Mount Kerinci (also known as Gunung Kerinci), standing at 3805m, is the highest volcano in Indonesia and the highest peak in Sumatra. It is surrounded by the lush forest of Kerinci Seblat National Park, home to the endangered species of Sumatran Tiger Sumatran Rhinoceros. The area around Kerinci has 15 lakes, of which the highest and most beautiful is Danau Gunung Tujuh. The name “Danau Gunung Tujuh” is translated as “Seven Mountains Lake”- a seeming reference to the seven peaks forming the forested rim. At an impressive height of 1950m, it is the highest lake in Southeast Asia. Experience a tranquil night camping in the mountains where you can gaze endlessly at the stars-filled night sky. There is also an opportunity to experience the local villager’s life by staying in a homestay before and after the climb. You will get to experience their daily routine in the village, where the farmers harvest cabbages and potatoes and the carefree children catch eels from the padi fields.
ITINERARY
Day 01
PADANG – KERSIK TUO
Upon arrival at Minangkabau International Airport, you will be picked up by your guide to your homestay in Kersik Tuo (7 hours drive). Kersik Tuo at 1500m is a conglomerate of villages surrounded with padi fields and tea plantations. The landscape of Kersik Tuo is dominated by the massive cone of Gunung Kerinci. If you take a night flight to Padang, you will reach Kersik Tuo the next day morning.
Overnight: Homestay or overnight travel
Day 02
KERSIK TUO – LAKE GUNUNG TUJUH
Wake up to the crows of rooster. After a nice homestay breakfast, your guide will bring you to Ulu Jernih village – 14km away from Kersik Tuo – where the trailhead of Lake Gunung Tujuh is located. Lake Gunung Tujuh is a volcanic crater lake created after rainwater filled up the exploded cone of the old volcano. Lake Gunung Tujuh is translated as “Seven Mountains Lake”, a seeming reference to the seven peaks comprising the forested rim. At 1950m, it is the highest lake in Southeast Asia. The 6km hike to the lake is uphill all the way till the crater rim, after which a short descend of 20 min will bring you to the water edge. You will break for lunch at the lakeside. After lunch, you will descend back to the trailhead where transport will be waiting to bring you to Telun Berasap Waterfall, a few km away from Kersik Tuo. The waterfall though only 50m high has an extremely high and powerful flow. Be prepared to get yourself fully drenched as you stand at the viewing balcony looking down into the plunge pool of the waterfall. The waterfall is aptly named as Berasap, which means smoke in Barisan Indonesian. Return back to the homestay for dinner and early sleep.
Overnight: Homestay
Day 03
KERSIK TUO – GUNUNG KERINCI
Wake up around 6am for breakfast, after which you will be driven to the trailhead of Gunung Kerinci. Near the trailhead, there are many potatoes, cabbages and chili farms where you can pick up some fresh vegetables for your meals in the mountain. There are 6 checkpoints between the trailhead and the summit; POS 1 (1800m), POS2 (1900m), POS3 (2000m), Shelter 1 (2400m), Shelter 2 (3000m) and Shelter 3 (3400m). The climb to Shelter 2 where you will set up tent for the night will take about 6 hrs. You will break for packed lunch either at POS 2 or POS3. The track is unmarked but well defined and of average gradient till Shelter 2. Gunung Kerinci which is part of the Kerinci Seblat National Park is rich in flora and fauna such as edelweiss, orchids, pitcher plants, hornbills, squirrels, boar and long tailed macaques. Enjoy a sumptuous cooked meal and turn in early to prepare for the next day’s summit climb.
Overnight: Tent with sleeping bag
Day 04
GUNUNG KERINCI – KERSIK TUO
Wake up around 2am to be served a light snack of biscuits and tea. Don your windproof jacket, gloves and headlight for the 3 hrs summit climb in cold darkness. The first half of the trail will be along steep gullies surrounded by thick shrub vegetations on both sides. After climbing for about 1 1/2 hrs, you will emerge out of the tree line into Shelter 3 – the last checkpoint before the summit – to be greeted by the village lights beneath and star lights above. Beyond this point, the terrain is barren with volcanic rocks and sands and fully exposed to the wind. After another 1 ½ hrs climb, you will reach the narrow crater rim – the highest point of Gunung Kerinci – where you can take a precarious peep into the gigantic fuming crater. Watch the first rays of sun hitting Lake Gunung Tujuh and its 7 peaks with the Indian Ocean in the background. After sunrise, you will descend the mountain and return back to your homestay in Kersik Tuo for hot shower and rest.
Overnight: Homestay
Day 05
KERSIK TUO – PADANG – SINGAPORE
After breakfast, you will be transferred back to Pandang for your flight back to Singapore.
Package includes:
- All land transport including airport transfers
- Homestay in Kersik Tuo
- Homestay breakfasts
- All meals and drinks (boiled water, coffee and tea) during the trek
- All camping equipments (tents, sleeping mats, sleeping bags)
- Local trekking guide (English speaking)
- Porters for tents, sleeping bags, food and commual equipments
- Kerinci Seblat National Park entrance fee and Gunung Kerinci climbing permit fee
Package excludes:
- Return international air tickets
- Travel insurance
- All meals not indicated
- Tips for guide and porters
- All expenses of a personal nature
HIKING GRADE
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
Climbing Season: During the dry months from March to September
Rainy Season: October to February
Temperature: It gets cold in the mountain above shelter 2 at night and in the early morning. Warm clothing is an absolute must.
Difficulty Level: Climbing Kerinci is tough but anyone with good fitness and hiking experience should be able to cope. Since it is only a 2D 1N climb, you should bring along only essential items (warm clothing, headlight or trekking stick) for the climb. Porters will be responsible for carrying communal equipments, food and water. Therefore you are still expected to carry your own personal daypack of under 5 kilograms. Normal trekking throughout except for some scrambling towards the summit. No rock climbing or technical climbing skills needed.
PHOTO GALLERY
TESTIMONIALS
See latest reviews on our Google page!The climb was great, the view was amazing. We really enjoyed the fact that it wasn't too touristic and all hikers were local. The guide was very helpful and brought us around in Surabaya on Saturday.
– Aijing (Group of 2 on a 4D3N Mt Arjuno & Mt Welirang trip in Apr 2019)
Personalised pickup and attention to our well being. Focused to help us to have good experiences. Guide Udin is very professional. Dependable, attention to details, providing good advices. Porters are friendly and helpful. We are very happy with the service level, professionalism of the whole team to bringing good experiences to hikers like us.
– YT (Group of 3 on a 2D1N Mt Merbabu Camping trip in Nov 2018)
Hi Bob, thanks very much for making the arrangements and making this trip a meaningful one for me. The service that you have provided is exception, really unlike any vendors that I have engaged before. The prompt replies and staying connected with the traveller during the trip helps to reassure the traveller. The guides that were engaged were also very professional and ensures the safety of the climber. The guides takes the effort to brief the climber and checks that there are proper safety equipment before the hike so that safety of the climber will not be compromised. It was a smooth trip. The drivers for the transfers were also punctual. It’s really a great trip! Thank you very much!
– Pei Yi (Solo hiker on a 4D3N Semeru trip in Aug 2018)
The guide and porters were experienced and very nice! They were very helpful and fun 🙂 the cooking was delicious and they were wonderful hosts. We were pretty slow but they were understanding about it. They were very accommodating of our wants to stop and take pictures along the way too. I'd like to commend porter Diu (I hope I'm spelling it right), my Friend was struggling up and he offered to carry her bag for her. During the descend, I kept slipping and he was so kind to help me down the many steep paths.
– Stef (Group of 6 on an 2D1N Mt Merbau Summit & Camping trip in Jul 2018)
We were lucky, the weather was good and sunny throughout the trip. Scenery was beautiful and most importantly food was great. A great trek but not a stroll in the park. Summit push was a struggle for some of us. Thanks Ying for making our trip a success.
– Jace Lee (Group of 4 on a 4D3N Semeru trip in June 2018)
Profession guide ensures a safety and comfortable journey during the adventure. Tents and pillows were of good condition and organisation of daily itinerary was based on our capability and ability to continue the hike rather than rushing for the schedules. The hiking and trip journey was enjoyable.
– Adam (Group of 4 on a Mt Rinjani trip in May 2017)
The whole arrangement from the start to the end was smooth. The support of the guide was immense and we enjoyed ourselves all the way through. But kudos to the guide who made this experience a beautiful one.
– Mus (Group of 4 on a Mt Rinjani trip in May 2017)
It has been a fulfilling trip from the start to the end. Ying has been very meticulous from the beginning; paying great attention to our dietary requirement, rooming arrangement etc. Thanks Abdul, our guide, for the encouraging gestures to keep us going especially during the summit push. Fond memories for years to come!
– Celine (Group of 7 on a Mt Rinjani trip in June 2016)
This was our third trekking trip with IWT after Rinjani and Ophir. We continued to be impressed with their consistent personalized customer service and responsiveness. The pre-trip briefing package which consisted of a detailed packing list and things to take note of are especially useful for our climb preparation.Thanks Bob for keeping a constant check on us during the trip. We look forward to many more trips with you.
– HL Chua (Group of 5 on a 5D4N Semeru trip in May 2016)
Thanks to our guide Arief for making my life so much bearable during the 3d2n trek. It was a tough trek especially for someone like me who's not so fit but the scenery was really worth the sweat. Looking back it's a trip well planned and executed. Thanks for making this happen.
– Jiahui (Group of 5 on a Mt Rinjani trip in May 2016)
We had a great trip and received very good services from the mountain guide and his helpers. We greatly appreciate the thoughtfulness with which iwannatravel planned the itinerary especially when we need to make last minute change to reduce the group size. Our trip is all well planned and executed. We greatly enjoyed ourselves throughout the trip.
– Susana Chua (Group of 3 on a 5D4N Semeru trip in Sept 2015)
Kudos to IWT for making our Semeru trip a success; everything from driver, guide to accommodation were well planned and organised! The Semeru FAQ and packing list provided by Bob were especially useful in helping us to prepare for this trip. Bob was always very prompt and patient towards our enqueries and requests for itinerary amendment. We look forward to our next trip with IWT!
– Jeremy (Group of 6 on a 5D4N Semeru trip in Aug 2015))
We are very happy with the overall arrangement of everything from the choice of trekking company, the transportation and the accommodations. We were very well taken care of on the trek. The foods on our camping trip was really great. Beyond our expectation actually. =) Thanks you Bob for the patience to answer to all our queries and giving us advises that helps us greatly to planned out our extension stay after the climb. Will definitely join their other climbs or engage them to plan another trip again. =)
– Yen Wei (Group of 9 on a Mt Rinjani & Gili Trip in Aug 2015)
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