In Reply to: Sumatra posted by Mic on Wednesday, 15. November 2006 at 06:12 Bali Time:
Two places that are popular in Sumatra is Medan (the capital of north sumatra) with Lake Toba (which was created by a huge volcanic blast about 75,000 years ago and what was left is filled with rain water) and in the middle of that lake is Samosir island, where people still live traditonally and where they used to eat people :)
one of the most popular "souvenirs" there is ULOS a special type of cloth that is usually worn over the shoulder, they have different ones for differents ceremonies..such as weddings and funerals... and also Passionfruit juice is another famed souvenir from that area... the Batak people are divided into two groups... Batak Toba (mostly christian) and Batak Karo (mostly moslem...) and both get along fine
or you have west Sumatra and the capital city of PADANG... where all the yummo food comes from such as rendang etc etc.. although because its up there, its the original stuff and really hot..nothing like u might get at the warung padang (padang shop) in Bali or anywhere else in Indonesia. its to die for!!!
Travel a bit further inland from Padang to Bukit Tinggi (translates to high hill) where there is a beautiful mountainous area, very cool, a nice lake up there, and also you can visit the equator, they have a little monument there to get a pic taken... this whole area is mostly moslem (very strong faithed) and also its another area where the "female" rules the family..or a matriarch society... again very different dances and traditions... !!