a friend of my parents’ who went there a few years ago said it reminded him of his hometown on some lake in switzerand – and i have to agree with him, give or take a few palms and mosques.
a wonderful wonderful place – the climate is just perfect, and if you avoid parapat (the main town on ‘land’) and go directly to tuk tuk (one of the towns on the island, or better, peninsula) you’ll have a brilliant time. i know a few tourists go there but it’s nothing compared to the rest of south east asia – i don’t understand why because it seems to me like any fantasy i ever had about the south east asian holiday in a nice, quiet, flowery place. there’s everything for the tourist (souvenir shops, bars, restaurants) but also something magic, it’s not like your ko samui, phuket or bali.
i just walked around for a day (didn’t have much time!) and found it amazing. i took millions of pictures, bought a few things and just enjoyed it. also, compared to the rest of sumatra (from what i’ve seen) it’s incredibly clean and just pleasant.
from what i’ve heard it’s also worth going around the peninsula and see a few more places – it’s huge (something like 120km by 45km) so there’s lots of small towns, mountains, a lake in the lake…
go there! cause i’d love to go back…