Mount Dempo, Sumatra, Indonesia

5eripalgunadi 5:00 PM Mar 22, 2014

Amazing view..
My mother is came from this area.. and when the first time i come back. my relative take me to this place @gunung dempo tea plantation. Beautiful scenery .. be carefull when we drive car because its really narrow road at high altitude.. Dont forget to buy local tea and coffee .. worth to try

5littlebigmax 5:00 PM Jul 19, 2017

Middle of nowhere is still somewhere
Lots to say about this. First of all, the tea plantations are stunning (or you know, as stunning as tea can be). I've seen tea plantations of this scale in four other places in Indonesia and this is definitely my favorite. I think it's the visibility of it all, coiling around the foothills of the mountain. Kind of like a Dr. Seuss book or something. Then there are some neat waterfalls to swim under if you so choose, and the view from the Hollywood-esque "Pagar Alam" sign at the top is pretty nice too. As for the hike (as I call it) or climb (as most mortals would call it), it's one word: Rugged. Not like "oh damn I don't know where the eff I am someone get me out of here" rugged, but good solid rugged. The kind that's challenging and fun. Be prepared to grab many a tree root and do a lot of swinging and hoisting. I started hiking at 11am from the Pagar Alam sign (in hindsight I'm sort of shocked they allowed me to) and arrived back at the sign at 6pm. For me, the climb up (including to the crater rim) was around 3.5-4 hours and the climb down was around 2.5 hours, but I was going very fast, got lucky with only some drizzling rain, and am in excellent shape. I DON'T recommend doing what I did, since I barely got back before sundown. Everyone else I saw was in a camping group. If you're bold and want to do it in one day, I recommend starting around 8am to be safe. Anyway have fun, this was certainly one of the most memorable experiences in 15 months for me in Indonesia.