The Tomok village and the Batak houses | Sumatra | Vlog 152

A little more than 24 hours ago, I left the Indonesian island of Bali. I flew to Kuala Lumpur, where I had to do a visa run during my layover. Afterwards, I made my way to Medan on another Indonesian island, Sumatra. Because Medan will also be the airport where I’ll fly out of Sumatra, I came straight to Tuk-Tuk. That way, I will be visiting Medan as my last destination on the island and probably also Indonesia.

Today is my first full day in Sumatra, and on my itinerary is visiting Tomok. I didn’t have the chance to do much yesterday; I was pretty tired and tried to make phone calls to my friends in Belgium. However, I enjoyed Lake Toba’s scenery by walking along Tuk-Tuk’s shoreline.

Visiting Tomok: 

Tomok is a small village about an hour’s walk out of Tuk-Tuk. The main thing to see is the traditional Batak houses. You can only find Batak homes in North Sumatra, and their characteristic is the steeply rising roof with eaves. The top shape of the house is a saddleback with sharp gables. However, the ground floor is rectangular, and because they are built on stilts, you have to get into the house by a wooden step from the ground.

To learn more about the local culture, I visited the museum, which of course, was in a Batak House. It was small but still worth having a look at. 

Furthermore, at Tomok, there is the grave of former king Sidabutar. Souvenir stalls surround it, and his tomb is one of the area’s main attractions for locals. Moreover, it is not just the king that lies here. There are gravestones for his whole family, and the locals leave donations for the family. 

In addition to the souvenir stalls, Tomok is full of markets for tourists and locals, and it was fun to check that out before walking back to Tuk-Tuk.

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