Takengon

Takengon is a town in Aceh, Indonesia. The town serves as the capital of the Central Aceh regency in the middle of the highlands.

Understand
Takengon is a remote city in the middle of the highlands of the north of Sumatra island. It is famous for its fish and coffee, and for being on the shores of the beautiful Laut Tawar Lake, which is well worth a visit.

Get in
By bus: By arriving from south you have to get a minibus in Kutancane with a stopover in Blang Kejeren. The buses depart in the early day until about 11:00. Ask at the bus station in Kutacane. By arriving from the north you either can go directly from Banda Aceh or from Bireun. There is a shared taxi service departing in the early morning or late evenings from Banda Aceh.

Get around
By taxi: There is a taxi service in the city. Most of the taxis are based on motorcycle, they take you basically all over the city very cheap.

By foot: As the city is fairly small it is very walkable.

See

 * Laut Tawar Lake, walk to the lakefront to see the fishing villages. Starting in the morning you can walk all the 25 kilometres to the other end. If you go on a Sundays, you will have company, as the whole region goes to the lake to party and to relax.

Do

 * Takengon market, a famous place for gathering. It is big and charming, with a wide selection of items available.
 * Coffee places, sit down at a coffee place to watch all the people.

Buy

 * Coffee, the area is famous for the Takengon Sumatra Coffee. You can buy the coffee at the market and in small stores.

Eat

 * Fish from Laut Tawar, you can find small street food restaurants at the bus station. They cook fairly good Indonesian food. Make Msure you eat the fish which is delicious.

Drink

 * Takengon Sumatra Coffee

Go next

 * Laut Tawar Lake, ask a driver to bring you to the lake.