Riverside Guest House — Hotel in Sumatra

Riverside guesthouse was our rest stop into the jungle and was a welcome relief after a long journey from Lake Toba. We arrived at 10pm at night and were received by Jaka who was one of our guides the next day. Our driver could not bring us all the way to the hotel as the roads become very narrow and are only accessible by foot or motorbike. Our luggage was sent ahead of us by bike and we walked for about 15 minutes before arriving at the hotel. It was pouring down with rain and we would have welcomed a quick bike transfer too but we were given umbrellas.||||The room was very clean and a decent size. Unfortunately we arrived in the middle of a black out and we were given emergency lights. ||||The bathroom was immaculate considering we were on the outskirts of the jungle, albeit the water was cold. There was a mosquito net provided and we were given a nice welcome drink. ||||Fadill the hotel manager gave us instructions for our trek and let us settle in. The next morning we had breakfast on the roof terrace, which was simple but filling. We had omelette and toast with cheese and an assortment of fruit. There are some nice hammocks to relax in. ||||Our Bukit lawang trek was organised by the hotel and we were very pleased with it. We left our luggage at the hotel and after our trek we were able to shower on the roof, cold but welcome nonetheless. They arranged for our transfer to Medan and Fadill was quite relaxed about payment, to the point that he said we could pay the full balance to the driver when we reached Medan. He was great in corresponding with us in the run up to our stay and was very friendly throughout. ||||Our jungle trek into Bukit Lawang was one of the highlights of our trip to Indonesia. We did the two day one night trek. Our guides Leli, Jaka and Sugi were fantastic. They were funny, considerate and they really made our trip enjoyable. We were picked up from our hotel in the morning and there were seven people in our group. ||||The first part of the trek was fairly easy and Leli showed us rubber trees and explained the process for collecting the tree sap. He also informed us about various other plants and their medicinal purposes as well as the damage that Palm oil plantations were having on the environment and the animals. Our guides were very knowledgeable about the jungle. We saw thomas leaf monkeys and a large male orangutan as soon as we got in to the jungle. Over the two days we were very lucky and we saw 15 orangutans. We also saw Meena the aggressive orangutan, and her son johnny. ||||As we got deeper into the jungle the trek became more difficult and there was a fair bit of climbing involved. We made stops for fresh fruit and lunch. By the time we arrived at the camp we were quite hot and tired and everyone jumped into the river. We were given tea and coffee whilst our dinner was prepared. Dinner was very good and there was a variety of indonesian dishes including chicken, tempeh, vegetable curry, potato cakes and sambal. Whilst we were having dinner it started raining so we stayed in the kitchen tent and our guides provided entertainment in the form of card games, magic tricks and stories. During the trek i had hurt my ankle and so I was also given a foot massage by Leli that evening. ||||The sleeping tents had mosquito tents inside and there was a jungle toilet fairly close by. The mattresses are quite thin but as our guides kept reminding us “welcome to the jungle!” ||||The next day one of our campmates was not feeling too well and our guides were great in supporting her and making sure she was ok. They stopped as and when we needed to. ||||The jungle taxi back to our hotel was great but not for the faint hearted. We crashed through the rapids and got soaked which was good because it got some of the jungle mud off us. ||||All in all the trek was fantastic and we were really pleased with the whole experience. Having such great guides made all...

Superb stay here. Marilou (owner) very responsive to giving information about our stay and a very welcoming host going above and beyond. Fadil, Marilous husband, was great at organising our trip to Tangkahan for the day, sorting a driver and even coming with us to show us around - he speaks great English and v kind. Jungle trekking organised too and picked up from Riverside by a trusted guide. Transfer available to be sorted too which we opted for to Berastagi for around €50. Marilou was very helpful in getting us to Bukit Lawang too, messaging me how to catch the public bus from Medan and then Binjai (private transport can too be sorted)

The room was spacious and clean with a large terrace overlooking the river with shops nearby. A lovely place to chill in the evening and soak up sun rays with unrivalled views of the jungle opposite. Mosquito net provided and ample storage space, large bathroom too and comfy beds. Overall a perfect stay and would 10/10 recommend this place...

Je ne sais pas où commencer tellement il y a des choses à dire...||||* Tout d'abord, concernant l'organisation et la prise d'information avant le voyage, j'ai conversé de nombreuses fois avec Marie qui est une grand source d'informations diverses et variées||||* L'accueil ensuite... irréprochable... Marie et Fadill (et Ryan, leur petit ouistiti) sont bienveillants, de bons conseils, toujours présents et serviables... rien à redire... en se sent comme chez soi. Rien à redire||||* Le petit déjeuner est vraiment bon avec un grand choix et la vue de la terrasse est exceptionelle||||* Pour le trek en jungle, on l'a pris via Riverside car ils connaissent les guides et prennent ceux en qui ils ont confiance. Nous sommes partis en jungle 3jours/2 nuits avec Jurih comme guide qui parle assez bien anglais et qui était accompagné de Majah dans le trek et de Radan sur les camps. Franchement, rien à redire, une équipe de choc... Nous avons eu la chance de voir de nombreux animaux (et un mâle organ-outang à 2m de nous). C'est un spectacle grandiose, avec un encadrement sans pareil... un souvenir inoubliable pour notre famille !||||* Nous avons également choisi de faire le maché et le tour du village organisé par Riverside et c'était grandiose ! On rencontre vraiment la population locale et c'est une vraie découverte loin du tourisme de masse... à faire sans hésiter... une réelle authenticité||||* Pour les transferts de / vers l'aéroport et ensuite vers Riverside, Marie s'occupe de tout et c'est bien facile. Riverside est situé un peu en dehors du centre et c'est bien pratique aussi pour le calme (même si l'Indonésie n'est pas l'endroit idéal pour faire des grasse matinées).||||* la chambre familiale est vaste et possède une petite terrasse bien sympathique ||||* Nous avons également été voir les éléphants à Tangkahan... très sympa !||||Bref, ce séjour un peu prolongé à Riverside fût pour nous la cerise sur notre gâteau de ce voyage en Indonésie... mille merci à Marie, Fadill et Ryan, une sorte de petit singe qui ne figure pas dans les guides ! :-) ||||J'oubliais 2 informations importantes pour être bien clairs pour tout le monde:||* le transfert de Medan prend +/- 4h, il faut bien savoir que ce n'est pas de tout repos ||* la douche est sans eau chaude (comme dans de nombreux endroits), cela ne nous a...