Imagethief

  Danau Gunung Tujuh (Mt. Tujuh Lake)

  Imagethief in the forest

Sungei Penuh kids 

Complete photo gallery 

Imagethief spent the Mayday holiday backpacking in Indonesia with an old friend who lives in Singapore. Our destination was the remote Kerinci Seblat National Park, near the border of the Sumatra and Jambi provinces on Sumatra island. We flew to the grungy Indonesian port of Padang, on the southern coast of Sumatra, from where we took an eight hour bus ride to the town of Sungei Penuh, in the volcanic highlands that stretch along the southern coast. In Sungei Penuh we hired a local guide, Pak Juharli, to lead us into the park's rainforest.

The park is named for Gunung Kerinci, an enormous, active volcano that dominates the northern end of the park and the fertile valley in which Sungei Penuh is located. 

From Sungei Penuh we traveled by bemo, a local informal bus, to Pelompek village, from where we hiked into the mountain rainforest for three and a half days. Jurhali led us 1000 meters up to a gorgeous lake called Danau Gunung Tujuh (Mt. Tujuh Lake). A local fisherman canoed us across the lake to a clearing where we set up our base camp. The lake was gorgeous, and the serenity of our first night there was interrupted only by the boatman's radio, which turned on at 4:30 AM so he could listen to the Islamic call-to-prayer.

The second day we made another brutal climb to the summit of Gunung Lumut  (Moss Mountain). The summit is cloud forest, usually shrouded in mist, and when we were there it rained almost nonstop. We were confined to our tiny tent for most the afternoon and night, and whiled away the time smoking rough kretek (clove) cigarettes and bullshitting. Wayne compared the experience to space travel (minus the smoking).

The next day we made an equally brutal climb down and much more pleasant day hike along the lake before the mists overran the lake and our base-camp, confining us to the tent once again. The next day we hiked down to the valley again, and began the long, return journey.

It was, in fact, a huge amount of fun. I've visited Indonesia many times over the years and almost always enjoyed myself. I was reminded, however, that I speak no Bahasa Indonesia at all. As bad as my Mandarin may be, it's enough to get by. I'd forgotten how hard it is to not speak the local language at all. Foreigners are very rare in that area, and few people speak English. (The park had only ten officially registered foreign visitors in 2006, although there were probably a few unofficial ones.)

As good as the rainforest was, some of the best experiences were on the way to and from. The rowdy, Indonesian soccer team staying at our hotel in Padang; the Sungei Penuh delegation to Jambi provincial finals of the National Koranic Recitation Competition staying at our hotel in Sungei Penuh. The amazing Padang food.

A longer travelogue will come when I have time. Meanwhile, here are some photographs of the trip.