Mount Kerinci
At 3,805 Metres The Highest Volcano In Indonesia And The Highest Peak In Sumatra, Standing In The Most Important Sumatran Tiger Stronghold On Earth · Kersik Tuo, Jambi
Kerinci is THE HIGHEST VOLCANO IN INDONESIA at three thousand eight hundred and five metres and the highest peak on Sumatra, and it stands in the middle of KERINCI SEBLAT NATIONAL PARK - part of the UNESCO Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, on the danger list since 2011, and THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT STRONGHOLD OF THE SUMATRAN TIGER ON EARTH, holding something like a fifth of the entire remaining wild population. You will not see one. The climb is TWO DAYS FROM KERSIK TUO through steep jungle that turns to a mud trench, then bare scree and a sulphurous crater at the top, and it is COLD AND OFTEN VIOLENTLY WINDY on the summit ridge. The surrounding valley is tea plantation and cinnamon, and it is one of the loveliest agricultural landscapes in Sumatra. THIS IS ALSO ORANG PENDEK COUNTRY - the short person of Sumatran folklore, which guides will tell you about at length and which nobody has ever produced. Take the stories in the spirit they are offered.
Kerinci Seblat National Park, Jambi and West Sumatra, Kersik Tuo, Jambi, Indonesia
THE CLIMB STARTS FROM KERSIK TUO, a tea-plantation village in the Kerinci valley, where guesthouses arrange GUIDES AND PORTERS AND THE PARK PERMIT. IT IS TWO DAYS RETURN, with a camp at Shelter 3 and a pre-dawn push to the summit. A PARK ENTRY PERMIT IS REQUIRED and is arranged locally. THE MOUNTAIN CLOSES WHEN VOLCANIC ACTIVITY RISES - Kerinci is active and vents continuously - and after heavy rain when the trail becomes dangerous. GETTING THERE IS THE OBSTACLE: roughly seven to ten hours by road from PADANG, on winding mountain routes, or a flight into the small Kerinci airport if the schedule suits. THE DRY SEASON, ROUGHLY MAY TO SEPTEMBER, is the only realistic window. Danau Gunung Tujuh nearby is a separate day and needs its own permit.