North Sumatra
 

Flew from BKI Kota Kinabalu to PEN Penang on 9th January morning and a few hours layover a short flight from Penang to Medan.

Took a Grab from KNO Kualanamu Airport to the hotel in downtown Medan which is around an hour.

10th January 24

Did the touristy stuff and visited the Tjong A Fie Mansion. A lady gave me a guided tour and explained who this guy was and his contributions to Medan in the early 1900's till his death in 1921.
Quite interesting and educational.

Then went to have lunch at a restaurant and got ripped off. It had 2,733 reviews at Google with 4.5 stars.
:thumbdown:

11th January 24

Walked to the mall and an Indian temple.
It's similar to Malaysia.

Medan is a modern city with a population of 2.5 million.

As always when I travel, I like to taste the local street food.
:clap:

Indian temple

Flew from Medan, Indonesia to Penang this morning and tomorrow I fly back to my city Kota Kinabalu.

Will update my ride report in the following days.

:scooter::palm:

What was the rip off?

The lunch.

It was IDR185,000 and was way overpriced for the quality of the food.

When I spoke to local Indonesians about the price they agreed it was definitely not worth the price.

12th January 2024

Today I start my bike tour of North Sumatra.

The route is:
Medan - Berastagi
Berastagi - Ketambe
Ketambe - Takengon
Takengon - Sigli
Sigli - Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh - Meulaboh
Meulaboh - Tapak Tuan
Tapak Tuan - Sidikalang
Sidikalang - Tuktuk Siadong
Tuktuk Siadong - Sidamanik
Sidamanik - Sidang Pedempuan
Simpang Pedempuan - Rantauprapat
Rantauprapat - Tebing Tinggi
Tebing Tinggi - Medan

22 days of biking.
The bike is a Yamaha NMAX 155 scooter with a topbox. It has only slightly over 3,000kms on the odometer so it is very new.
:D:scooter:

12th January 2024
Medan - Berastagi

Fairly short ride of less than 3 hours.
Lots of heavy traffic heading to Berastagi and I noticed straight away that car drivers here are very aggressive.

If you go slow because there is a vehicle in front of you which is slow, they will overtake you even though there is oncoming traffic and then squeeze in front of you. Size does matter and bikes are at the bottom of the food chain.
You have to be constantly aware of your surrounding while riding here.

Berastagi is 1300m above sea level and the weather is pleasant )16-22 °C.
The prices of food here are much cheaper than in Medan.

14th January 2024
Berastagi - Ketambe

Ride duration about 5 hours.

Road was reasonably good. The view of the volcanic mountain was beautiful.
Along the way there are villages/towns almost all the way.
In Vietnam you could go a distance before coming to a town/village.
I wanted to pee but could not find a quiet place. LOL

15th January

Ketambe 1 day jungle trek

Hiked 8km to look for the elusive orangutans.
Managed to see 1 only but it was on a tree branch way up from the ground.

Saw some Thomas leaf monkeys in a group.
Tiring but good workout.
Unfortunate that I could not get a closer view of the4 Sumatran orangutan.

16th January 2024

Ketambe - Takengon

6 1/2 hours ride

Nice road, weather was pleasant and the views were nice.

Takengon is around 1,250m above sea level so the weather is nice.

The accommodation at Takengon was the best during my time in North Sumatra.

17th January 2024

Rain at Takengon so I stayed at the hotel to catch up on my emails.


18th January 2024

Rode a loop of the Takengon lake and the viewpoint to enjoy the scenery.

In Sumatra there is a long line to fill up petrol. However if you fill the RON 92 you don't have to wait in line.
Most of the bikes fill up with RON 87.
For reference the RON87 is about IDR10,000 per litre. The RON92 is IDR13,100 per litre.

Takengon lake

Beautiful views! Pity about not seeing more Orangutans.

How was the weather / temperature? Did you go exploring on smaller roads or stick to main ones?

I stuck to the main roads most of the time following Google maps.

Weather was a mix. Most of the time it didn't rain but there were a few occasions I had to break out the rain gear.

Great photos of the scenery and food
Glad the trip was good.

Wayne

19th January 2024

Takengon - Sigli

5 1/2 hour ride

Sigli is beside the sea so it's hot and humid.

I had the feeling that I was overcharged for food simply because I am not a local Indonesian.
I do speak Bahasa Malaysia which makes it possible to have a conversation with some dissimilarities but on the whole it is understandable both ways.

The Manager at the homestay I was staying at recommended a place for lunch and he said it would be around 30k IDR. I ended up paying 55K.
LOL

20th January 2024

Sigli - Banda Aceh

3 hour ride and Banda Aceh is also beside the sea and was badly devastated on Boxing Day 26th December 2004 tsunami.
I went to the museum and watched a 10 minute video presentation.
About 1/3 of the population perished. It was heart breaking to watch and I didn't feel like taking any pictures after that.

Also went to the boat PLTD Apung 1 (2600 ton) which is a famous landmark now as it was washed ashore 2 to 3km during the tsunami. They turned it into a so called museum and charge a fee to enter. I did not go in as I felt it wasn't a real museum per se and more to get tourists to pay to enter.

I also had a drink of soda and condensed milk. Yuck! Could not finish it as it was weird drinking soda with condensed milk. Way too sweet!

21st January 2024

Banda Aceh - Meulaboh

Another 5 hours plus ride.

I stopped to put on my rain gear for the first time in Sumatra but the rain stopped in 15 minutes so I stopped again to remove the rain jacket and pants! LOL

The ride was nice but I did not stop much as had a long ride ahead.

I went to the same place for dinner twice as I liked the nasi uduk.

23rd January 2024

Meulaboh - Tapak Tuan

Hugging the coastline since Sigli and today's ride to Tapak Tuan is another 5 hour ride.
The waters at Tapak Tuan are clear and beautiful.
This is a overnight stopover on the way to Lake Toba.
The dinner was nice!

24th January 2024

Tapak Tuan - Sidikalang

A long 6 hours ride to Sidikalang. Sidikalang is about 1,000m above sea level.
When I arrived st the homestay the clouds were dark and it started to rain. I did not have my lunch yet and the homestay owner was kind enough to take me out for lunch in his car as there was no food nearby the homestay.
He has a bird which speaks. Not sure of the species but I had a laugh when the bird spoke in the native Indonesian dialect.

Later in the evening, I sat down with the homestay owner and his friends and had a great chat. It was fun!

25th January 2024

Sidikalang - Tuktuk Siadong

A 3 hour plus ride and along the way I went to the still unfinished Christ the Redeemer statue at Samosir.
It is impressive and beautiful.
In this region the Batak ethnic group are predominantly Christians.

Google maps took me on a route which was a small windy road and steep descent.

Since I was on a scooter I had no engine braking and stopped a few times to cool down the brakes.

When I continued from Samosir to Tuktuk Google maps took me on another road which was much better!

:scooter:

26th to 28th January 2024

I stayed at Tuktuk for 4 nights. With an elevation of 900m the temperature is pleasant.

I went to the hot springs for a bath at Samosir but did not take any pictures. Rode a big loop around Lake Toba and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Stayed at a hotel besides the lake and it is indeed peaceful.

:scooter:

One morning I had the urge to eat pancakes. Luckily I found it!

:mchappy:

One thing I noticed in Sumatra was crackers were provided in the meal irrespective if it's rice or noodles.

In Malaysia we hardly have that.

29th January 2024

Tuktuk - Parapat

Woke up early to catch a boat ride from Tuktuk to Parapat. The journey is about 45 minutes.
Felt concerned for the bike as it was in front of the boat and tied down by ropes. If it was a larger bike it would be safer to take the RORO ferry which takes vehicles and bikes.

More beautiful photos! It looks lovely there, I have to admit with twisty roads I'd want to be a bit naughty in the corners if it were me :scooter: For what it's worth a lot of Chinese restaurants in Europe give crackers with every meal too ... it's always a good idea in my opinion :)

How many kilometres were you doing on a normal day? Did you find it physically tiring? (I've only ever ridden one modern shaped scooter, it felt very vulnerable compared to a motorbike and while the seat was comfy I found I couldn't move around as easily when my backside started going to sleep)

Parapat

My boat was the one on the right hand side of the picture.

29th January

Parapat - Sidamanik

A short 3 hour ride. Sidamanik is around 800m above sea level.

Tea plantations and Google maps took me on a circuit loop offroad around the tea plantation.

30th January 2024

Sidamanik - Padang Sidempuan

A long 7 hour ride. Padang Sidempuan is around 320m elevation and I am now taking the long way back to Medan over the next few days.

As I left Sidamanik in the early morning, I never realized how chilly Northern Sumatra can be at the higher elevations. I had to close the chest and arm vents on my Clover jacket.

I was doing from 120 to 250kms per day. The reason I did not put the distances per day but duration of ride was that the road conditions differs..... Some days my average speed was faster but some days was much slower.

Yes it was physically tiring and I had to stop between 1.5 to 2 hours to pee, drink some water & coffee, have a smoke and stretch as my ass was hurting! LOL!
Another factor is that I found myself concentrating and constantly scanning the road and rear view mirrors for cars as they are very aggressive in overtaking bikes. Mentally tiring!

Could not really relax unlike in other countries in SEA where the roads can be deserted for a stretch and less traffic and less aggressive drivers.
I kept my stops for the most part to less than 10 minutes unless I stopped at a roadside coffee stall for hot coffee. Most of my coffee was the bottled type from the ubiquitous Indomaret convenience store (similar to 7-Eleven).

Interesting topic that you brought up: scooter vs motorcycle

I love the scooter for it's low weight, automatic gear, ample under seat storage, your boots won't get dirty/wet when it rains.

I dislike the scooter for it's lack of engine braking since you can't select gears when going downhills. One has to be cautious of overheating the front & rear brakes.
Short suspension travel makes you feel the potholes. Not a comfy ride as compared to long travel suspension ADV or dual sport motorcycle.

Is there a bike that can do all?
The only one that I can think of is the Honda X-ADV 750 which has a 6 speed DCT transmission, 6 inches of suspension travel front & rear, won't get your boots dirty/wet when it rains, under seat storage.
However it won't be light as it's a 750cc 2-cylinder and curb weight is 236kg.
It's also expensive.

It would be great if Honda had a X-ADV in 350cc with DCT transmission which would bring the curb weight down and also the price.

That would be a dream bike for me!:D

There's some people who delight in doing 700km in a day with as few breaks as possible, but you were going at about my usual pace :D

In your photos it all looks tranquil, but the roads were more busy?

As for a Honda X-ADV 350 ... well, there's this ;)

I am not a fast rider and I prefer to ride slow. ha...ha....

I don't have a GoPro or Insta 360 mounted on the helmet but yes, the road is busy & narrow and there are lots of big heavy overloaded trucks going slow and cars/SUV's competing for space to overtake.
The cars overtake on blind corners too and opposite lane vehicles including trucks will also overtake on straight roads even though they see you coming!
It forces you to go to the extreme left to avoid them with inches to spare!
Size matters and bikes are at the bottom of the food chain!

In Thailand I rented a Forza 350 for 3 weeks and it was very nice. Powerful single cylinder 330cc. But it still uses the CVT transmission though so that means no engine braking going downhill.
The X-ADV 350 also does not have the DCT found on the Africa Twin and X-ADV 750.
Well, we can dream ...............:rofl:

31st January 2024

Padang Sidempuan - Rantauprapat

A 4 hour plus ride and I stayed here for 2 nights to relax.

My initial plan was to ride from Padang Sidempuan to Bukittinggi, West Sumatra but that required 13 hours of riding so it would have to be done over 2 days with a overnight stay along the way.
Then I would have to ride all the way back to Medan which would take another 17hours.
I did not have much time left on my Sumatra tour so West Sumatra will be on another tour in the future hopefully.

Starting from Padang Sidempuan, it started to rain 10 minutes in my ride and I stopped to put on my rain jacket and pants.
One thing I liked about my rain pants was that it had zips on both legs that allowed me to quickly put om the rain pants. My previous rain pants only had a zipper on one leg and it was frustrating to put on the rain pants beside the road when it is starting to rain.
It rained for about 2 hours during the ride. Google maps also took me on a little adventure on a unpaved road and I had to backtrack after realizing that the road was bad and i was getting lost.
I stopped to remove my rain gear as it had stopped raining after the little adventure.

Then it started to drizzle and again I had to stop to put on my rain gear. Today's route was bad with broken asphalt and potholes and this was the time I wished I was on a long travel suspension ADV bike to soak all the potholes and rocks.

1st February 2024

Rantauprapat (40m above sea level)

Scored a deal for the cheapest hotel I stayed in Sumatra.

Went to the mall and walked around.
Interestingly Indonesia will be having their presidential and local elections on 14th February and you see large billboards all over the towns and cities.

2nd February 2024

Rantauprapat - Tebing Tinggi (elevation 14m)

Another 5 hour ride bringing me closer to Medan and almost at the end of my tour.

Weather was fine during this ride.
As I am now no more at elevation of around 1,000m it's hot and humid.

The hotel is nice and roomy. Nice to chill and relax in the room.

3rd February 2024

Today is the last leg of my tour.

Tebing Tinggi - Medan

Today's ride is slightly over 2 hours and I chose to stay at Tebing Tinggi as it's closer to Medan so that my final day of riding is short.

The weather was fine and the plan was to ride back to the bike rental and then go to the hotel I booked at Kualanamu which is about 15 minutes away only from the KNO airport.
I chose to stay closer to the airport as my flight leaving Medan was early in the morning and the airport is about 1.5 hours away from downtown Medan.

Along the way I saw a signboard saying Kualanamu which meant I was going to be close to my hotel on the way to Medan. I re-routed Google maps and went straight to the hotel to dump my luggage first and only then return the bike.

All in a total of 22 days riding with a distance covered of slightly more 3,000 kms for North Sumatra.
Returned the bike and then took a Gojek (similar to Grab/Uber) back to the hotel. Celebrated with a beer for completing bike tour #7.

4th February 2024

Kualanamu airport - Penang, Malaysia

Took the complimentary shuttle van to the airport at 0600 hours.
Goodbye Medan and North Sumatra. Great memories and looking forward to my next bike tour.

Flight to Penang is about 50 minutes. Upon arriving at Penang, I took a Grab ride to Georgetown to check in at my hotel.
Went for lunch at my favourite coffee shop and then to Decathlon to return my down jacket which had a tear.

Next morning went to the airport early as I was having lunch with an airline cargo manager.
In my previous life I was based at Penang airport and was the Air Import manager for a MNC logistics company. I worked at Penang for 5 years.

Then final flight from Penang to Kota Kinabalu.

END

So you've been back home for a few days now ... are you craving any of the foods you ate on your trip that aren't usually found at home? Or maybe just the extra crackers?

Thank you for posting up your whole trip, it's nice to read more than "I went here, then I went there" with only two photos :innocent: and North Sumatra isn't a place I've ever read about before.

Yes, I've been back home for a few days already.

To be honest, my favourite food is still Vietnamese and Thai food.
Crackers ..... ha....ha...... a unique thing about Sumatran food!

Thanks for reading my ride report and I did not meet any foreigner on a bike tour in North Sumatra. It's definitely not as popular as Thailand or Vietnam.

:scooter::Dbier:mchappy:

Thanks so much for a great trip report! Brought back some great memories…:thumbup1:

Turbofurball: 700 km a day in Indonesia will never happen as it is physically impossible! The road standards and the amount of vehicles on the roads makes it impossible to move at speeds above 40-50 km/h on average. I rode 400 kms on one day in Indonesia as my longest day, and it was a +12 hour ride with minimal breaks. 300 kms a day is a good day in Indonesia!

Snakeboy,

Very true about the road and traffic conditions. ha...ha......

I rate Sumatra, Indonesia as aggressive drivers whereas Vietnam as chaotic traffic especially at Hanoi.

:rofl:

:palm:

Thanks for sharing your trip, enjoyed reading it

Wayne