About Tangkahan

I decided to run a blog for 'Tangkahan - The Hidden Paradise' under the Incredible Ladies Project because I ever so often heard: Oh we would love to run a blog, but we have to wait until we have proper Internet.

Tangkahan is really rather remote, about 100 km East from Medan, the capital of Sumatra, Indonesia. Half of the way the street is ok, the rest is potholes. It leads through palm oil and the occasional rubber plantation until it ends at the most beautiful jungle forest. Apes and monkeys, hornbills and eagles are waiting to be discovered, either on foot or on the back of the elephants.

The people who live in Tangkahan were illegal loggers some 10 years back and then decided that they need to turn the wheel round. Eco-tourism became their new business, and I could not imagine a better place for it. Every business however has flip sides, eco-tourism must be controlled, there is still the danger of destruction of forest by palm oil plantations, more jobs are needed as the children of the villages grow up, language and cultural gaps need to be bridged from both sided, the visitors and the locals. Hence education is key on many levels.

So this blog will address the beautiful things as well as the problem areas. It will raise awareness of the variety of issues, tell stories about the wonderful Karo culture and will answer the questions which may arise as we go along.

I dedicate this blog to Ika and Bimbim, my brothers who I dearly miss whenever I am in England.

Ika

Bimbim

Please visit the official website of the ecotourismn Community Tour Opereator - CTO of Tangkahan. CTO is run by local people and their visitor centre is the focal point of the area. Power and Internet however are on the weak side still, so responses to enquiries may need a few days.

And please meet the mahouts and the elephants living a 15 minutes walk from the visitor centre.The elephant family had grown by three babies since last year until this year, 2012 desaster struck in form of a Herpes virus. I was there when Olive's and Yuno's babies, Tangka and Namo, died and we all were devastated. The youngest one, Ame, however is fine and developing well. Now everybody is hoping for Theo to work his charm again with the ladies.

If you are an experienced traveller in South-East Asia then please contact CTO for enquiries. If you like to travel comfortable and wish to make sure that this will be an experience of a lifetime then please give yourself into the hands of RAW Wildlife Encouners. I travelled with them and it was the most wonderful experience in my life. They helped build the eco-tourism in the area and they know the people and the land inside out.