Beyond Singapore

Sunset, April, 1989

Borneo's wad men, head hunters' village, the ancient Bataks . . . Southeast Asian adventures out of Singapore are easy to arrange

Few names on a schoolbook page can conjure more exotic images than those in the chapters on sultry Southeast Asia. If the passing years have left your curiosity undulled, you'll find it's never been easier to explore fantastic tales of cannibals roaming Sumatra's volcanic heights; of headhunters and white rajahs in Borneo; of spices and silver, perfumes and pearls in the fabled trading port of Melaka (known in those bygone schoolbooks as Malacca).

With better air service throughout the area, access is no longer a barrier to adventure, Singapore, the region's air hub and commercial center, is the easiest jumping-off point. Our map shows its location in relation to the four destinations we describe on these pages.

Whether you want to make a day trip to the cultural crossroads of Melaka, an overnight visit to a head-hunters' longhouse, a jungle flight to an orang-utan sanctuary, or a cruise to tribal villages on the shores of Southeast Asia's largest lake, it's best to start with expert travel planning advice. The tourist offices of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia will refer you to tour agencies for itincrary and reservation help (see page 87). The best time to travel in the region is during the dry season, April through October.

Lake Toba: the Batak heartland in Sumatra's highlands

Garuda and Singapore airlines make the 1-hour flight ($260 round trip) to Medan, gateway to the volcanic crater of Lake Toba and one of Indonesia's oldest civilizations. Two- to four-day guided itineraries (from $100) highlight the culture and history of the Bataks, descended from Malay tribes who fled the Mongol hordes before 1000 B.C.

The roads that wind the 100-odd miles up to the lake reveal dense tropical forest, rice paddies, and plantations devoted to rubber, palm oil, tobacco, cacao, coffee, and tea. You pass Batak communal longhouses on stilts with soaring peaked roofs of heavy palm thatch. Through pine forest the 50-mile-long lake emerges at 3,000 feet, backdropped by receding peaks of the island's volcanic spine.

At Prapat, the main lakeside town, simple accommodations range from wood-paneIed bungalows to multistory modern hotels. Restaurant fare includes Indonesian, Chinese, and Western-style dishes. At the lake's edge, you can sip tuak (palm wine) and listen to the sentimental folk songs of the Bataks, known for their strong melodic voices. Poke in Prapat's shops for old native-made vessels and boxes of handworked bamboo, brass, and bone. Weavers sell new work in traditional Batak colors-red, black, and white.

A 30-minute cruise across the lake is Samosir Island (slightly larger than Singapore), with its famous well-preserved Batak villages. Most natives speak a little English. At Tomok, a path under giant banyan trees leads to the stone sarcophagi of ancient Batak kings; nearby, 3-foot stone figures depict a rain ceremony, complete with a sacrificial water buffalo. At Ambarita, rough stone chairs and tables formed an open-air courtroom where enemies were tried and sentenced to immediate death. (Until 1914, kings and courtiers drank the blood and ate the flesh of the decapitated.)

An unusually fine row of houses and rice barns at Simanindo amounts to an openair museum; you can visit one house up a wooden ladder. Resident Bataks may want money to be photographed.

Melaka: relies of four cultures in an old trading crossroads

Tour desks in Singapore hotels can arrange for you to join a long day or overnight guided trip to Melaka in a van for up to 15 passengers ($50 to $90 each). With stops, it's about a 4-hour drive through green jungle and rubber and palm oil plantations the tree trunks sprouting ferns and bromeliads.

Settled by the Chinese in the 15th century and inhabited subsequently by the Portuguese in 1511, the Dutch in 1641, and finally the British in 1824, Melaka retains traces of all four groups. Descendants of the Chinese who've lived here for centuries are called Straits Chinese or Babas (men) and Nyonyas (women). Their distinctive style of cooking Malay and Indonesian ingredients, with such Chinese additions as pork, soy sauce, and mushrooms is also called Nyonya. Guides usually have you try Nyonya restaurants. Across the Melaka River from the square fronting Christ Church, walk along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock to see the "millionaires' row" of Baba-Nyonya houses, with their shuttered facades and floral-inspired tile designs.

Don't miss the Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum at number 50 (nominal admission); this century-old house has the typically deep front-to-back arrangement of living spaces, starting with a family altar and open-roofed courtyard, then passing through a living room and dining area to another open courtyard, and then into the kitchen. You'll see elaborate carved and gilded woodwork, lacquer and inlaid mother-of-pearl furniture, Chinese and Dutch porcelains.