TRIP TO BRASTAGI, MEDAN INDONESIA

Berastagi, usually pronounced Brastagi, with an elevation of 1220m, close to Lake Toba is a small, normal busy Indonesian town. Berastagi is located 70km from Medan. It does not rely on tourism so you'll get to see the locals getting on with their lives rather than hassling tourists to make a living.

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There are some great day trips to be done from Berastagi. The area around is the main fruit, vegetable and flower growing area for North Sumatra.

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There is 2 active volcanoes close to Berastagi. Sibayak, closest to town, 2100 meters high and fairly easy to climb and a great place to view the sunrise. And Sinabung, 2400 meters high, quite steep and difficult to climb, often getting on your hands and knees to climb at times.

12kms south of Berastagi is Kabanjahe, from where you can walk 4km to the ancient, traditional village of Lingga where the design of the houses with their horn-shaped roofs has remained unchanged for centuries. Five or six families (or from the Karonese perspective, one extended family) live in each house, but each has its own family stove.

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Right next to the centre of Berastagi is Bukit Gundaling which is a hill overlooking Berastagi, Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung. At the top of the hill are some food and coffee stalls with excellent views over the town. There are also horse riding available up and down the hill.
40 minutes from Berastagi is the Sipiso - piso waterfall ('like a knife') on the northern edge of Lake Toba. The waterfall is 120m high and is formed by an underground river which flows out into the Toba caldera.

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