Indonesia / North Sumatra / Bukit LawangBukit Lawang
Sumatran Orangutans in the Leuser Rainforest
A river village on the edge of Gunung Leuser National Park, part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (UNESCO), where a rehabilitation centre opened in 1973 released orangutans whose descendants still raise their young in the forest round the village. You must enter with a licensed guide: a half-day walk usually finds orangutans, Thomas's leaf monkeys and macaques, and longer treks camp by the river and float back on rubber tubes. Never feed or touch the apes, and keep your distance. Guesthouses line the Bohorok river, about 3-4 hours by road from Medan or Kualanamu airport. Flash floods come down the river in the wettest months; one destroyed much of the village in 2003.
Highlights
- Orangutans in the wild with a licensed guide
- Thomas's leaf monkeys and macaques
- A night camped by the river in the rainforest
- Tubing back down the Bohorok
- Bat Cave walk
- Riverside guesthouses
- Indonesian cooking class
Things to do
- Half-day guided jungle walk to look for orangutansMorning · 4h
- River tubing back to the villageAfternoon · 1h 30m
- Indonesian cooking class at a guesthouseEvening · 2h
- Full-day Leuser trek with a riverside lunchMorning · 7h
- Bat Cave (Gua Kampret) walkAfternoon · 2h
- Village and rubber-plantation walkMorning · 2h
- Swim at the Bohorok river beachesAfternoon · 1h 30m
Tours & tickets
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When to go
Best time: May – September
Worth knowing
Lebaran Travel Rush
Idul Fitri falls on 10-11 March 2027, with national holidays from 9 to 15 March. Domestic flights sell out weeks ahead and fares hit the legal cap, the roads out of Medan and Makassar jam, and Lake Toba's ferries and Bukit Lawang's guesthouses fill with holidaymakers. Book flights and rooms early or avoid that week.
Heads up
Rainy Season: Muddy Trails and River Floods
North Sumatra's heaviest rain falls from about September to December. The jungle trails turn to mud and leeches, river tubing stops when the Bohorok runs high, and flash floods come down the valley after storms (one destroyed much of the village in 2003). Treks still run most days; stay in a guesthouse above the river and follow your guide's advice.
- Idul Fitri (Lebaran) homecoming — The end of Ramadan, when tens of millions travel home (mudik). Trains, flights and the Java–Bali and Bali–Lombok ferries sell out a month ahead and fares hit the legal cap; Jakarta empties and some restaurants close. In 2027 it falls two days after Nyepi, so the second week of March is the hardest of the year to travel in Indonesia. During Ramadan before it, Lombok and Java restaurants may be screened off by day.