Tangkahan - Hidden paradise of Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra

Tangkahan is well-known as the hidden paradise of Gunung Leuser National Park. It is an Eco Tourism area in the Langkat district of Northern Sumatra and is located along the Kualsa Buluh River next to dense rainforest, just 2 and a half hours from Bukit Lawang.

This tiny, remote village was built on the back of the logging trade in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2001 the local community became aware of the damaging impacts of unscrupulous deforestation and banded together to form the Tangkahan Tourist Institute. The TTI introduced regulations prohibiting the exploitation of the surrounding rainforest and created The Conservation Response Unit: a team that helps safeguard the national park from commercial abuse and detrimental policy. they actively act against illegal logging and the community transformed the area into an functional, self-sustained eco-tourism destination.

You can spend time with the mahouts, help wash elephants in the river and walk with them as they explore their natural jungle environment.