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We rode in a long-distance bus from Sungei Penuh back to Padang. During one of the rest stops, in the heart of the tea plantations that stretch through the Minang Kebau highlands, I noticed this slender, manicured hand that, from time to time, emerged from this bus window to flick cigarette ash. It belonged to a young Indonesian man.

Descending from Danau Gunung Tujuh back into Pelompek village, the jumping off point for our three days of backpacking, we were accosted by four local men who grilled our guide, Pak Juharli, for half an hour. The gist of their complaint seemed to be that wealthy, foreign tourists were climbing Gunung Tujuh and they weren't getting their fair cut ...

Kerinci Seblat National Park is named for Gunung Kerinci, the enormous volcano that dominates the valley that the park surrounds. The valley is a tremendously productive rice farming area due to the accumulated volcanic soil, and beautiful area. Someday the volcano will annihilate it all. But, of course, in doing so, it will recharge the soil for ...

After hiking from the summit of Gunung Lumut back to the shore of Danau Gunung Tujuh the mist and rain followed us. We watched the mist spill over the lip of the mountains surrounding the lake and wash across the water before it overwhelmed our camp site. Wayne tried in vain to build a fire, and once again we were condemned to an afternoon in the ...

Maybe it's just me.

In the absence of animals, I was reduced to photographing fungus. On the other hand, it is colorful fungus.

Bright yellow, orchid-like flowers sprouted everywhere on the rainforest floor. We didn't see many animals other than birds and insects (except for a brief sighting of red monkeys on our last day) but we saw plenty of plant life.

After a bone-breaking, vertical hike through thorny vines and along a mud-slicked trail while carrying fifty pound packs, we finally arrived at the summit of Gunung Lumut. The summit is cloud forest. An hour after we arrived it began to rain, and did not stop for eighteen hours. On the down-side, we spent eighteen hours in our tiny, two-man tent. ...

My favorite portrait of my traveling companion, Wayne, from the trip. Taking a break during our wearying hike from Danau Gunung Tujuh to the peak of Gunung Lumut.

Wayne sets out across Danau Gunung Tujuh on a local fisherman's canoe at dusk. I had to wait an hour for the canoe to drop off Wayne and come back for me. Fortunately I had those ten Indonesian kids for company, and a pack of Dji Sam Soe clove cigarettes to break the ice.