Lake Gunung Tujuh

The Highest Lake In Southeast Asia, In A Caldera Ringed By Seven Peaks, Reached By A Hard Climb Through Forest That Holds The Largest Sumatran Tiger Population Left · Kersik Tuo, Jambi

IT IS THE HIGHEST LAKE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, at roughly one thousand nine hundred and fifty metres, and it sits in a caldera RINGED BY SEVEN PEAKS - gunung tujuh, seven mountains - which is where the name comes from. YOU CLIMB TO IT. Three or four hours of steep forest trail from the trailhead near KERSIK TUO, hard going and often wet, and then the trees open and there is a cold, clear lake in a bowl of mountains with nobody on it. YOU CAN CAMP ON THE SHORE. WHAT MAKES THE WALK IN SOMETHING ELSE IS WHAT LIVES AROUND IT. THIS IS KERINCI SEBLAT, WHICH HOLDS THE LARGEST REMAINING POPULATION OF SUMATRAN TIGERS - a critically endangered animal with a few hundred left in the world - along with clouded leopards and sun bears. You will not see one. But they are there, camera traps prove it, and knowing it changes the forest you are walking through. Start at dawn, take a local guide, carry everything including your water, and bring genuinely warm clothing - people arrive from the Sumatran lowlands with nothing warm and spend a very bad night on the shore at nearly two thousand metres.

Danau Gunung Tujuh, Kerinci, Jambi, Kersik Tuo, Jambi, Indonesia

THE TRAILHEAD IS NEAR KERSIK TUO in the KERINCI VALLEY, which is reached by road - roughly TEN HOURS FROM PADANG or a long run from Jambi - or by limited flights to SUNGAI PENUH's airstrip. A PARK PERMIT IS REQUIRED and is arranged at the entrance or through a guesthouse; A LOCAL GUIDE IS STRONGLY ADVISED AND IS USUALLY REQUIRED IN PRACTICE. THE CLIMB IS THREE TO FOUR HOURS UP AND TWO TO THREE DOWN, steep and often muddy; START EARLY. CAMPING ON THE SHORE IS PERMITTED and is how most people see it properly. IT IS COLD AT THE TOP - genuinely cold, at nearly two thousand metres, and visitors arrive unprepared. THE SAME VALLEY IS THE BASE FOR MOUNT KERINCI. LEECHES ARE ROUTINE. Bring everything you need; there is nothing on the mountain.

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