Museum Huta Bolon Simanindo — Attraction in North Sumatra

So we were brought here as part of a tour to see the Batak museum but you have to go just for the garden! The entrance fee is 20K per person which is barely anything for an incredibly view and beautiful flowers. The owner speaks good English and was very welcoming. She said she also runs a bed and breakfast (can be found on booking.com apparently).

Aside from one couple I saw staying there we were the only people. There are information boards about the Batak traditions outside the buildings but there aren't any labels inside the main house that contains artefacts. There is the main museum / traditional house, some graves, the traditional village (we didn't go inside any of the village houses as there were some gigantic insects flying around that seemed aggressive).

For the Batak museum element alone I would say this is 3 or 4 stars as it does have information in English but could be more thorough on artefacts. But for the garden I would pay more! Also worth mentioning that the toilets were clean, had toilet paper and there was soap...

I went for the traditional dancing, but that has been stopped and hasn't happened since COVID apparently. But it was nice to walk around and explore the grounds. I did so alone today, as no one else was there. Just me and a lonely groundskeeper, oh and some cows.

The museum and gardens were nice! The house reminded me of a typical grandma's house with knick knacks and photos everywhere. The garden would be a lovely setting for a coffee or a tea. Unfortunately however, the cafe is also very much closed.

Luckily, I had a swim suit with me and I was able to jump in the lake for a...

A much better traditional dance experience than Sigale Sigale near Toba beach. There's a significant cast of villagers and a real buffalo. A lot of tourists arrive here by tour boat (I rode a motorcycle). There is shaded seating if you get there a little bit before the performance. It's out of the way but worth the trip. The scenery on the way their is really beautiful. It's a little disappointing that you can't go into the big houses behind the dancers but I think that's because they're actually...