When I received the assignment from Ravelino Tours Travel to take care of six Belgian guests during their journey in North Sumatra, I knew this would not be an ordinary tour.
They were three married couples who had been close friends for many years. They decided to travel together in Indonesia, and I was assigned to be their Sumatra Tour Guide during their six-day journey through North Sumatra.
From the beginning, I tried not to make our journey only about visiting places and taking pictures. I wanted to create conversations with them. I wanted them to feel that travelling with a local guide was also an opportunity to understand how people live in Sumatra.
The six of them had different professional backgrounds. Among the husbands, one worked as a banker, another was an entrepreneur, and another was a police officer.
The banker was interested in many things, especially when we talked about the economy and the palm oil industry in Sumatra. The entrepreneur was even more curious. He always had questions.
Sometimes, honestly, his questions made me think hard before answering.
He was not the kind of tourist who simply listened to a guide's explanation. He wanted to understand the details. When we talked about traditional Batak houses, for example, our conversation became much longer than I expected.
I explained to them that the traditional roof of a Batak house was originally made from ijuk, the natural black fiber from the sugar palm tree. We talked about how traditional houses were built and why the roof was designed in that particular shape.
But then he asked about the newer roofs he saw.
I explained that after the revitalization carried out around 2020–2021, the roofs at places such as Huta Siallagan and Kampung Ulos Hutaraja had been changed to ulin wood.
He immediately knew about ulin.
He started talking about different types of timber, including meranti and other expensive woods. I was surprised because I did not expect a tourist from Belgium to know so much about Indonesian timber.
I smiled and thought to myself, This man is not an easy tourist!
But actually, I enjoyed it.
His questions pushed me to think, explain, and sometimes learn together with him. For me, that is one of the best parts of being a tour guide. A good tour is not always about how much information the guide can give. Sometimes, it is about the questions that come from the guests.
The banker and the entrepreneur were also very curious about the palm oil industry in Sumatra.
They asked me about plantations, production, the role of palm oil in the economy, and even how much palm oil could cost. Their questions were connected to what they saw along the road. When we travelled through North Sumatra, the landscape itself became part of our conversation.
Then there was their friend, the police officer.
He had another kind of curiosity.
While travelling around Sumatra, he noticed children and teenagers riding motorcycles. He asked me, with a serious expression, why young people were allowed to ride motorcycles.
“Is there no age limit in Indonesia?” he asked.
I explained the regulations about driving licences and the minimum age, and we continued discussing road safety, Indonesian traffic habits, and the differences between Indonesia and Belgium.
These conversations happened naturally while we were travelling.
Sometimes we talked inside the car.
Sometimes while walking.
Sometimes while waiting for food.
And sometimes during dinner.
Because their tour package from Ravelino Tours Travel included dinner vouchers, I often sat together with them during dinner. These became some of my favourite moments.
After a long day travelling from Medan to Lake Toba, exploring Samosir Island by boat, visiting traditional Batak villages, continuing to Berastagi, and later travelling toward Bukit Lawang, dinner was the time when everybody could relax.
There was always laughter.
They joked with each other. They told stories. Sometimes they asked me another unexpected question. Sometimes I joked back at them.
Although I was their guide, during those dinners I did not feel like I was only working.
I felt like I was sitting with six new friends.
That is something I have learned from guiding foreign visitors. A tour guide does not only show a destination. Sometimes, a guide becomes the bridge between two different cultures.
The guests come with questions about our country.
We answer as honestly as we can.
Then, without realizing it, we also learn something from them.
As the journey came to an end, I realized how quickly the six days had passed.
We had started as a group of tourists and a tour guide. But by the time we were going to say goodbye, there was already a feeling of friendship.
Just before we separated, they gave me warm hugs.
Those hugs meant a lot to me.
They were very kind to me throughout the journey. Their jokes, their questions, their curiosity, and especially our dinner conversations became memories that I will not easily forget.
For me, this is what being a Sumatra Tour Guide is about.
It is not only about knowing the road from Medan to Lake Toba, Samosir, Berastagi, or Bukit Lawang.
It is about making guests feel welcome.
It is about being able to talk with people from different backgrounds.
It is about answering their questions, even when sometimes their questions make me nervous.
And most importantly, it is about creating a journey that people will remember after they leave Sumatra.
I am Damayanti, a Sumatra Tour Guide.
Every guest arrives with a different story.
Sometimes, they leave Sumatra having created a new story with me.
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