Medan
© OpenStreetMap, CARTO
Horas! | Greetings (Batak)
Why visit
Maimoon Palace, the 1888 home of the Sultan of Deli, mixes Malay, Mughal, and Spanish architecture in canary yellow. The Tjong A Fie Mansion preserves a perfectly intact 1900 Chinese-Indonesian merchant house. Vihara Gunung Timur, the largest Chinese temple in Indonesia, sits beside Hindu temples and mosques in a one-kilometer stretch. Medan food is legendary, try babi panggang Karo (roast pork), bika ambon (gooey cassava cake), and kopi tiam coffee. Lake Toba and Bukit Lawang are 4 to 6 hours away by road.
When to avoid
Medan is heavily congested and polluted. Visit smart with a driver rather than walking long distances. Petty theft and motorcycle bag-snatching happen, don't dangle bags. Sumatra's rainforests are subject to seasonal haze from agricultural fires (August to October). Air quality can drop to hazardous. Most travelers see Medan briefly as a transit point to Lake Toba. Don't let the gritty first impression deter visiting nearby spots.
