Brastagi, Indonesia

You might have to pinch yourself upon arriving in Berastagi: the town is too busy with daily life to pounce on tourists. What a blissful relief from the guide overload you'll find elsewhere in Sumatra. Berastagi has a healthy economy based on something other than tourism. As an agricultural trade centre, the town's markets are always humming with activity, and modern-day snake oil hawkers fill the sidewalks with ‘big-city' amusements for isolated country folk. On sale are jungle miracle cures, second-hand shoes, and 20-years-behind pop music. On Sunday, the largely Christian community takes the babies and bibles out for worship. Beyond the town are the lush green fields of the Karo Highlands, dominated by two volcanoes: Gunung Sinabung to the west and the smoking Gunung Sibayak to the north. These volcanoes are a day hike apiece, making them two of Sumatra's most accessible volcanoes, and the primary reason why tourists get off the bus in the first place. Berastagi is at an altitude of 1300m, and the climate is deliciously cool, sometimes even cold Berastagi (meaning "rice store") is a town situated on crossroads on the main route linking the Karo highlands of Northern Sumatra to the coastal city of Medan. The village rose to significance when Dutch settlers in Sumatra opened a boarding school there in the 1920s. The main economic activities in Berastagi, centre on the colourful fruit and vegetable market and on tourism. Berastagi is famous for its passion fruit. The main attractions of the town are the two active volcanoes; Gunung Sibayak, with its hot springs, and Gunung Sinabung.
The town is also a stop on the way to Lake Toba.