Trekking gear, supplies, guides and transport can all be arranged here. There’s a market on Saturday and a BNI Bank ATM. The village is 52km north of Sungai Penuh on the road to Padang and can be reached by any Padang–Kerinci bus. Minibuses (10,000Rp, 1½ hours) trundle north from Sungai Penuh to Kersik Tua between 8am and 5pm and north from Kersik Tua to Pelompek (5000Rp), 8km away.
There are several basic homestays, spread out along the main road. Just south of the statue on the main road is Subandi Homestay (%0748-357 009, 0812 7411 4273; [email protected]; r 150,000Rp), the best base camp in the village. Subandi is the only English-speaking homestay owner and a fount of local knowledge who can organise mountain, jungle and wildlife treks of varying difficulty and duration.
The southernmost option in Kersik Tua, Family Homestay (%0852 6626 6992, 0748-357080; r 150,000Rp), is uphill next to the tea plantation and then left along the football field. It offers cosy carpeted rooms and hot water on request. Alternatively, Homestay Paiman (%0748-357 030; r 75,000Rp), 200m south of Subandi Homestay, is your fallback option. It’s a friendly place, but the beds are so ancient they’re hammock-shaped.
Pelompek
The small village of Pelompek, 8km north of Kersik Tua, makes a good base for a night or two if you’re looking to climb Gunung Tajuh. Homestay Gunung Tujuh (%0852 724 5940; r 150,000Rp) is the only place to stay in the village. Overlooking the market and a block away from the main street, its rooms are spacious, with Indonesian bucket showers, and the proprietress fusses over her guests like a mother hen in spite of the language barrier.
Buses pass along the main street fairly regularly to Kersik Tua (5000Rp) and Sungai Penuh (15,000Rp).
ORANG PENDEK
Every culture that has lived among trees tells stories about elusive creatures that straddle myth and reality. Tales about leprechauns, fairies and even Sasquatch have existed for so long that it is impossible to determine which came first: the spotting or the story. The Indonesian version of these myth makers is the orang pendek, which has been occasionally spotted but more frequently talked about in the Kerinci forests for generations.
Villagers who claim to have seen orang pendek describe the creature as being about 1m tall, more ape than human, but walking upright on the ground. The creature’s reclusive habits made it a celebrity in local mythology. Common folk stories say that the orang pendek has feet that face backwards so that it can’t be tracked through the forest or that it belongs to the supernatural not the world of flesh and blood. Others say that the first-hand accounts were only spottings of sun bears.
Scientists have joined the conversation by tramping through the forest hoping to document the existence of orang pendek. British researchers succeeded in making a plaster cast of an animal footprint that fits the orang pendek description and doesn’t match any other known primate. Hair samples with no other documented matches have also led researchers to believe that there is merit to the local lore. Two members of Fauna & Flora International, a British-based research team, even reported separate sightings, but were unable to collect conclusive evidence. Researchers sponsored by the National Geographic Society have resumed the search by placing motion-sensitive cameras in strategic spots in the jungle. So little is known about this region and so many areas are so remote that researchers are hopeful that the orang pendek will eventually wander into the frame.
If nothing else, the orang pendek helps illuminate aspects of Sumatrans’ linguistic and cultural relationship with the jungle. Bahasa Indonesia makes little distinction between man and ape; for example, ‘orang-utan’ (forest man) or ‘orang rimba’ (‘people of the forest,’ the preferred term for the Kubu tribe) may reflect a perceived blood tie between forest dwellers. This imprecision is often used for comic effect. A common joke is that the orang pendek (which means ‘short man’) does indeed exist, followed by the punch line that the shortest person in the room is the missing link.
Kerinci Seblat National Park
The largest national park in Sumatra, Kerinci Seblat National Park (Taman Nasional Kerinci Seblat; TNKS), covers a 350km swathe of the Bukit Barisan range and protects 13,791 sq km of prime equatorial rainforest spread over four provinces, with almost 40% of the park falling within Jambi’s boundaries.
Most of the protected area is dense rainforest, and its inaccessibility is the very reason the park is one of the last strongholds of the endangered harimau (Sumatran tiger). Kerinci Seblat National Park is known as having the highest population and occurrence of tigers anywhere in Sumatra, with 80% of the park showing signs of the species.
Because of the great elevation range within the park, Kerinci has a unique diversity of flora and fauna. Edelweiss and other high-altitude flowers grow in the forest. Lower altitudes bring pitcher plants, orchids, rafflesia and the giant Amorphophallus.
As with many of Sumatra’s protected areas, encroachment by farmers, illegal logging and poaching are all serious issues for Kerinci, the latter dramatically on the rise in 2014. The park wardens are a passionate and dedicated lot, and they do stop a lot of the poaching, but greater numbers and more funds are desperately needed. The plight of the Sumatran tiger has recently been highlighted by Sir David Attenborough as part of Fauna & Flora International’s Tiger Project (www.fauna-flora.org), aimed at saving the Sumatran tiger from extinction.
Kerinci Seblat National Park sees relatively few visitors, and the park’s minimal tourist infrastructure is limited to the north around the dual attractions of Gunung Kerinci and Gunung Tujuh. While the park’s northern region is more visited, the southern area features elephants – absent in the north – and also has interesting forest-edge communities living within the park’s boundaries, as well as excellent trekking through pristine forests. Contact Luke Mackin of Wild Sumatra Adventures in Sungai Penuh if you’re keen to explore the park’s southern reaches by organising guides and treks. There are buffer areas for local cultivation and agriculture at the northern and southern edges of the park.
Permits and guides are required to enter the park. Both can be arranged at the park office in Sungai Penuh or through your losmen. There’s a park office at the entrance to Danau Gunung Tujuh, but it’s rarely staffed.
Permits cost 150,000Rp, guide rates are around 350,000Rp per day for an English-speaking guide, and porters can be hired for 150,000Rp to 200,000Rp per day. Be sure to clarify exactly what the rate entails, as camping gear, food and transport may be considered additional costs.
Kerinci’s climate is temperate, and downright cold as you gain altitude. Bring warm clothes and rain gear.
1Sights & Activities
oGunung KerinciVOLCANO
Dominating the northern end of the park is Gunung Kerinci (3805m), Southeast Asia’s tallest volcano and one of Sumatra’s most active. On clear days the summit offers fantastic views of Danau Gunung Tujuh and the surrounding valleys and mountains.
Summit treks usually start from the national park entrance, 5km from Kersik Tua, and tackle the mountain over two days, camping overnight. A fully guided trip with food, permits, transport and all gear thrown in costs around 1,500,000Rp. Fully self-sufficient parties needing a guide will only pay around 700,000Rp.
The highest camp site, at 3400m, is normally reached after six hours. The following morning, allow an hour in the predawn to reach the summit by sunrise. The path is very steep and eroded, and above the treeline the scree is extremely slippery. A guide is mandatory and you’ll need full camping gear, warm and waterproof clothes, and head torch (all of which can be hired in Kersik Tua). Nights are freezing. Do not attempt the climb in wet weather.
Botanists and twitchers from around the world come for the rare flora and fauna, such as Javanese edelweiss, Schneider’s pitta and the crested wood partridge. Nepthenes (pitcher plants), squirrels, geckos and long-tailed macaques can be found in the lower forest, and troops of yellow-handed mitered langurs are also seen.
While the park does have a significant tiger population, spying one in the wi
ld is very rare, and sightings are usually restricted to paw prints and droppings. In previous centuries, local Kerinci people were thought to be weretigers (a shape-shifting synthesis of man and beast), and the tiger is still important in local mysticism and mythology.
Danau Gunung TujuhLAKE
(Seven Mountain Lake)
At 1996m, the beautiful caldera of Danau Gunung Tujuh is the highest in Southeast Asia and makes for a pleasant day ascent or part of a multiday trek. It takes 3½ hours to climb to the lake from the park entrance, which is 2km from the village of Pelompek. Camp near the lake if staying overnight. An ojek to the trailhead costs around 10,000Rp. Subandi Homestay in Kersik Tua can organise two- or three-day treks, including a canoe crossing.
Wildlife in this area includes tapirs and Siamang gibbons, and one of the signature sounds of the Kerinci forests is the hooting and howling call of the gibbon.
Pelompek is 8km north of Kersik Tua (bus 10,000Rp) and 60km from Sungai Penuh (15,000Rp). You’ll need a park permit; if the park office is closed, ask next door at the tiny Losmen Pak Edes (r 70,000Rp), which also has two very basic rooms and can arrange guides.
Danau KacoLAKE
(Glass Lake)
A two- to three-hour ramble through the jungle along a largely flat (and muddy) path, Danau Kaco stops you dead in your tracks because you just can’t believe the sight of this small, sapphire-coloured swimming hole, with incredible visibility down its 20m depths. The trail starts near the village of Lempur, an hour’s drive from Sungai Penuh.
Danau KerinciLAKE
Danau Kerinci, 20km south of Sungai Penuh, is a sizeable lake nestled between Gunung Raya (2535m) and rice paddies. Stone carvings around the lake suggest that the area supported a sizeable population in megalithic times. Batu Gong (Gong Stone), in the village of Muak, 25km from Sungai Penuh, is thought to have been carved 2000 years ago. To reach the lake, catch a public bus from Sungai Penuh to Sanggaran Agung (13,000Rp). The last return bus leaves around 4pm.
There is an annual festival held in July on the shores of the lake, with traditional Kerinci dance and music.
Gunung KunyitVOLCANO
Visited by a fraction of hikers who take on its more famous neighbour, this active volcano, at the southern end of the Kerinci Valley, presents a wonderful challenge. It’s a six-hour hike to the summit through cloud forest from the village of Talang Kumuning, passing sulphur vents en route. You can also look for the hot spring within the crater.
Goa KasahCAVE
Considered to be the largest cave system in the Kerinci Valley, and not yet fully explored, this cave makes for a good day trek (around 2½ hours one way) from the village of Sungai Sampun. The hike isn’t very strenuous, and runs largely through picturesque rice fields before ascending some forested foothills.
Air Terjun Telun BerasapWATERFALL
Impressive waterfalls dot the whole valley. The easiest to find are the Air Terjun Telun Berasap in the ‘Letter W’ village 4km north of Pelompek. Look for the ‘Air Terjun Telun Berasap’ sign then walk 300m to a deep, fern-lined ravine where a thunderous torrent of water crashes onto rocks below.
More impressive falls include the 75m-tall Pancuran Rayo, reachable via a half-hour drive south and then a three-hour hike from Sungai Penuh.
Night SafariSAFARI
Easily doable from Sungai Penuh, the night safari involves driving a stretch of the winding southbound road that passes through the Kerinci Seblat National Park after dark, looking for wildlife in the trees and undergrowth with torches. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot civets, owls and even the odd tiger. Walking is not advisable, lest you become a cat’s dinner.
Renah KemumuHIKING
This is an excellent jungle trek to the remote village of Renah Kemumu that sits in the jungle within the boundaries of the national park. It takes around 12 to 15 hours one way, to the accompaniment of Siamang gibbon calls, with plenty of bird sightings and potential large mammal sightings en route.
Hot SpringsHOT SPRING
The volcanic legacy of the valley is evident in its many hot springs. These range from the semi-grotty Air Panas near the village of Semurup (11km north of Sungai Penuh), hugely popular with locals; Air Panas Situs 2 across the valley is in a more natural setting. More impressive still is Grao Sakti, near the forest village of Renah Kemumu.
Bengkulu
Cut off from its neighbours by the Bukit Barisan range, Bengkulu remains Sumatra’s most isolated province. Those travellers who make it this far are rewarded with the simple pleasures of ordinary Indonesian life and with beautiful, largely unexplored countryside and jungle around the main city.
History
Little is known of Bengkulu before it came under the influence of the Majapahits from Java at the end of the 13th century. Until then it appears to have existed in almost total isolation, divided between a number of small kingdoms such as Sungai Lebong in the Curup area. It even developed its own cuneiform script, ka-ga-nga.
In 1685, after having been kicked out of Banten in Java, the British moved into Bengkulu (Bencoolen, as they called it) in search of pepper. The venture was not exactly a roaring success. Isolation, boredom and constant rain sapped the British will, and malaria ravaged their numbers.
The colony was still not a likely prospect in 1818 when Sir Stamford Raffles arrived as its British-appointed ruler. In the short time he was there, Raffles made the pepper market profitable and planted cash crops of coffee, nutmeg and sugar cane. In 1824 Bengkulu was traded for the Dutch outpost of Melaka as a guarantee not to interfere with British interests in Singapore.
From 1938 to 1941 Bengkulu was a home-in-domestic-exile for Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno.
A series of earthquakes struck the province in 2007.
Bengkulu
%0736 / Pop 296,000
A real hidden gem, the quiet provincial capital of Bengkulu is quite possibly the nicest city in Sumatra. Its pedestrian-friendly streets are not desperately traffic-clogged, the beach is kept clean by locals, and there’s a decent eating scene to boot. The city itself is quite light on attractions, beyond a few interesting reminders of the colonial era and an expansive beach. But travellers are beginning to discover the multiple natural attractions beyond the city limits, which make Bengkulu an excellent destination in its own right, rather than just a handy stopover between Padang and Bukittinggi to the north and Krui and Bandarlampung to the south.
1Sights
Benteng MarlboroughFORT
(admission 5000Rp; h8am-7pm)
Set on a hill overlooking the Indian Ocean, the star-shaped Benteng Marlborough, a former British fort, became the seat of British power in Bengkulu after 1719, when it replaced nearby Fort York. Despite its sturdy defences the fort was attacked and overrun twice – once by a local rebellion just after its completion in 1719, and then by the French in 1760. The old British gravestones at the entrance make poignant reading.
There are a few interesting old engravings and copies of official correspondence from the time of British rule, and you can also see where the Dutch incarcerated Indonesia’s president Sukarno during his internal exile.
Pantai PanjangBEACH
Bengkulu’s main beach, Pantai Panjang, is 7km of clean white sand. Strong surf and currents make it unsafe for swimming, but there are decent surf breaks towards the northern and southern ends of the beach, and, unusually for Sumatra, there’s a jogging track that stretches the length of the beach, shaded by pine trees.
Pulau TikusISLAND
Reachable from Bengkulu via a 30- to 40-minute boat ride, this small island is surrounded by coral reef, making it an excellent snorkelling destination. It’s 15km west of Bengkulu; get a fishing boat to take you out here.
TTours
Wild Sumatra AdventuresADVENTURE TOUR
(%0811 730 8740; www.wildsumatra.com)
The indefatigable Josh and his team have done wonders in terms of opening up the Bengkulu region to adventurous travellers. Whether you’re into rock c
limbing or trekking, or simply want to swim in pristine, remote waterfalls, these guys can help you organise your adventure.
4Sleeping
Yadi Surf CampSURF CAMP$
(%8127-3309595; Jl Baai; r incl meals from 250,000Rp)
At the southern end of the city, and not far from the beach, Yadi’s place is the heart and soul of the local surfer community, with boards, bicycles and motorbikes for rent. Yadi and Vivi also run a good restaurant.
Vista HotelHOTEL$
(%0736-20820; Jl MT Haryono 67; r 75,000-170,000Rp; a)
The spic-and-span rooms with fan or air-con at this friendly cheapie are particularly useful for their location near the bus agents.
Hotel SantikaBUSINESS HOTEL$$
(%0736-25858; www.santika.com; Jl Raya Jati 45, Sawah Lebar; r 605,000-940,000Rp; aWs)
The latest outpost of the Santika empire is Bengkulu’s smartest hotel. Expect clean, simple lines and contemporary design, complemented by such perks as a gym, pool and massage spa. The restaurant is decent and the service is attentive and friendly.
Nala Seaside HotelHOTEL$$
(%0736-344855; Jl Pariwisata 2, Pantai Panjang; bungalow 333,000Rp, d 500,000Rp; aW)
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 109