If you are interested in meeting some local people and finding out how they earn a living in some of the local cottage industries, then come and join us on one of our unique cultural excursions to the little-known villages and hamlets around the Bukit Lawang area. 

Our friendly English-speaking guides will take you on fascinating visits to meet the local people making a variety of produce using techniques passed down over generations. 

Depending on the excursion location you may choose to visit with a walking tour, by bicycle or for the further locations take a ‘becak’, the local transport consisting of a motorbike with an upright side car.

We encourage you to actively take part in the processes you observe and promote the purchase of small souvenirs directly from the people in support of sustainable tourism.

• Rice sowing or harvesting

• Palm oil production

• Tofu making

• Tempe production

• Rubber production

• Chocolate harvesting

• Palm sugar production

• Fish farming

• Bamboo and palm weaving for building materials

• Wood carving workshop

• Honey collectors

• Eco Farm - Spices, fruits & vegetables

• Traditional Market explorer

• Local Cooking workshop

Depending on the tour you take and your hosts location we will collect you from your accommodation and take you on an exhilarating ‘becak’ ride.

Alternatively, for more local hosts we will take a stroll, passing by the lush rice fields to visit the people and their families where you will learn all about how they earn their living from the natural resources of Sumatra.

Choose from a half day tour and visit two cottage industries or spend a full day with us and visit more! Just contact us to discuss your options.

Our Tours

Rice Sowing or harvesting

Join us to explore the beautiful rice fields of the area. Learn all about the production of rice in this part of Sumatra. In Bukit Lawang people use the centuries old irrigation method, working on on a 3-4 monthly basis allowing the production of 2 or 3 crops a year. Villagers coordinate their harvests so they can manage water levels in the fields and there is never a shortage of rice in the local villages.

Depending on when you visit you may be able to either; steer or ride the buffalo to till the fields, plant out the young rice, chase away the pests or harvest the grains using traditional methods; no machinery involved!

You may even be able to help bathe the buffalos after they have finished ploughing the fields! 

Palm oil production

Indonesia is the world leader in the production of palm oil and much of this comes from Sumatra. In the village of Bukit Lawang and its surrounding areas you can find everything from small holder oil palm plots to large landscape-wide plantations owned by multinationals. 

The issues of palm oil production are widespread and include the destruction of forest habitat and the loss of many species, including tigers and orangutans. However, some plantations have been in operations for decades and no new forests have been cleared for production purposes.

Come and join us for a tour of local oil palm plantations and learn all about the issues surrounding them and discover how the trees are grown and processed with the use of local labour.

Making Tofu

Tofu, or bean curd, is a dietary staple for protein in Indonesia. It is made using the beans of the soy plant which are processed using traditional methods by hand to produce the deliciously healthy white tofu used in many cooking dishes.

Come with us to the homes of our friends to see for yourself how tofu is produced and have a go yourself!

Tempe Production

Like tofu, tempe (or tempeh) is another protein staple using soy beans which is used in many Indonesian recipes. Its production involves fermenting the whole bean to produce blocks of beans which can be fried or steamed to give a nutty flavour to many dishes.

Join this tour with some expert local tempe makers and try your hand in its production. 

Rubber production

Natural latex has been produced in the area for many decades. Sadly, many of the rubber plantations are now being replaced by the more lucrative oil palm crops but some newer plantations still remain and continue to produce latex on a regular basis.

Join this tour to some of our rubber trees to learn about the industry and try your hand at tapping a tree. If you join us on a Friday, we will also take you to the local market where you can see the local growers bringing their product for weighing and selling at the best prices.

Just remember to hold your nose, raw rubber has a unique smell!

Chocolate harvesting

Many people in the local area make additional income by growing chocolate. The trees are grown on small plots and require minimum maintenance but are harvested 2-3 times a year.

When the fruits, which grow directly on the branches are ripe we will take you to the fields to help harvest the fruits. Because the trees are fragile, harvesting is done by hand from the ground. Once you have the fruits they need to be opened up to expose the seeds, which must be extracted by hand and laid out to dry in the sun to ferment. 

Once the seeds have been dried, local farmers are able to sell the seeds where they can be used in the production of chocolate. 

Join us for this local tour and taste the difference in raw Sumatran chocolate!

Palm sugar production

Come with us to learn all about the production of red palm sugar, locally known as ‘gula merah’.  A sweet sugar, usually seen as hardened waxy blocks, used in traditional Indonesian cooking.

We will take you to the local village where families have been harvesting the resources of the ‘Aren’ tree using traditional methods for centuries.

Watch the farmers climb the trees where they can harvest the sap of the tree to produce red palm sugar and ‘arak’ (local alcohol) and the fruits for use in traditional sweet snacks ‘manisan’ and deserts.

Bamboo and palm weaving for building materials

Try your hand with local weavers skilled at making bamboo walls, known as ‘tepas’ and leaf rooves, or ‘atap’ used in the building structures of traditional houses. 

The bamboo weavers can also show you how they make smaller items for the home such as plates and trays used in rice harvesting and home cooking.  

Honey Collecting

By prior arrangement, we can take you to join the highly skilled honey harvesters. This ancient and fascinating tradition is performed by very few remaining people in the local area, well-known to our head guide Wanda. They invite you to witness the sacred honey-gathering ritual which often involves climbing to heights of over 20 meters, in the dark; using nothing but bamboo pins lightly tapped into the tree and nothing else but some special prayers! 

This is a unique opportunity to witness a tradition quickly dying out in Indonesia and we are lucky to know a handful of people still conducting this dangerous but highly rewarding activity. Contact us to discuss this as an option.

Wood Carving Workshop

Join our eldest brother Bambang’s workshop and learn how he creates wonderful wood carvings, well-known in the area for his expertise and skill.

Join Bambang and his assistants in a search for wood, reclaim it from the rivers or rice fields around Bukit Lawang and then take your wood back to the workshop to be guided in making your own special souvenir.

Fish farming

Aside from soybeans, fish provides the main source of protein in the local diet and many people in the area farm different freshwater species in specially built ponds.

Join us for a couple of hours investigating some of the ponds and have a go at fishing for your lunch. Whatever you catch, we will prepare for you over an open fire and enjoy with some delicious traditional sides. 

Eco Farm – spices, fruits and vegetables

Are you interested in agriculture and organic farming? Would you like to see an empowered local woman who has cultivated her own eco farm from scratch despite the over-riding local tendency to spray everything with pesticides and herbicides? If so, come with us to meet Ibu Erna. Erna has worked tirelessly to create an amazing eco-oasis in the middle of the hamlet of Landbo just 2km from Bukit Lawang.

Join us to visit the farm and learn about Erna’s inspirational journey or stay a while and volunteer for a few hours, or even a few days. Erna and her family are extremely happy for any help and are happy to share their garden and story with you.

A second eco-friendly farm can be found in the next hamlet along, called Timbang Lawan, 4km from Bukit Lawang owned and operated by the PPLH-Bohorok. A project of YEL (Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari), a Medan-based NGO which also works in partnership with the SOCP (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme).

The PPLH farm is where Ibu Erna learnt her trade and is focused on environmental education and nature conservation. They are unique in the area in having a small bio-gas generator which they fuel using cow dung. Join us for a special visit to the farm, enjoy a fresh young coconut drink and find out how PPLH are trying to educate the local communities.

Traditional Market explorer

If you are interested in local markets, join us for a trip to the bustling Friday market. Smaller markets are also available throughout the week but the main Bukit Lawang market takes place on a Friday. 

We will collect you from your accommodation and show you all the produce on offer from fresh watermelons, mangoes and rambutans to spices and traditional medicines to toys, second-hand clothes and traditional woven sarongs. The market is the place to go on a Friday! The tour takes place in the morning and will last from 1-2 hours.

Local Cooking workshop

Come and join Ana for a workshop on Indonesian cooking. With 5 hungry children and lots of their friends and guests from the homestay over the years, Ana is an amazing experienced cook! 

You may choose to combine a cooking workshop with a traditional market visit. This way, Ana can take you shopping for your fresh ingredients and then take them home to cook. If you just wish to have the cooking lesson, we will collect you from your accommodation and bring you to our home in the rice fields of the hamlet of Landbo, 2km from Bukit Lawang. 

Ana has an infectious smile and will welcome you with open arms. So, if you want to nail a nasi goreng, or go ambitious to make a rendang, sayur asem (sour vegetables) or soto, let Ana show you how.

Everything will be provided, including refreshments so come along and spend a few hours of your day becoming an Indonesian cookery connoisseur. You are welcome in our home.

 ‘Sayur asem’ a traditional , delicious local sour dish.

What’s Included?

English-speaking guide.
Transport where required by becak.
A donation to each local host. 

• Suitable for guests with reduced mobility. 
• Please bring sun block, insect repellent, camera. 
• Tours require a minimum of 2 participants, or a single supplement is payable.
• Maximum of 4 guests at a time.
• Please be willing to support our local friends by sampling and perhaps purchasing some of their products.