Lake Laut Tawar

Laut Tawar means fresh sea, which is what the Gayo called a body of water some seventeen kilometres long sitting at around twelve hundred metres in the highlands of central Aceh. The altitude is the reason for everything around it: this is the heart of Gayo arabica country, and the slopes above the lake are smallholder coffee gardens producing beans that go into single-origin roasts worldwide, sold through cooperatives in Takengon. The lake itself is used for fishing - the depik, a small endemic fish, appears in numbers at certain seasons and is a local delicacy - and a road runs round most of the shore past villages, pine ridges and viewpoints. Aceh is Indonesia's only province applying sharia law, which affects dress and conduct expectations for visitors.

What you actually see

• A highland lake at 1,200 metres - seventeen kilometres long in the Gayo country.
• Gayo coffee gardens - the smallholdings on the slopes above the water.
• Depik fishing - the small endemic fish that runs at certain seasons.
• A shore road - villages, pine ridges and viewpoints round most of the lake.

When to go

All year; drier June to September. A day.

Honest expectations

Aceh applies sharia law - dress modestly, and alcohol is not available. The road up from the coast is long and winding. Facilities around the lake are basic.

Nearby

Takengon is the lake town; Gunung Leuser National Park is south-west.