NORTH SUMATRA – Home of the Batak Tribes Medan – North Sumatra’s capital city is the western gateway to Indonesia. Facing the Malay Peninsula and across the Malacca Strait. The province’s most interesting destination is Lake Toba situated in the center of mountain range. The area o Tapanuli is the homeland of the Batak people. The Bataks have retailed many of the ancient proto-Malay cultural traditions due to their isolation in the mountains and live in tribal or clan groupings. According to the legend, all Bataks are descendants of “Si Raja Batak”, a hero-ancestor of super-natural parentage born on a holy mountain adjacent to Lake Toba. Through him the Bataks received their sacred traditions. His sons founding the two clans, from which are descended the subsequent dispersal and sub division of the system.