Sumatra

After climbing Kerinci, we had a great time in and around the mountain resort town of Bukittinggi. We had a bit of R&R and did some “normal” tourist stuff, before our legs recovered and we were tempted again to head off the beaten track to climb Gunungs Sago and Singgalang.

Based on a recommendation from a traveller in Kersik Tua, we stayed in the great Kartini Hotel. It’s kind of caught in a time warp, but is clean, has hot water and we took the great top floor room. The staff are friendly and serve up a decent simple breakfast. For the fives times daily call to prayer, the place literally vibrates from the speakers from the mosque opposite. Part of the fun in Bukittinggi.

Kerinci, the highest volcano in Indonesia, has been demanding to be climbed for a few years, and we finally did it. We flew from Jakarta to Padang, and then had Pak Subandi and his driver from eponymous Subandi Homestay pick us up for the 7 hour drive to Kersik Tua in the picturesque Kerinci valley. The drive itself is not as brutal as it sounds, and after climbing out of the Padang coastal plain the scenery is very nice – in particular around the Dibawah and Diatas lakes.

Arriving at Subandi homestay after dark, we had our first taste of Ibu Subandi’s delicious home cooking (best tempe in Indonesia?) and got an early night. Kerinci doesn’t require an early start, so we had a pleasant breakfast and from Pak Subandi’s front porch looked at Kerinci towering above the valley and sending lots of gas up from the crater.

A trip planned a last minute turned into a really great weekend, including relaxing and eating great food on the shore of the giant Lake Toba and bagging a very seldom climbed mountain – Gunung Pangulubao.

We flew to Medan, arriving in the early evening and after some bad food and a juice in the hotel, we headed out to enjoy a few cold beers in the small cafe bar, strangely right next to the huge local mosque. The next morning, our driver picked us up and we headed south along the busy trans-Sumatra highway, before turning west and starting to climb into the mountains. After about 4 hours driving we arrived in Parapat, which is the main place to catch a ferry across Lake Toba to Tuk Tuk. Parapat gets a bit of a bad write up in the Lonely Planet, but it’s a pretty nice place with a decent market square and places to eat. It is much better to head across the lake, and we chose to stay in the popular Tabo Cottages, which has accommodation in traditional Batak Style houses, a bakery, and really good food. Tuk Tuk is pretty quiet, and when you walk though the village, most of the restaurants and cafe bars are empty – you are probably going to be the only customers.