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INSIDE SUMATRA:TANGKAHAN & BUKIT LAWANG



TANGKAHAN
Elephant Trek
It is a small village on the border of Gunung Leuser National Park located in North Sumatra. It is situated at the junction of 2 rivers, the Buluh River and the Batang River. Tangkahan specialises in eco-tourism activities like jungle trekking and Elephant trekking.
There are 7 trained elephants at Tangkahan which are available for jungle trekking though their primary role is to patrol and protect the National Park from illegal activities like animal poaching and illegal logging. These elephants were original troublesome elephants that were involved in destroying fields and houses in surrounding villages. Now they serve to protect not only the villages but other elephants in the wild.
When you arrive at Tangkahan you need to pay Rp.2000 at the Visitors Centre to go down to the river. Then to cross the river it is 10,000Rp per person for 3 days, you can cross as many times as you like.
  • Tangkahan River Crossing


  • Elephant camp
    The Elephant camp is a 15 - 20 minute walk up river from the visitors centre in Tangkahan. They bathe the elephants everyday at 9am and 4pm. You'll need to purchase a ticket at the visitors centre for Rp.20.000 per person before you go to the elephant camp.

     
  • Elephant Trekking
    There are various options for experience trekking in the jungle on the back of an elephant. There is a minimum of a 1 hour trek up to a 4 day trek through the Gunung Leuser National Park to Bukit Lawang. Trekking to Bukit Lawang is possible and will take 4 days.

    Price:
    1 hour trek    Rp.160,000/person
    2 hour trek    Rp.300,000/person
    3 hour trek    Rp.420,000/person 
    How to get to Tangkahan
    There are 2 ways you can get to Tangkahan. From Medan there are only 2 buses a day leaving from Pinang Baris Bus Terminal, leaving at 10am and 1pm and taking around 4.5 - 5 hours (longer if raining). The cost is 15,000Rp per person.
    Buses leave Tangkahan at 7.30am and 2.30pm to go back to Medan.
    You can also get to Tangkahan from Bukit Lawang either on the back of a motorbike, a very bumpy 3 hour trip or hire a 4WD to take you. Prices for a 4WD can be up to 1,000,000Rp (US$83) for a one way trip.


BUKIT LAWANG
Entrace of Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser

The best way to experience the jungle is to go trekking. You can arrange 3 hours trekking, 6 hours or 1, 2, 3 days or more with the chance of spotting various wildlife as well as some beautiful spots like waterfalls and swimming holes.
The guides in Bukit Lawang need to be certified with the local PHPA office and need to renew their license each year. The guides will generally find you as they are always hunting tourists. Many of the current trekking guides have come from other areas of Sumatra and learned to be guides.
Cost for trekking is 65 Euros per night per person. This includes your food and coming back via tubing down the river. You can arrange for a half day trek, up to 4 hours for 20 Euros per person or a 6 hour trek for 35 Euros per person.
The conservation status of the orangutan became of international concern in the 1960s, and in 1964 the Sepilok orangutan rehabilitation centre, in Sabah, Malaysia, became the first to attempt to rehabilitate captive orangutan. In 1971, the Ketambe orangutan centre was established in Aceh, North Sumatra, not far as the crow flies from Bukit Lawang, but a long way and arduous by road.

Bridge Crossing
  • Bahorok Orangutan Centre
The Bohorok Orangutan Centre (Bohorok is the nearest town to Bukit Lawang, and also the name of the river that runs through both places) was established in Bukit Lawang in 1973 by Regina Frey and Monica Boerner, two Swiss zoologists as a rehabilitation centre for captive orangutans. Although illegal, orangutans were widely held as pets in Indonesia, and the centre sought to reintroduce them to the wild. It was supported by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and Frankfurt Zoological Society. 

Map & Location:
The centre was built a couple of kilometres from the village in order to minimise contact with humans - the orangutans were after all being trained to live away from human contact. The ability to see orangutans in close proximity brought first local and later international tourists to the village, and soon a visitors centre was built, as more tourists arrived.
In 1976 the government agency PHPA built the first guesthouse, against the wishes of the WWF, which was concerned about greater tourist numbers exposing orangutans to human diseases. In 1980 the rehabilitation centre was taken over by the government, and the WWF's involvement ended.
Tourism developed rapidly in the early 1990s, with accommodation going from three guesthouses in 1989 to 32 in 1991. By 1994 the government recognised that with increased development and tourist numbers Bukit Lawang no longer functioned for rehabilitation given the problems of mass tourism and issues such as guides feeding the released orangutans. Since that time Bukit Lawang functions as a location to view semi-wild orangutans, either at the twice-daily feeding sessions or as part of a jungle trek.
Orangutan Conservation
For local tourists. who usually visit on weekends, particularly Sundays, visiting the jungle is of lesser interest, and many prefer to relax in the village, swimming or tubing in the river, eating in the simple restaurants and related activities.

Jungle Trek
Bukit Lawang is a great place to learn a bit more about orangutans and also enjoy a relaxing time by the river on the edge of a national park.While such experiences can be had all over the Southeast Asian backpacker trail, many visitors return to Bukit Lawang over and over again because things in Bukit Lawang are just a little different.

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