Lake Toba News

They are spending a lot of money on roads, railway, etc in/around Lake Toba. Meanwhile no money is invested on the rest of North Sumatra's tourist sites. They should be a one.

It appears there were a lot more years ago until they changed the visa rules and it has never recovered.

And as a digression a similar thing seemed to have happened to Lake Maninjau. There used to be a growing scene around Bayur village with places like Lillies Homestay , Rizal Beach Homestay etc etc plus restaurants and bars but then when the visa rules and terrorist incidents occurred it all seemed to become empty .

#10, #11 agree entirely -- they need to develop the region a whole. Have more trains to Siantur and the airport, have (decent) buses meet the trains to go to Parapat. Good transport between Parapat and Bukut Lawang and between Parapat and Bukittinggi. No mafia. Develop the Karo highlands and Danau Minanjau. Develop the transport to Aceh (without the religious police).

So much could be done that would really put the Northern part of Sumatra on the map.

Paul

Well there are a few pieces of infrastructure:

Cashless highway tolls - October coming, essential as the queues for toll booths make the existing toll roads pointless
Airport - Medan - Binjai highway - under construction, this should be ok, eliminate basically all traffic between Medan and Bukit Lawang
Binjai - Bukit Lawang road - very bad condition, needs urgent repair
railway in Medan - being doubled, taking forever
railway Binjai - Medan - airport - this should function better to link with public transport
Medan - Siantar - link to the above, more trains, better times (to meet 7pm ferry easily)
Siantar - Parapat - apparently being extended, ok
buses to Bukit Lawang - should run to Bukit Lawang itself
buses from Medan to Bukit Lawang - get rid of the mafia in Medan
Lake Toba airport - stupid, Medan airport is close enough.
Bukit Lawang/Binjai - Berastagi road - 2km are impassable except by specialist 4x4 vehicle. Road on either side is smooth. Apparently impossible to approve these 2km as they are within National Park boundaries. The land should be removed from National Park boundaries, add some more land in elsewhere. Politically impossible?
Run hourly (?) buses from Bukit Lawang through to airport and vice versa. Preferably a/c.
Electricity: improve distribution so that electricity is not disrupted daily by lightning, falling trees, etc.
Water: provide affordable drilled wells in Bukit Lawang (ground water is 70m+ down underneath bedrock)
Water: shutdown all hotels discharging untreated sewage into water supplies
Rubbish collection: ensure it is functioning without bribery etc., imprison those dumping rubbish/food waste in water supplies
Rubbish collection: ensure proper collected rubbish in tourist locations visited by local tourists, fine those who do not use them
Rubbish collection: provide proper waste facilities secure against wildlife
Internet: distribute broadband to Bukit Lawang (currently available, but withheld by mafia)
Tourist sites: provide proper information about minor tourist sites, ensure that those responsible for providing tourist information cannot profit from selling tours, etc.

Direct chartered Garuda flights Silangit-SIN started yesterday.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.