The Village Ketambe
It seems that Ketambe - local name is Balai Lutu - is just a place like every village, situated on the only non-coast road, splitting Aceh into east and west. The village Ketambe is about one kilometer long. Houses existing only left and right side near the main road. The river Alas flows from north to south about 100 meters parallel to the road. There are a mosque, a basic school, a local restaurant, a simple shop, a small souvenir shops with local products and a car wash.
If you pass the village, you wouldn't realize that it is a very special place. Its position at the border to the Gunung Leuser Nationalpark makes it famous. Ketambe is a perfect starting point to go for trips into the jungle to see really wild living orangutans and expirience the original jungle life.
People
Inhabitants of Ketambe are Alas people. Their mother language is Alas but most people speak Indonesian. Only about 87,000 Alas people live along the banks of the river Alas. In the south and west Gayo people (230,000) and Batak-Karo (800,000) live. In the north the Acehnese live (3,600,000). In general Alas people follow the Islam, but they still seek the assistance of a dukun (shaman, occultist). They perform ceremonies so that their crops will prosper and be protected from plague. There is believe in "black" and "white" magic. More info
Climate / Environment
The climate is pleasant, the mean daily temperature under the forest cover in the lowlands rarely exceeds 28°C during the day, or drops below 22°C at night. In general, the driest months are February, June and July. The wettest month are usually March, April, September, October and November. In the wet season it rains mostly at night. Then it will be a little bit foggy in the morning. Ketambe is a very quite place. Only few cars passing through. The only noise you will listen is the flowing river, singing birds and playing kids.
Facilities in Ketambe
Ketambe has only few simple facilities for shopping. There are few local small supermarket, where you can buy things like cookies, sweets, drinks, toiletries and cigarettes. Food, full meals and drinks (even beer) are available at the guesthouses. Local markets in villages arround Ketambe taking place once a week from 6 to 10 AM: Tuesdays in Seldok (15 km from Ketambe), Wednesdays in Aunan (4 km from Ketambe) and Fridays in Lak Lak (8 km from Ketambe). Over there you will get fresh vegetable and stuff of daily needs. Mobile phone and data connection with 4G (local SIM-cards from Telkomsel only) is working most of the time in Ketambe! Some places, including Friendship Guesthouse have internet and WiFi via fiber-optic cable.
The next possibility for proper shopping is the small city Kutacane, about 30 kilometers south the main road. You can buy a SIM-Card with 60 GB data volume for about 100,000 IDR, but they need to be registered. There are no money changers in Ketambe and Kutacane. There is one ATM in Kutacane from the Bank BSI where you can withdraw money with international debit or credit cards, but only 1,000,000 IDR per transaction is given. You can do several transaction in a row. We recommend to arrive with cash Indonesian Rupiah in Ketambe.
Tourism in Ketambe
There are several guesthouses in Ketambe. If you arrive in Ketambe village from the south, you will find them in the following order on the ride side of the road: Thousand Hills, Cinta Alam, Pak Mus, Pondok Wisata. The last on the ride side is the New Friendship Guesthouse & Restaurant. The former Friendship Guesthouse (2008 to 2025) was situated on the riverside. It was the most modern guesthouse in Ketambe which has offered concrete bungalows with western facilities and a swimming pool for kids.
After a horrible flash flood of the Alas river on 27 November 2025 a long strip of the riverside living area was completely washed away. About 30 houses of local people and three guesthouses (Friendship, Cinta Alam and Sadar Wisata) were completely wanished.
About 3 kilometers forward the road to the north (Gurah area) you will find the run down government owned "Leuser Ketambe Guesthouse". Note that Gurah area is not the same place as the village Ketambe. So ask the driver to drop you of in Ketambe (not Gurah).
Every guesthouse offers and organize guided jungle tours into the National Park. Our guesthouse use local guides and porters from Ketambe only, so the money is going to a local family.