250-year-old houses
Still lived in today.
Agus Damanik — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lim Natee — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bernard Gagnon — CC BY-SA 3.0
A heritage village of the Karo Batak people at about twelve hundred metres, some fifteen kilometres from Berastagi, famous for its huge traditional houses, some reckoned to be around two hundred and fifty years old and still standing firm, each home to six to eight related families. The traditional Karo house stands on timber piles under a massive tiered roof of palm fibre, crowned with symbolic buffalo heads; inside is a single large hall with no dividing walls, each family with its own hearth. Around the houses are rice barns and shared buildings, a living picture of old highland village life. Entry is a token fee of about five thousand rupiah, and you are asked to respect residents' privacy, as people really live in these houses, so do not enter a home or photograph anyone without permission. The visit is short, an hour is enough, and it combines with Berastagi and Gundaling Hill in a day from Medan. Some houses need upkeep, so the scene is authentic rather than restored for tourists.
Still lived in today.
Six to eight families under one roof.
Symbols on the roof peaks.
Near Kabanjahe, about 15 km from Berastagi
No, it is a real village where its people live, which is why some houses look old and in need of repair. That makes it authentic, but calls for respect for residents' privacy.