Mount Kerinci

Mount Kerinci is the highest mountain on the island of Sumatra. The mountain is a popular destination for mountain climbers. High as 3805 meters, and still active volcano. The best time to go hiking is from January to October

The nearest village and climber base is Kersik Tuo, near Kayu Aro in Kerinci. Mount Kerinci is located at the north end of the Kerinci-Seblat Reserve major, which includes a strip 345 km mountainous spine of Sumatra straddling the four provinces of Sumatra. To the north and south of the agricultural land is very densely populated.

Cone volcanoes are young and naked, while the main crater is located in the northeast of the remnants of the system / Elegant volcano crater. Kerinci crater, which erupted in 1934 is filled with yellowish-green water.

The mountain is squeezed in between even older mountain complexes to the west and east. Though Kerinci is a very nice mountain to climb, you need to be in good condition. Climber usually start from Kayu Aro (1500 meters) a small village south of the peak.

You can’t loose your way on the ascent; there only one path through the jungle. The first leg is four hours to a covered shelter from there the climb is steep and hard. In some section you’ll crawl on all fours through tunnels of trees and under roots. You need to rest every 10-15 minutes, the is so narrow and steep.

From Paiman Home Stay in Kersik Tuo, it takes seven and half hours to reach 3000 meters -here’s a ruined house where you can put up a tent. Fresh water no available. Get up early in the morning, and climb three hours to the peak. There you can see the crater, with huge billowy sulfur clouds. Two hours to descend to the 3000 meters point, where you can pick up your things and be down off the mountain in just five hours.

From the edge of the treeline, the trail is steep and there is plenty of shallow scree to negotiate. It is a good idea to wear gloves and make sure you have a torch you can attach to your head so you have both hands free. The tiny summit area appears quite suddenly and is marked with a cairn and orange flag which lies between two rocky outcrops. Down below steeply to the right is the smouldering crater and to the left is the Indian Ocean. Views are extensive – you should be able to see Gunung Tujuh on your right, Gunung Raya and Gunung Masurai to the south, and Gunung Talang, Gunung Marapi and Gunung Singgalang to the north.

Mount Kerinci is gorgeous, where you can find many kind of birds, such as Sumatran hornbill and wild dove. Long tailed macaque. Beautiful yellowish flowers. Tropical rainforest with many kind of plants, canopy and big fern plants. It’s a nice scenery.

The closest airport is Padang from where it is a 6-8 hour road journey to the nearest accommodation to the Kerinci trail, at Kersik Tua (also spelt Tuo, 1,519m). Transport can be arranged at Padang airport or by contacting one of the homestays in advance.

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Mount Singgalang

Singgalang mountain is a volcano that is no longer active. The mountain is located in the province of West Sumatera. Mount Merapi adjacent to the mountain is located at an altitude above the surface laut.Ia 2.877meter famous for its forests are very humid conditions, because it has a lot of water content.

Singgalang is a beautiful and scenic volcano, and unlike its neighbor, Merapi, it is old and extinct. Within the crater of the volcano is a beautiful lake known as Telago Dewi.

The volcano is one of the two peaks rising south of the city of Bukkinggi. The other volcano is Marapi Volcano.

Singgalang is climbed much less often than its sister peak, Marapi Volcano, so the trails are rougher and harder to follow. A local guide may be useful in locating the trail.

To reach Singgalang, first take a bus to Bikittinggi, which is easy to get to from any of Sumatra's major cities. From Bikittinggi, make your way to the bus terminal in the southeast part of the city. From there, locate a minibus headed for Kotabaru. Ask the driver to drop you off at "Kachil ik Singgalang" or "the trail to Singgalang" or "Kachi ik Pandai" or "the trail to a place called Pandai Sikek".

Mount Singgalang can be reached from several paths. However, the famous route is through rural Koto Baru and Pandai Sikek. From Koto Baru village we will take the route to the Village Pandai Sikek. From this village is the starting point towards Tower (RCTI and TVRI transmitter located at the waist of the mountain Singgalang). Tower Towards this transmitter we will pass the paved roads that climb, the closer to the tower of his way more and not good and full of pebbles and on his left and right side there are fields of agriculture population. Pandai Sikek Village is also famous for its sugar cane fields and place of manufacture saka (brown sugar).

After reaching the Tower transmitters we can make this area as a resting place (shelter) before continuing the journey to the summit. From the tower, we will pass pimpiang woods about 1 hour. This forest consists of a high pimpiang plants and ducked, so that requires climbers to walk crouched, and even sitting and crawling. But now, through the woods is getting easier, because the top of the plant is cut off, so we no longer need to stoop to pass through.

After passing pimpiang we will find a place called "Mata Air I", in this place down to the bottom we will find the river water taken for supplies.

From the first spring we will travel routes that climb up the rock, with an average slope of about 45 degrees. More to the summit we will find many beautiful fern trees and past the tracks a slightly damp and dense forest. On the left or right track we found the electric poles and wires that can be used as a guide to get to the top. But for some people, this is very disturbing. Beautiful views of forests damaged by electric poles on both sides, not to mention the fad will calculate approximately how much longer before the mast to the top.
Travel route before the normal time-consuming rock about 5 hours depending on fast or the slow movement of our journey. From rock to the summit takes about 1 hour. Rock consists of a yellow solid rocks, overgrown beard and Rhododendron trees mountains, and occasionally we will find edelweiss flower, although very rarely encountered and require a keen eye to find it. On the way later on we will also find an obelisk monument called Galapagos.

From this rock we could see off in the direction of the mountain scenery Marapi located right in front. If lucky, we could see the town of Padang Panjang, Bukittinggi, and Danau Singkarak from the rock. However, during the day, the mountain is often shrouded in fog Singgalang. If you want to get a better view of the exotic set up a tent in the rock and watch the sunrise and other exotic sights in the morning.

After passing the rock, we will re-entering the forest area is more humid and the trees are covered with thick moss. Not long after that we got to the Telago Dewi. Telago Dewi is often shrouded in fog. If you are fond of photography, when the lake was clear, the sooner the better to get his picture, because the fog is very friendly to play there.

Surrounding the lake this Goddess does not take a long time, but the charm of truly natural and exotic will make us comfortable to linger in the humid and wet forests. In the vicinity of this lake we met a very dense forest moss and some plants semar bag.

Area camp located in the vicinity of the lake and pond water that can be used for needs makes it convenient to several days in Singgalang. The atmosphere is cool and quiet is a sensation for those who want off fatigue in the wild.

Many who arrived at Singgalang only reached the Telago Dewi alone. But there's more Singgalang peak reached about half to 1 hour that leads the summit. At its peak, we will find a transmitter tower, which is the estuary of the electrical poles are encountered along the road.

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