Berastagi, North Sumatera, Indonesia

Berastagi or Karo Highland is located in the North of Sumatera Island. Berastagi is a small city. However, this place becomes my favorite choice for weekend getaway when I lived in Medan, North Sumatera. If I wanted to be away from crowd city, busy streets and hectic jobs, I normally drove my car to go to this town with some friends for a day to find peace in my soul. Berastagi offers great view of high hills, green rice fields, various vegetable farms and colorful wild flowers.

Berastagi produces good quality fruits and vegetables, a couple of times my friends and I helped the local farmers to harvest tomatoes, carrots and oranges. When we drove the car and saw some farmers harvesting, we offered a hand to help and they always welcomed us warmly. Working with them was really fun. We worked for free! But normally the farmers gave us free and fresh fruits and vegetables to show gratitude!

Some other time, I visited a small church. The member of the church was only about 20 people and most of them don’t speak Bahasa Indonesia. They speak Karo dialect. Despite of the language barrier, it was a good feeling to worship God with them. I could feel the warmness of their hearts from their smiles.

Every time I visited Berastagi, I always tried to stop by at the beautiful Sipiso-piso waterfall. Cemented stairs are provided to make us easier to go down to the bottom of the waterfall where you can relax your minds or simple playing around. Always ready to get wet when you are there!

Sipiso-piso waterfall also offers the view of beautiful Lake Toba from West Coast. It is unbelievably remarkable! I could sit around the area forever just to appreciate the beauty of nature that God has created for us.

* Approximately 50 km away from Medan, this place is easy to be reached. You could drive your own car or take public transportation.