Introducing Medan
Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra, is a cosmopolitan city over 2 million in habitants and a booming commercial center for the region's huge oil and agro-businesses. As a result of major international investments in plantation agriculture from the 1870s onward, it grew from a tiny village to a prosperous colonial city of some 60,000 people by 1943. Following independence, the population exploded at an even more rapid rate, with a dramatic influx of various Batak and other groups from all over Sumatra and Indonesia. Today it is by far the largest city on Sumatra, and the fourth largest in the nation-after Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung.
Medan's inhabitants are notoriously forward and commercially astute, and physically the city has little to recommend it. Although numerous improvements have been effected in recent years, it has been difficult to sustain an adequate infrastructure to support such a large and growing urban population. Medan, like Topsy, "just growed"-and there have been major problems with electricity, water, drainage and pollution, many currently being tackled by the city's administration and all requiring urgent attention. Lower-lying parts of the city are increasingly subject to flooding due, at least in part, to the deforestation of the hinterland.
Medan's inhabitants are notoriously forward and commercially astute, and physically the city has little to recommend it. Although numerous improvements have been effected in recent years, it has been difficult to sustain an adequate infrastructure to support such a large and growing urban population. Medan, like Topsy, "just growed"-and there have been major problems with electricity, water, drainage and pollution, many currently being tackled by the city's administration and all requiring urgent attention. Lower-lying parts of the city are increasingly subject to flooding due, at least in part, to the deforestation of the hinterland.
Early trading settlements
Some 10,000 years ago, neolithic hunters and gathersers of the "hoabinhian" stone tool complex settled in the swampy estuarine areas around what is now Medan, accumulating enermous mounds of discarded shells from the seafood they consumed. These shells middens provide us with one of the few tantalizing gilmpses of neolithic habitation in western Indonesia, but sadly they have been all but destroyed by commercial lime burners.
By the early second millennium AD-but probably much earlier-Arab, Indian and Chinese traders arrived on these coasts in search of valuable aromatic tree resins from the valleys and slopes of the Bukit Barisan-resins such as camphor (kapur barus) and benzoin (kemenyan) that were much in demand by the peoples of Asia for medicinal and ritual purposes. Traces of an early trading settlement has been found at Kota Cina near Belawan, the port north of Medan.
In subsequent centuries, riverine communities of traders and seafarers established themselves along the coast under the leadership of Islamic Malay rulers, to take advantage of an increasingly profitable international trade. By the early 16th century, a struggle for the rich resources of the hinterland (especially pepper) ensued between the rulers of Aru-a Malay kingdom based at Deli Tua, near modern-day Medan-and the kingdom of Aceh at Sumatra's northern tip.
The Acehnese attacked and subdued Aruin 1536, and a Portuguese adventurer by the name of Pinto tells of the attack and the struggle of Aru's queen againts Aceh. This may also be reflected in the Malay (and Karo) legen of Puteri Hijau, the "Green Princess." Aru was finally conquered by Aceh in the early 17th century, and Aceh thereafter controlled the coasts of both eastern and western Sumatra until the early 19th century.
The wealth and independence of Deli and other Malay polities in the area increased dramatically during the 19th century with the development of a lucrative pepper trade with the British, even though the authority of their rulers was largely confined to areas immediately around the river mouths. The Sultan of Deli, for example, controlled an area extending along the lower reaches of the Deli River, from its mouth to Deli Tua, and only "as far as a cannon shot on either side."
The hinterland areas, by contrast, were at this time peopled almost exclusively by Karo Bataks. The Karo lived under their own independent chiefs in the four urung (village federations) of Sunggal (Serbanyaman), Hamparan Perak, Senambah and Sukapiring. Due to the influence of the increasingly prosperous Malay rulers of Deli, several chiefs converted to Islam in the early 19th century, and by about 1870 many Karo villagers living in the coastal area had also adopted Islam and Malay culture (masuk Melayu).
The Acehnese attacked and subdued Aruin 1536, and a Portuguese adventurer by the name of Pinto tells of the attack and the struggle of Aru's queen againts Aceh. This may also be reflected in the Malay (and Karo) legen of Puteri Hijau, the "Green Princess." Aru was finally conquered by Aceh in the early 17th century, and Aceh thereafter controlled the coasts of both eastern and western Sumatra until the early 19th century.
The wealth and independence of Deli and other Malay polities in the area increased dramatically during the 19th century with the development of a lucrative pepper trade with the British, even though the authority of their rulers was largely confined to areas immediately around the river mouths. The Sultan of Deli, for example, controlled an area extending along the lower reaches of the Deli River, from its mouth to Deli Tua, and only "as far as a cannon shot on either side."
The hinterland areas, by contrast, were at this time peopled almost exclusively by Karo Bataks. The Karo lived under their own independent chiefs in the four urung (village federations) of Sunggal (Serbanyaman), Hamparan Perak, Senambah and Sukapiring. Due to the influence of the increasingly prosperous Malay rulers of Deli, several chiefs converted to Islam in the early 19th century, and by about 1870 many Karo villagers living in the coastal area had also adopted Islam and Malay culture (masuk Melayu).
The plantation boom
The modern history of the Medan area begins in 1862 when a Dutch entrepreneur, Jacob Nienhuys, recognised the potential of the rich volcanic soils of the area and persauded the Sultan of Deli to grant a concession for the growing of tobacco. Deli wrapper leaf for cigars rapidly became world famous, and from the late 19th century onward, foreign capital flooded into the area.
Thus began the dramatic transformation of a region that was at this time still largely virgin rainforest-rich in elephants, deer, wild pigs, tigers, flying squirrels, monkeys and a host of other creatures. Access to the hinterland was quite arduous in those days-involving travel upriver by perahu then on foot along narrow jungle tracks up into the foothills and across a series of passes onto the Karo plateau and the Simalungun Batak areas to the southeast.
Approached by a steady stream of European entrepreneurs, the Sultan of Deli proceeded to grant concession of land to which he had no traditinal right, consequntly alienating the predominantly Karo inhabitants of the area. This highhanded action led to the Sunggal War of 1872-1897, but with Dutch military help the Karo were put down.
Here too, were the beginnings of the modern Indonesian oil industry. In 1883, following observations of surface oil seepages, a certain Mr. Zijlker was granted an exploratory concession in the Sungai Lipan area by the Sultan of Langkat. This venture was so successful that in 1890 the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Maatschappij tot het Exploiteeren van Petroleum-precursor to Royal Dutch Shell-was formed with a capital of Dfl. 1.1 million, a considerable sum in those days.
International investments were much larger here than in any other area of the archipelago in the pre-war period, as capital for plantation and other development poured in from the United States, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Japan and Holand. As the indigeneous inhabitants were few in number and had no wish to work for European masters, thousands of immigrants laborers were brought in to work the plantations, initially from China and India, but later from Java and Madura. The population of the so-called Cultuurgebied plantation area around Medan subsequently rose ten-fold, from 120,000 in 1880 to 1.2 million in 1920.
The cultivation of tobacco reached boom proportions by 1890, and was followed in turn by rubber, oil palms, sisal and tea. By 1925, over a million hectares of jungle had been cleared and cultivated. The east coast sultans of Deli, Langkat, Serdang and Asahan waxed fat on the incomes of their leased concessions in this period-their splendid courts rivaling those of the Malay Peninsula and Java. This ended abruptly in 1946 with a "cultural revolution" instigated by young rebels, in which many of the Malay aristocracy, including the brilliant Malay poet Tengku Amir Hamzah, were brutally murdered.
Events following Independecce upset the status qou in the east coast areas. A rapid influx of Batak settlers into the rich plantation areas caused major demographic changes. From then on the population was no longer predominently Malay, Javanese and Chinese, but was dominated by Batak peoples from the highlands.
-MEDAN SIGHTS
-MEDAN SIGHTS
Vestiges of a Plantation Boomtown
Medan has changed considerably over the past several decades. Before the war this was a small but fabulously wealthy plantation city with some 60,000 inhabitans. Today it is a sprawling and bustling metropolis-its busy streets are lined with minibuses and noisy motorised becak that produce voluminous clouds of thick, acrid smoke. The preindependence population of Chinese, Indians, Javanese and Europeans has been swamped by an influx indigenous Sumatrans-predominantly Bataks, but also Acehnese, Malays and Minangkabau.
Medan, like Jakarta, is a hot and crowded city, and most visitors rush straight through on the way to the cooler and more scenic highlands. It is in fact quite a shock to land here, especially if you are visiting Indonesia for the first time. On the other hand, Medan has pleasant hotels and well-preserved colonial buildings, a lovely place and mosque, and numerous fascinating temples, markets and ethnic quarters. A day or two can profitably be spent sightseeing; the best way to get around is to hire a car or motorised becak (see"Medan Practicalities")
The old planters' town
Most visitors arrive by air at Polonia International Airport, once the city's racetrack and before that a Polish-owned tobacco plantation. The Deli River flows past the northern end of the runway, marked by a line of coconut trees, with the dome-shaped roof of the Sultan of Deli's palace visible in the distance. Polonia was the fashionable colonial residential neighborhood, and lavish villas still line its broad, shady boulevards.
The colonial period main street, Jalan Jendral Ahmad Yani, with is many european style buildings, is still known locally as Kesawan, the road to the sawah or rice fields. Here, behind an iron grill fence alongside numerous Chinese shops, is the mansion of the former millionaire Kapitan Cina or head of the Chinese community, Tjong A Fie, who made and lost a fortune in the booming plantation world of the 1920s and '30s. Opposite his house is the Cafe Tip Top, once a favorite haunt of Medan's colonial society and still in almost original condition-where one can sit beside the sidewalk sipping iced Vienna coffee and nibbling one some of their Dutch-style koekjes as the world goes by.
At the northern end of Jl. Ahmad Yani are the offices of London-based Harrisons and Crosfield Ltd., built of Aberdeen granite imported as ballast during the 1920s, and now occupied by P.T. London Sumatra building, at the junction of Jl. Kesenian and Jl. Hindu, is a palque laid by Baron MacKay, former burgemeester (mayor) of Medan, in 1926. East on the opposite side of Jl. Hindu, at Gang Bengkok, is a small mosque with an ancient well-reputedly the oldest in Medan-possibly that mentioned by Anderson in 1823.
Around the padang or town square to the north of Jl. Ahmad Yani are several colonial buildings, notably the old town hall, the Bank of Indonesia building (formerly the Javaasche Bank), the Bank Negara (formerly the exclusive Witte Societeit club, built in 1879), and the Hotel Dharma Deli, which incorporates the old Hotel Deboer-made famous by the Ladislao szekely novel, Tropic Fever, which describes the experiences of a young European planter in Sumatra in the early years of this century. The old train station has gone, but the jembatan gantung, the original suspensions bridge over the railway, remains.
One the corner of Jl. Puteri Hijau, the colonial era Post Office stands virtually unchanged, with the Nienhuys fountain just outside-dedicated to the man responsible for the Medan area plantation boom. Just around the corner on Jl. H.M. Yamin (formerly Jl. Serdang), one may walk against the flow of one-way traffic to see the former DSM (Deli Spoorweg Maatschappij) railway office adjacent to a one-meter gauge railway that still carries the bulk of North Sumatra's plantation produce, linking the harbor of Belawan-Deli with Pematang Siantar and Rantau Prapat to the south. On nearby Jl. Tembakau Deli is the former VDM (Vereenigde Deli Maatschappij) building built by Nienhuys in 1869, now headquarters of PTP IX, a state-owned plantation company.
One block from the southern end of Jl. Ahmad Yani is the former AVROS (Algemeene Vereeniging van Rubberpplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra) building, now its green-tiled dome and dark teak-panelled boardroom.
Maimon Palace
Directly to the south is Istana Maimoon, the ceremonial palace of the sultans of Deli, with its yellow trim (yellow is the color of Malay royalty) and typical east coast Malay architecture. It was actually designed by an Italian architec and completed in 1888.The audience hall, with portraits of the Deli royal family, old Dutch furniture and a few weapons, is open to the public. It has patterned tiles and elegant moorish archways supported by large pillars covered in floral patterns. Malay dance performances, accompanied by traditional music, are held here to accompany weddings and other festivities. The Sultan now lives in Jakarta, where he is a member of parliament; the palace living quarters are occupied by the sultan's brother.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, Malay royalty lived with great pomp in splendid style. With the establishment of Dutch suzerainty and the completion of the new palace in Medan they left their old timber-built home at Labuhan Deli. Malays conceptualized riches in political terms; a rich ruler was one with many subjects, whose duties were primarily cermonial. The revenue from plantations enabled the sultans to support a large retinue of follwers, to make trips to Europe, and to send their children to Dutch or British schools.
The Deli sultans are reputedly descended from Mohammed Dalek Sri Paduka Gocah Pahlawan, a nobleman of Indian descent, appointed governor and first ruler of the state of Deli by the Sultan of Aceh around 1630. Deli was then conquered by Siak in 1770. In 1814, Magidar Alam, the Raja of Deli, was awarded the full title of Sultan Panglima Mangidar Alam Syah ("Sultan Warrior who Encircles the World") by the Sultan of Siak. The Deli family is related by marriage to Malay royal houses in Malaysia.
Beside the Istana is a Karo Batak Style balai or open pavilion, built to house the meriam puntung-the stub of an ancient iron cannon. This is associated with the legendary Puteri Hijau, the "Green Princess," heroine of Deli's wars againts Aceh in the 16th century. She is said to have come from Siberaya in the Karo Highlands and thus reflects Deli's close association with the Karo Batak. The cannon is named Indera Sakti and is said to have been one of the princess's two brothers-the other was a naga or snake of enermous proportions ("naga yang mengamuk") who assisted her in the fight against the Acehnese. This legend may have its origin through Tamil contacts with the Madras area of South India, where there is a similar tale of a Green Goddess.
One block to the east across the single track railway, on Jl. Sisingamangaraja (named after the powerful Batak priest-king killed by the Dutch in 1907), is the Mesjid Raya or Great Mosque, with its imposing tiled archway, royal burial ground and adjacent kolam or tank across the road. From here, looking back along Jl. Sisingamangaraja one may see also the tall water tower adopted as a symbol of the municipality of Medan.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, Malay royalty lived with great pomp in splendid style. With the establishment of Dutch suzerainty and the completion of the new palace in Medan they left their old timber-built home at Labuhan Deli. Malays conceptualized riches in political terms; a rich ruler was one with many subjects, whose duties were primarily cermonial. The revenue from plantations enabled the sultans to support a large retinue of follwers, to make trips to Europe, and to send their children to Dutch or British schools.
The Deli sultans are reputedly descended from Mohammed Dalek Sri Paduka Gocah Pahlawan, a nobleman of Indian descent, appointed governor and first ruler of the state of Deli by the Sultan of Aceh around 1630. Deli was then conquered by Siak in 1770. In 1814, Magidar Alam, the Raja of Deli, was awarded the full title of Sultan Panglima Mangidar Alam Syah ("Sultan Warrior who Encircles the World") by the Sultan of Siak. The Deli family is related by marriage to Malay royal houses in Malaysia.
Beside the Istana is a Karo Batak Style balai or open pavilion, built to house the meriam puntung-the stub of an ancient iron cannon. This is associated with the legendary Puteri Hijau, the "Green Princess," heroine of Deli's wars againts Aceh in the 16th century. She is said to have come from Siberaya in the Karo Highlands and thus reflects Deli's close association with the Karo Batak. The cannon is named Indera Sakti and is said to have been one of the princess's two brothers-the other was a naga or snake of enermous proportions ("naga yang mengamuk") who assisted her in the fight against the Acehnese. This legend may have its origin through Tamil contacts with the Madras area of South India, where there is a similar tale of a Green Goddess.
One block to the east across the single track railway, on Jl. Sisingamangaraja (named after the powerful Batak priest-king killed by the Dutch in 1907), is the Mesjid Raya or Great Mosque, with its imposing tiled archway, royal burial ground and adjacent kolam or tank across the road. From here, looking back along Jl. Sisingamangaraja one may see also the tall water tower adopted as a symbol of the municipality of Medan.
The polonia area
A walk from the AVROS building westwards along Jl. Suprapto into the Polonia area adjacent to the airport will give an impression of what the colonial Medan lifestyle was like in the '20 and '30s.This walk leads over the Deli River past the former HVA (Handels Vereeniging Amsterdam) building, now used as a police headquarters, and past St. Elizabeth Hospital. Broad, tree-lined avenues with their tall, red-flowered spathodeas and bungalow-style houses set well back from the road in colorful shrub-lined gardens imparts a feeling of security and affluence. Most of the Medan expatriate population still live here, though as in the rest of the town, changes are visible and numerous architectural alterations have been undertaken to suit modern Indonesian taste.
At the corner of Jl. Iman Bonjol and Jl. Sukamulia, in the courtyard of the Danau Toba Hotel, with its traditional Batak-style entrance, is the former Dutch Assistant Resident's house, now part of the modern hotel complex. Next door on Jl. Iman Bonjol is the Buddhist Vihara Borobudur temple.
Further west on Jl. Diponegoro is the Provincial Governor's office, a single-storey shuttered colonial structure with neo-classical pillars, originally the Deli Tabaksproefstation. Immediately behind this, the Medan Club, with its fine timber pillars and open design, was built by Allied prisoners-of-war as a Shinto temple for use by officers during the Japanese occupation.
To the south, overlooking the Babura River, is the Vihara Gunung Timur. This is the largest Chinese temple in Medan, perhaps in Indonesia. Nearby is the Immanuel Protestant Church, built in 1921-a fine example of art-deco colonial architecture.
To the north along Jl. Iman Bonjol is another square dominated by the modern Batak-style Provincial Assembly building, the Benteng Restaurant and Convention Hall built on the site of the original military baracks, and the Dirga Surya Hotel, with a line of evening foodstalls in front.
Nearby Kampung Keling (Jl. Zainul Arifin), a busy commercial center, is, as its name implies, the original center of Medan's Indian community. Its high-walled Sri Mariamman temple devoted to the goddes Kali was built in 1884; the entrance is topped by a small gopuram or ornamental pyramidal gateway. The Medan Indian community are mainly descendents of South Indians who came to work on plantations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A second though less impressive Sri Mariamman temple on Bekala Estate, off the road to Pancurbatu some 11 km south of Medan near the Sepit River, was established in 1876 and is the site of the Hindu Theemithi fire-walking ceremony during the annual Thapusam festival-one of the few places where it is still held.
At the corner of Jl. Iman Bonjol and Jl. Sukamulia, in the courtyard of the Danau Toba Hotel, with its traditional Batak-style entrance, is the former Dutch Assistant Resident's house, now part of the modern hotel complex. Next door on Jl. Iman Bonjol is the Buddhist Vihara Borobudur temple.
Further west on Jl. Diponegoro is the Provincial Governor's office, a single-storey shuttered colonial structure with neo-classical pillars, originally the Deli Tabaksproefstation. Immediately behind this, the Medan Club, with its fine timber pillars and open design, was built by Allied prisoners-of-war as a Shinto temple for use by officers during the Japanese occupation.
To the south, overlooking the Babura River, is the Vihara Gunung Timur. This is the largest Chinese temple in Medan, perhaps in Indonesia. Nearby is the Immanuel Protestant Church, built in 1921-a fine example of art-deco colonial architecture.
To the north along Jl. Iman Bonjol is another square dominated by the modern Batak-style Provincial Assembly building, the Benteng Restaurant and Convention Hall built on the site of the original military baracks, and the Dirga Surya Hotel, with a line of evening foodstalls in front.
Nearby Kampung Keling (Jl. Zainul Arifin), a busy commercial center, is, as its name implies, the original center of Medan's Indian community. Its high-walled Sri Mariamman temple devoted to the goddes Kali was built in 1884; the entrance is topped by a small gopuram or ornamental pyramidal gateway. The Medan Indian community are mainly descendents of South Indians who came to work on plantations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A second though less impressive Sri Mariamman temple on Bekala Estate, off the road to Pancurbatu some 11 km south of Medan near the Sepit River, was established in 1876 and is the site of the Hindu Theemithi fire-walking ceremony during the annual Thapusam festival-one of the few places where it is still held.
Medan's Chinatown
East of the railway, centered on Jl. Sutomo, is Medan's Chinatown, the heart of North Sumatra's wholesale trade-with shops selling everything from heavy machinery to toiletries. Here are Medan's two main markets, Pasar Hongkong and Pasar Sentral-havens for local pickpockets. This area has changed dramatically in recent years as the streets have been widened for ease of access. Unfortunately, most of the old shopfronts have been cut off as a result, though you can still see many shops and small Chinese restaurants run in the traditional manner.
During the durian season, heaps of fruit are offered for sale throughout the area (bargain hard!). Here too, in the evening, you will find colorful Chinese and seafood stalls lining Jl. Selat Panjang. Medan can offer a wide variety of delicious food, from roadside foodstalls serving basic Padang or Chinese meals, to plush, air -conditioned restaurants serving expensive Chinese and European banguets.
-MEDAN SIDETRIPS
Historic Sites Along the Deli River
A number of day excursions may be made to places around Medan. All main roads in the area are in quite good condition, but many secondary (kabupaten) roads, although asphalted, are still rough and uneven. Off the beaten track it is advisable to use a jeep-type vehicle with rugged suspension. Organized tours with a car and guide are available to any of these places through agents in Medan (see "Medan Practicalities").
Old Deli
Deli Tua or Old Deli (also known as Benteng Puteri Hijau, the "Fortress of the Green Princess") is the ancient site of the Aru court, overlooking the west bank of the Deli River (Lau Petani) about 10 km upstream from Medan, opposite Pasar Deli Tua. The area my be reached by going south from the Maimoon Palace (Jl. Brigjen Katamso) toward Namorambe. Along the way you can stop at the Research Institute of the Sumatra Planters' Association (RISPA) at Kampung Baru-a good example of prewar colonial architechture-and at Taman Margasatwa, Medan's zoo, to see the Sumatra tigers and a range of birds and other animals.
Just before Deli Tua, a small road to the right leads across the river, and further south are tracks leading to two sets of ramparts overlooking the Deli River-one site occupied by the modern Karo village of Deli Tua Lama, the rest given over to the cultivation of cassava gardens. This was once the seat of the seat of the piratical kings of Aru who harassed Malacca during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is closely associated with the legend of the "green princess" from Siberaya, in Tiga Panah district on the Karo Plateau. Despite Portuguese assistance, Deli Tua was destroyed by the Acehnese in 1536.
According to one version of the story, the Acehnese fired cannon loaded with thousands of small gold coins called dirham into the bamboo pagar defences, and then withdrew. When the men of Aru cut down the bamboo to recover the gold, the Acehnese attacked, causing a rout.
Just before Deli Tua, a small road to the right leads across the river, and further south are tracks leading to two sets of ramparts overlooking the Deli River-one site occupied by the modern Karo village of Deli Tua Lama, the rest given over to the cultivation of cassava gardens. This was once the seat of the seat of the piratical kings of Aru who harassed Malacca during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is closely associated with the legend of the "green princess" from Siberaya, in Tiga Panah district on the Karo Plateau. Despite Portuguese assistance, Deli Tua was destroyed by the Acehnese in 1536.
According to one version of the story, the Acehnese fired cannon loaded with thousands of small gold coins called dirham into the bamboo pagar defences, and then withdrew. When the men of Aru cut down the bamboo to recover the gold, the Acehnese attacked, causing a rout.
Belawan and Kota Cina
Medan's port of Belawan, the third largest in Indonesia, is situated in the opposite direction, downstream from Medan, on a mangrove-lined estuary at the confluence of the Belawan and Deli rivers. Extensive cargo and passenger terminals and palm oil storage facilities have been completed in the past deacade to ease what had become a major bottleneck in Indonesia's effort to increae exports. Here also is the giant Ivomas palm oil refinery and oleo-chemical plant, and the nearby archaeological site of Kota Cina.
Belawan is some 25 km north of the city. Most of Medan's new industrial development is sited along the old Belawan road, which was built in the late 19th century and follows the course of the Deli River. Along the way it passes through Pulau Brayan (Tanjung Mulia area), once known as Kota Jawa-where vestiges of a 14th century earthen rampart are visible in a graveyard to the left of the road-then through Kota Bangun and Labuhan. The latter was Medan's first port and consists of a ramshackle street of wooden buildings, now bypassed by the road and by time.
The opening of the Belawan-medan-Tanjung Muara toll road to the east of the old road means that much of the heavier traffic can now bypass the Belawan town center. The name Belawan derives either from the name of a type of tree found here (Terminalia citrina, Roxb.), or from the Karo dusun word erbulawan, meaning to make an agreement on oath-as here an ancient shrine is associated with the "Green Princess" of Karo legend, and oaths were once made.
There are several good evening seeafood restaurants and a flourishing market for modern Chinese-style ceramics. Passenger connections are available to Jakarta, Bintan Island opposite Singapore, Padang and by ferry to Penang. Elaborate bamboo fishtraps line the channel to the sea, and long elevated walkways lead to rows of Malay houses perched on stilts above the water.
Nearby Kota Cina is the site of an 11th to 14th century South Indian and Chinese trading settlement, with its adjacent harbor of Paya Pasir. It may be reached from the old Belawan road by turning left at Titipapan (km16), past the jail on the left and over the Deli River, proceeding about 2 km toward Hamparan Perak and turning right along a track to Rengaspulau and Kota Cina, two typical Malay villages. A caretaker, whose house is adjacent to the village primary school, is usually present.
Evidence suggest that Kota Cina was linked with places as far afield as Java, south China, Sri Lanka, India and the Persian Gulf through a complex web of regional and international trade routes in ancient times. At Paya Pasir, the wrecks of ten ancient ships constructed with the Southeast Asian lash lug technique were discovered by accident when sand was being dug for the construction of the Belawan-Medan tol road. This former harbor site is now, unfortunately, almost totaly destroyed due to commercial sand exploitation, and only limited excavation work could be undertaken. Buddha and Vaisnavite images from a brick Buddhist asrama and other artifacts from Kota Cina are now in the North Sumatra Provincial Museum in Medan.
Bukit Lawang (Bahorok)
The Bukit Lawang Orangutan Rehabilitation Station, established in 1973 (see following article for more details), is some some 76 km and 3 hour's drive west of Medan (4 hours by bus). About 6 km out of town, you may or may not want to stop at the Crocodile Farm at Sunggal-the largest in Indonesia, with some 1,500 reptiles packed in like sardines. from here, the road leads west throught Binjai to Belarang-famous for its juicy, grapefruit-like pomelos (jeruk bali)-and on to Kuala, railhead for the one-meter gauge North Sumatra railway system. Along the way you pass through vast rubber and oil palm plantations, now obscured by roadside development.
Bahorok was the former seat of the Malayized Kejuruan Langkat, and formed the upper limit of Malay cultural influence on the Wampu River. The Langkat Ulu (upper Langkat) area is, however, essentially a Karo dusun area with a sizeable number of Javanese settlers who originally came to work on the plantations. The last stretch along the Bohorok River to Bukit Lawang leads through a lovely irrigated rice area.
At Bukit Lawang there are basic bamboo chalets for those who wish to stay overnight by the river at the edge of the forest. Although the elevation, is not high-only about 90 m above sea level-the evenings can be quite cool. Good durian and rambutan are available in season and Tertiary limestone caves are found in the immediate vicinity, with a pre-Tertiary carboniferous formation around Bohorok. A sidetrip from Bohorok for the fit and adventurous leads to Pintu Angin, the "door of the wind"-a hole in the limestone walls near the village of Batukatak, about 5 km upstream from Bohorok. An underground river flows nearby.
-GUNUNG LAUSER PARK
As with any Southeast Asian rainforest, the principal difficulty in Gunung Leuser is in finding a way to get in and out without slogging uncomfortably for hours through damp, leech-ridden jungle. The other problem, of course, is to see something once you are there, Fortunately, this park is easily accessible at the Orangutans Rehabilitation Station at Bukit Lawang, 9 km past Bohorok and about 76 km west of Medan. Here, young orphaned orangutans are trained to live in the wild, and since its establishment in 1973 over 150 have been returned to the forest.
The path ends at a bend in the river and one has to cross over here to reach the station , which discourages too many people from entering. In order to cross you have to attract the attention of the park wardens, who ferry you in a cable-and-pulley driven dugout canoe. Make sure you find out the current feeding times in Bukit Lawang before walking to the station, because the wardens are very strict about not letting people cross at other times. Normal feeding times are in the early morning and afternoon, but they are periodically stopped to encourage the orangutans to become more independent.
Once across the river, a steep muddy trail through the forest leads to a platform above the station where the young orangutans are fed their twice-daily ration of bananas and milk. Some of these animals have been deliberately orphaned by hunters who illegally pets, while others became homeless when their habitat was destroyed by loggers.
New arrivals are kept in quarantine for 3 to 4 months to reduce the risk of passing infections to the wild population. During this period, they are introduced to some of the things every young orangutan should know: how to eat leaves and fruit and how to build a comfortable sleeping nest by bending branches together.
The next stage is to introduce the young orangutans gradually to life in the wild. Park werdens carry the apes piggy-back up to the feeding platform, so they can practice clambering about the branches and make the acquaintance of the other orangutans. After a couple of weeks, they are left at the feeding platform to begin to fend for themselves. Some, pining for human company, return to the station, but most quickly learn the pathways through the forest, and the places to find wild fruits.
Not far from Kutacane the road passes the scientific research center at Ketambe, but the scientists do not welcome casual visitors and travelers should definitely not plan in staying there. The road to Blangkejeren runs for part of its length along the Alas River, which offers another excellent way to travel trough the park, by taking a white-water rafting trip (see “Medan Practicalities” and “Western Aceh” for more details)
Alternatively, you can set out through the jungle with guides and porters hired at Kotacane. The danger from tigers here is probably exaggerated, but be careful; it is said that women squatting in the forest at night are particularly vulnerable. Fieldworkers, however, consider themselves fortunate to catch the merest glimpse of one fleeing from them. Hikers are much more likely to see a wild orangutan or other primates. The graceful dark grey and cream Thomas’s leafmonkey and the more prosaic long-tailed macaques are frequently encountered-a crashing in the branches often indicates the presence of a troop of one of these species.
One of the most exciting experiences of the forest is to see and hear a family of whitehanded gibbons or the lerger black siamangs, as their whooping calls ring out across the hills and valleys. The white-handed gibbons call in a series of high yells, while the siamangs have a deeper, bubbling whoop backed by a booming sound made by their inflatable throat pouches.
-GUNUNG LAUSER PARK
A School For Orphaned Orangutans
Gunung Lauser, established in 1980, is one of Indonesia’s oldest national parks. It straddles the border between Aceh and North Sumatera, covering an area of some 8,000 sq km and encompassing some of the most spectacular montane and equatorial forests in Asia. Its wildlife includes most of Sumatra’s extensive range of mammals-including elephants, rhinos, tigers, sun bears, gibbons, macaques, tapirs, squirrels, clouded leopards and orangutans. Also found are about 500 bird species notably the hornbills and argus pheasant.As with any Southeast Asian rainforest, the principal difficulty in Gunung Leuser is in finding a way to get in and out without slogging uncomfortably for hours through damp, leech-ridden jungle. The other problem, of course, is to see something once you are there, Fortunately, this park is easily accessible at the Orangutans Rehabilitation Station at Bukit Lawang, 9 km past Bohorok and about 76 km west of Medan. Here, young orphaned orangutans are trained to live in the wild, and since its establishment in 1973 over 150 have been returned to the forest.
Visiting the park
A 3-hour journey from Medan (see “Medan Sidetrips”) brings you to the village of Bukit Lawang, where permits to visit the center can be obtained upon showing your passport. From here, a rocky 2-km path leads to the banks of the Landat River past cacao plantations and limestone cave.The path ends at a bend in the river and one has to cross over here to reach the station , which discourages too many people from entering. In order to cross you have to attract the attention of the park wardens, who ferry you in a cable-and-pulley driven dugout canoe. Make sure you find out the current feeding times in Bukit Lawang before walking to the station, because the wardens are very strict about not letting people cross at other times. Normal feeding times are in the early morning and afternoon, but they are periodically stopped to encourage the orangutans to become more independent.
Once across the river, a steep muddy trail through the forest leads to a platform above the station where the young orangutans are fed their twice-daily ration of bananas and milk. Some of these animals have been deliberately orphaned by hunters who illegally pets, while others became homeless when their habitat was destroyed by loggers.
New arrivals are kept in quarantine for 3 to 4 months to reduce the risk of passing infections to the wild population. During this period, they are introduced to some of the things every young orangutan should know: how to eat leaves and fruit and how to build a comfortable sleeping nest by bending branches together.
The next stage is to introduce the young orangutans gradually to life in the wild. Park werdens carry the apes piggy-back up to the feeding platform, so they can practice clambering about the branches and make the acquaintance of the other orangutans. After a couple of weeks, they are left at the feeding platform to begin to fend for themselves. Some, pining for human company, return to the station, but most quickly learn the pathways through the forest, and the places to find wild fruits.
The steady diet of bananas at the station is deliberately monotonous to encourage the animals to forage for themselves and find more interesting food. Gradually, the orangutans return less frequently to be fed, and after six months or so they disappear into the vast forests of Gunung Leuser. Most are never seen again, but occasionaly one will be spotted in the forest, sometimes with her own baby-a sign of the program’s success.
Adventurous types might like to try the
speedy route back to Bukit Lawang by hiring an inflated inner tube in the village and riding the rapids
downriver from the end of the path opposite the orang-utan station. Once
back at Bukit Lawang, good food and accommodation are available and there
is an excellent visitors' center with displays and slide-shows
about the wildlife and ecology of the park. It is difficult and dangerous for the uninitiated traveler to head off alone into the forest from here because of the dense vegetation, steep terrain and absence of clearly-marked trails, and it is therefore a good idea to join one of the hikes organized by the staff at the visitors’ center. These can range from a few hours to several days, depending on the visitors’ inclination. One option is to walk right through the national park across the mountains to Kutacane, which takes 3 or 4 days.
The alas river valley
Bohorok and its immediate hinterland lie in the province of North Sumatra, but most of Gunung Leuser lies in the in the province of Aceh. The park’s administrative center is here, at Kutacane (pronounced: KU-ta-CHA-nay) in the Alas River valley, a 6-8 hour drive from Medan. Permits can be obtained for entry into the park on production of photocopies of your passport, but once again, the difficulty is in finding an interesting route into the jungle. One solution is simply to walk along the road running northwest from Kutacane to Blangkejeren. This road bisects the park, and although the area is inhabited it also passes through dense forest. Without the worry of path-finding or attacks from wild tigers, it is possible to concentrate on observing the birds and other wildlife from the road. It is even possible to walk to Blangkejeren in a couple of days, sleeping in villages along the way. There is little traffic, but you may be passed by the occasional minibus which will pick you up if you are tired of walking.Not far from Kutacane the road passes the scientific research center at Ketambe, but the scientists do not welcome casual visitors and travelers should definitely not plan in staying there. The road to Blangkejeren runs for part of its length along the Alas River, which offers another excellent way to travel trough the park, by taking a white-water rafting trip (see “Medan Practicalities” and “Western Aceh” for more details)
Alternatively, you can set out through the jungle with guides and porters hired at Kotacane. The danger from tigers here is probably exaggerated, but be careful; it is said that women squatting in the forest at night are particularly vulnerable. Fieldworkers, however, consider themselves fortunate to catch the merest glimpse of one fleeing from them. Hikers are much more likely to see a wild orangutan or other primates. The graceful dark grey and cream Thomas’s leafmonkey and the more prosaic long-tailed macaques are frequently encountered-a crashing in the branches often indicates the presence of a troop of one of these species.
One of the most exciting experiences of the forest is to see and hear a family of whitehanded gibbons or the lerger black siamangs, as their whooping calls ring out across the hills and valleys. The white-handed gibbons call in a series of high yells, while the siamangs have a deeper, bubbling whoop backed by a booming sound made by their inflatable throat pouches.
