Medan is a city in the province of North Sumatra on Sumatra, Indonesia. It is
the biggest city on Sumatra and the fourth largest in Indonesia with about 2 million
inhabitants.
If you are in Medan you should check out the black-domed Mesjid Raya (Grande Mosque), which
was designed in 1906 by a Dutch architect. Entry is free, but a donation is expected.
Most of the city's cheap hostels can be found in the area around the mosque.
Medan has Indonesia's largest crocodile farm. It is located 5 km from the heart of the city.
Nearly 2000 crocodiles of different kinds can be found here.
It might be worthwhile to try to find one of Medan's numerous shopping plazas,
considering how cheap Indonesia is. Do keep in mind that these
plazas are mainly for tourists and therefore more expensive than they should be. You
should still be able to find VCDs for $1-$2 though.
Frankly speaking though, most tourists only stay in Medan long enough to find a
minibus out of there. It is a horribel, ugly, smelly, polluted place where drivers
detests pedestrians and try to run them over at every opportunity. So don't plan on staying here for a long time.
Gunung Sibayak, Danau Toba, Ketambe and Bukittingi are all much more worthy of your
time.