Sumatra Shopping and Districts

(Sumatra, Indonesia)

As your tour the island state of Sumatra, lots of tempting shopping opportunities present themselves to tourists looking for a memory of their time in Indonesia. Those shopping for souvenirs in Sumatra should consider the many wooden carvings and sculptures, colourful paintings, hand-woven fabrics, and exquisite 'batik' silk, which is hand-dyed after first being painted with molten wax.

The city of Medan is very much central to the shopping scene of North Sumatra and is also an interesting place to sightsee. Medan contains a number of appealing arts and crafts shops, which line the Jalan Ahmad Yani and sell everything from shoes and leather bags, to jewellery and Dutch ceramics.

Where to Shop

There are also some large, multi-storey shopping complexes within Medan, which usually stay open until late and feature their very own, well-stocked Carrefour supermarkets. The city's best shopping centres include the Medan Mall, the Medan Fair Plaza and the Sun Plaza.

Also located in North Sumatra, the shopping available at Danau Toba is really very touristy, with endless selections of cheap T-shirts, bags and wooden trinkets being available. However, amongst all the tack, look out for the beautiful local Gayo embroidery and decorated bamboo cylinders (porhalaan).

Aceh is a popular part of Sumatra and enjoys many year-round visitors. Takengon is a great place for shopping in Aceh and lies within the Gayo Highlands, where Alas and Gayo tapestries are a particular favourite with keen souvenir hunters, as well as engraved and elaborately decorated pieces of pottery (keunire).

In West Sumatra, one of the best places to go shopping is the city of Bukittinggi, when silky headscarves, vibrant sarongs and interesting antiques await, as well as all manner of boxes - Minangkabau, Salapah panjang and Salapah padusi (silver). Close to Bukittinggi are some fascinating handicraft villages, such as Koto Gadang and Pandai Sikat.

If you are based in South Sumatra, then the epic city of Palembang is really quite hard to miss. Whilst the shopping in Palembang is everything that you would imagine it to be, the nearby village of Tanjung Tunping has considerably more character and charm, selling 'songket' sarongs, where gold or silver threads have been carefully interwoven. Hand-woven songket sarongs can take as long as a whole month to weave, so do bear this in mind if you try to haggle over the price.

In Lampung, the southernmost province of Sumatra, traditional Indonesian ceremonial cloths (kain tapis), and woven ship cloths (featuring ships and boats within their patterns) are popular.