Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 222

(8am-7pm) is held on top of Gundaling
Hill, from where there are great views of
Gunung Sinabung when the weather
clears. here are also a handful of scenic
waterfalls in the vicinity, by far the most
impressive being the 120m-high
Sipisopiso , a few minutes off the main
road running south of Kabanjahe.
Meanwhile, the surrounding area boasts
a smattering of Karo heritage .

Berastagi to Kabenjahe, then another
minibus to Lingga (Rp3000). Coming
back, there are red Sigantangsira
minibuses departing infrequently direct
to Berastagi (Rp5000).

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By bus Buses to Padang Bulan in Medan (around every
30min 6am-8pm; Rp12,000; 3hr) leave every day from
the bus station at the southern end of Jl Veteran and can
be hailed from anywhere along the main street. Most
hotels, including Losmen Sibayak, arrange direct tourist
buses to Medan (2hr; Rp80,000), Bukit Lawang (4hr
30min; Rp120,000) and Parapat (for Danau Tobal; 4hr
30min; Rp120,000), which is also linked by public buses
(5hr): from Berastagi, the first minibus gets you to
Kabenjahe (Rp4000; 25min), the second to Siantar
(Rp25,000; 3hr) and the third to the jetty at Parapat
(Rp20,000; 1hr 15min; last departure 4pm). Less frequent
buses also connect to Kutacane (Rp70,000; 5hr).

The Karo villages
During the Dutch invasion of 1904, most
of the towns in the Karo Highlands were
razed by the Karonese themselves to
prevent the Dutch from appropriating
them. But there are villages where you can
still see the traditional wooden houses
with their striking palm-frond gables.
he most accessible is Peceren
(donation), 2km northeast of Berastagi.
If you're coming from the town, take the
road to Medan and turn down the lane
on your right after the Green Garden
hotel. here are three traditional houses
here, though the village is probably the
least picturesque example. here are three
more villages to the south of Berastagi,
but many of the houses are slipping into
a terrible state of repair. Lingga
(donation) is probably the best-preserved
Karo village in the area, with ten
traditional houses in various states of
disrepair. It is possible to walk or cycle
here ( Losmen Sibayak has good maps),
otherwise take a yellow Karya minibus
(Rp4000) from the bus station in

INFORMATION
Tourist o ce The friendly tourist o ce at Jl Gundaling 1
(Mon-Sat 8am-5pm; T 0628 91084) is just over the road
from the post o ce, and offers scale-challenged maps,
though information at most hotels tends to be at least
as helpful.
Trekking The Losmen Sibayak and Wisma Sibayak can
set you up with good guides for trekking, or call Awan, a
veteran guide often found at Talitha ( T 0813 7072 1793,
E [e-mail]).

4

ACCOMMODATION
Losmen Sibayak Jl Veteran 119 T 0628 91122. Entered
through a busy travel o ce in the centre of town, this
friendly, no-frills hotel is set back from the noise of the
main road. The rooms are a bit worn, but the best of them

THE KARO
Covering an area of almost five thousand square kilometres, from the northern tip of Danau
Toba to the border of Aceh, the Karo Highlands comprise an extremely fertile volcanic
plateau at the heart of the Bukit Barisan mountains. The plateau is home to more than two
hundred farming villages and two main towns: the regional capital, Kabanjahe, and the
popular market town and tourist resort of Berastagi .
According to local legend, the Karo people were the first of the Batak groups to settle in the
highlands of North Sumatra and, as with all Batak groups, the strongly patrilineal Karo have
their own language, customs and rituals, most of which have survived, at least in a modified
form, to this day. These include convoluted wedding and funeral ceremonies, both of which
can go on for days, and the reburial ceremony , held every few years, where deceased
relatives are exhumed and their bones are washed with a mixture of water and orange juice.
Today, the vast majority of the Karo are Christian, with minorities adhering to Islam and the
traditional Karo religion. However, all members of Karonese society are bound by obligations
to the clan, which are seen as more important than any religious duties.