Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world and belongs to Indonesia. Most of it is covered by tropical jungle. I travelled to Sumatra on the way to the Mentawai Islands where I lived with the Mentawai ethnic group.

Bukit Lawang is famous for its national park, Gunung Leuser, where orangutans are its main attraction.

Banda Aceh has remained a neat and clean city after being completely rebuilt after the tsunami it suffered on December 26, 2004. 260 km west of the coast of Banda Aceh, in the depths of the Indian Ocean, an earthquake occurred of 9.3 degrees on the Richter ladder, which caused waves of 5 meters that destroyed part of the city except the Great Mosque that was left intact.

I couldn’t leave Sumatra without knowing the Batak culture found in Lake Toba. There you see their traditional wooden houses, tall and slender, with a gabled roof in the shape of a boat. Its exterior is highly decorated with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic representations, with the purpose of warding off evil spirits.

The entire landscape that surrounds Lake Toba has a lot of vegetation, mountains and a mist that impregnates it with a mysterious air.

To end the trip, I enjoyed the sunsets on Niang-niang Island in the Mentawai Islands. Quite a spectacle to see how the sun was hiding in the sea, while its light reflected on the water and splashed the sky with colors.