the Sultan of Deli and the Dutch colonial officials He was appointed as Captain to lead the Chinese community in Medan and was highly respected and revered. His business empire included plantations, palm oil factories, sugar factories, banks, and railway companies.

Exploring his Mansion was the highlight of the trip so far and though it is more than a hundred years old, it is very well maintained. It is one of the most opulent examples of building representing Peranakan culture in Indonesia. This is a two-story house with an an area of 8,000 square meters and 35 rooms. Completed in 1900, it is designed in Chinese, European, Malay and art-deco architectural styles. The rooms are on four sides of the structures and surround a big open-air courtyard in the middle.

Since 2009, part of the house has been opened for public viewing. Visitors can experience the life history of Tjong A Fie through photographs, paintings and home furnishings used by his family and learn about Malay-Chinese culture.

Interior Rooms

The floors are made of Venetian tiles and has beautiful lamp furniture which is a combination of Chinese and European styles. There is a main hall where guests were received, a family dining room, bedrooms and a large kitchen complete with ancient pestles and mortars on the ground floor while on the upper floor there is a Kwan Ti Kong temple and a Ballroom. The two side wings of the mansion were mainly used as residences for the family members and one side wing is still being used as a private residence. The other side-wing is part of the museum space to showcase Peranakan and vintage artifacts.

One of the guides, a young student called Tiara took me around the Mansion explaining the history, architecture and lifestyle of the inhabitants. Chatting with her, I learnt a new Indo social media term. She told me that I was a "Skena". I checked it up. The term comes from the English word "scene" and refers to a community or subculture with interests related to music, arts, fashion and social interaction. This sub culture classification is similar to what I heard from my Gen Z niece in the US, where in her world, folks are categorized under Preppy, Street Style, Nerdy etc. So, Skena it is!

Food

Mie Gomak

After an hour's exploration, I left the place for a delightful lunch at Tai Hwa, a nearby Chinese restaurant. Later in the evening, took a stroll down the Merdeka Walk area where most of the European buildings can be seen. During my stay in Medan, my dinners were at a Warung near the hotel Warung Incek Budi where I typically had had Mie Gomak, chicken and Ikan.

Mie Gomak is a Batak thick spicy noodle dish in a coconut milk and andaliman based broth. Its slightly sweet but tasty.

Bukit Lawang

Bukit Lawang - By the river

It was time to move to Bukit Lawang which is the largest sanctuary of the Sumatran orangutan and the main access point to the Gunung Leuser National Park from the east (Bukit means Hill and Lawang means gateway). Part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, the sanctuary is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bukit Lawang is about 90 Kms South West and takes around 3 hours from Medan. Connectivity is a challenge and the only transport other than hiring a private car are mini buses which starts from Pinang Baris terminal in the West of the city. These buses are dilapidated and crowded. Also there are touts out to make a fast buck, so one has to be careful. The roads have two lanes and are in good condition though patches were bad due to the rains. All along there were Palm tree plantations and many small hamlets. The countryside looked prosperous with concrete structures and tiled or tin roofs.

Alec, Guest house owner

After reaching Bukit Lawang, At the bus stand, my Guest House host Alec's son, Nabeel was waiting and he brought me to the Jungle Life guest house where I checked in. Alec greeted me and we discussed all the trek options. I opted to go for a one day trek the next day. Meanwhile Alex was quite clued in to the Bollywood scene. He told me jokingly I looked like Jitendra in the passport and Anil Kapoor face to face!

I spent the rest of the day exploring the small village, the river front and the resorts nearby.

Trek into the Jungle

Nabeel and the Jungle Boy

That night, it poured heavily through the morning. We pushed out our trek to later hoping that the rains would stop. During rains, there would be no animal sightings, so we had to wait. Other than myself, we had a French Mother and daughter duo who would be with us. The Mother had been to Bukit Lawang 22 years back, now she was back with her 15 year daughter to experience it. Nabeel would be our guide for the day along with another friend of his.

The Alpha

Thankfully the rains stopped and we set out by around 12 pm into the jungle. A few kms into the rain forest, we had our first sighting. It was a female Orangutan high up in the trees. We moved on further. Soon, we sighted a female low down the branches and started following her. She was moving in between the trees. High above was her nest made up of leaves. Another guide joined us and said, we should wait to see if the Male Orangutan comes down. Sighting Alphas is very rare and it would be amazing if we could get sight of one. Meanwhile we saw a southern Pig tailed Macaque who was wandering around trying to see if we had any food. We stopped for lunch and finished it all the while watching the female Orangutan as she moved around around the trees.

There was a commotion a few meters below and then we saw a huge Alpha Orangutan coming down the trees. He would have been over 100 Kilos and was majestically moving around from one tree to the next. We were all spellbound and amazed with our cameras working furiously to capture this magnificent creature. We followed the alpha and his partner for the next hour or so as they moved around the area.

Soon, we reluctantly moved on and then after a few Kms, came down to the river where we would have some fruits and them go down the river in rubber make shift boats. Just as we entered the area, we spied upon a troupe of Thomas Leaf Monkeys, a variant of the Langur. The journey down the river in the makeshift rubber raft was fun and an end to an incredible day.

Dinner with the locals

In front of the guest house, there was dinner available for IDR 30K after the Ramadan fast. I met a French lady, Helene who was running an NGO called Generation co whose focus is on afforestation of the rainforests. The couple who owned the restaurant Zahara and Joseph were also running an NGO called Kolibri foundation (yayasankolibri.com) to help underprivileged children go to school. Had a nice Conversation with Helen and Joseph. The kids also hung around for a meal and there was a nice overall joyous and positive atmosphere. Volunteers also help out at the foundation and school teaching the kids.