harsha

I'm planning a 7 day trip to Sumatra,Indonesia in Dec 06.Can anyone pl help me with information about the place.Primary interests are wildlife & nature trails.A visit to the volcanic area,try the offbeat trail.
Any advice on costing for inland travel and food.Good and moderate places to stay,dos & don'ts.Thanks

harsha

I got no reply so i'm topping the thread.Can anyone please advise.postponed my travel to end Jan early Feb.

tnnc

I have been to Lake Toba on Sumatra. Flew into Medan and took a bus to Lake Toba. The area is very pretty.

LeighTravelClub

Sadly I have no first-hand knowledge of Sumatra. It's high on our list after our Borneo trip earlier this year.You may have seen the links below but if not you might find some help there
http://www.dharssi.org.uk/travel/ind...kitlawang.html

http://www.dharssi.org.uk/travel/ind...berastagi.html

http://www.belitungisland.com/

james_holman

I made several trips to Sumatra around 1995. The 2 most interesting places were Pulau Nias and the Pagar Alam area west of Palembang. The more usual spots are Lake Toba and Bukkitingi -- home of the 'flying foxes' More info if you would like but 10 years old.

ekscrunchy

I spent a week in Sumatra in 1981 so my information will not help you much. But one thing you should check out is the Orangutang sanctuary which is near Bukit Lawang, I believe. Do you have the appropriate guidebooks yet?

harsha

Thanks evereybody.There is very little info I'm able to gather on Sumatra.The place has always facinated me. James & Ekscrunchy, the places you've mentioned are infact where I plan to go too.I.ve got some info on Medan but little about other things like mode of transport,though I was told the roads are bad and inland travel is a time consuming & tedious.
I also got in touch with a travel agent( thinking it would be a safe bet in a strange place) who has painted a rosy picture.Dont no how much to believe him.I prefer to do it on my own like I always done ( minus extra baggage like an agent)
Any suggestion for the guide book.Is there a lonely planet 'Sumatra'?.

marmot

harsha, I wish I could give you some firsthand information, but although Sumatra's on my wish list, I haven't made it there yet.

My suggestion would be to use the internet to make hotel reservations then ask the hotels to help you with sight-seeing and inter-city connections.

Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree has some posters who fairly knowledgeable about this part of the world. This information would be more updated than a guidebook.

ekscrunchy

When I was there we used the Moon Handbook to Indonesia along with the yellow Lonely Planet Southeast Asia guide. LP now has an Indonesia guide and I think that Moon Indonesia is still published. I am not certain if there are dedicated Sumatra guides..

LeighTravelClub

Footprint do an excellent guide book on Sumatra. It's available from Amazon.