The Tomok village and the Batak houses | Sumatra | Vlog 152
Just over 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. Since Medan is also the airport where I’ll fly out of Sumatra, I came straight to Tuk-Tuk. This way, I’ll be visiting Medan as my final destination on the island and probably also Indonesia.
Today is my first full day in Sumatra, and visiting Tomok is on my itinerary. Yesterday, I didn’t have the chance to do much—I was quite tired and spent time making 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 located about an hour’s walk from Tuk-Tuk. The main attraction here is the traditional Batak houses, which are unique to North Sumatra. Their distinctive feature is the steeply rising roof with eaves, creating a saddleback shape with sharp gables at the top. The ground floor is rectangular, and since they’re built on stilts, you need to climb a wooden step to enter the house.
To learn more about the local culture, I visited the museum, which was naturally housed in a Batak house. Though small, it was definitely worth exploring.
Another highlight of Tomok is the grave of former king Sidabutar. Surrounded by souvenir stalls, his tomb serves as one of the area’s main attractions for locals. The site includes gravestones for his entire family, and locals continue to leave donations in their honor.
Beyond the souvenir stalls, Tomok offers bustling markets catering to both tourists and locals, which made for an enjoyable experience before I walked back to Tuk-Tuk.
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