Belawan, Indonesia

Belawan is a port city on the northeast coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Located on the Deli River near the city of Medan, Belawan is Indonesia's busiest port outside of Java, providing easy access to nearby Medan. Medan, capital of North Sumatra Province, is the fourth largest city in Indonesia and the gateway to the beautiful Lake Tobin region.

Medan hosts a great lot of very nice Art Déco buildings from the Dutch colonial era, like the Old City Hall, the Post office, the Great Mosque and many business buildings in and around Jl. Ahmad Yani. Some of them are in disrepair, but most of them maintain their old splendour.

Things to See & Do

* Maimoon Palace
* Vihara Borobudur (Buddhist Temple)
* Vihara Gunung Timur (Chinese Temple)
* Mesjid Raya Mosque
* Merdeka Walk (5 mins from Kesawan Square)
* Tondi Gallery

General information

Cruise Season – Jan - Dec
Currency – Rupiah (IDR)
Language – Indonesian
Population – 2,109,350 approx (Medan)
Electricity – 2 round pins European style
Land Area – 265.10 km² (Medan)
Time - GMT plus hours seven hours
International Country Telephone Code – +62

Port Location – The port of Belawan is located approximately 20 km to the north of Melawan.

Travel Links – Medan Polonia International Airport has direct connections to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Penang for its regional flight and Jakarta, Batam, Pekanbaru, Padang, Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe for its Domestic flight.

PELNI the Local Passenger cruise company operate weekly voyages from the Port of Belawan in Medan to Batam and Jakarta. A regular ferry service connects Belawan to across the Strait of Malacca to Penang, Malaysia; at times a ferry has also run from Belawan to Satun, Thailand.

Railroad tracks connect Medan to Binjai and Tanjungpura to the northwest, to port of Belawan to the north, to Tebing Tinggi and Pematang Siantar to the southeast, and also Rantau Prapat among other city. The largest train station in Medan is Medan Station.