Sumatra: Twin Lakes > Kerinci

May 10-11 2025 |

Section 5 of my West Sumatra tour. A great ride with epic scenes and the road almost to myself. Aside from non-stop awesome sights, the highlight was Kerinci, the tallest volcano in Indonesia, where I stayed the night.

The ride from Twin Lakes south runs through a long valley, coast mountains on one side and smaller ones to the right. It's classic Indo scenery - rice paddies and rural life, a nice twisty road. This road has little traffic and is a smooth ride.

Once you get closer to Kerinci, the scenes get even better. And the road is excellent, with one section of immacualte new pavement. For the final hour or so Kerinci dominates the skyline, surrounded by tea plantations.

No doubt, Kerinci is a stunning sight, though not as imposing as Rinjani in Lombok, the 2nd tallest volcano in Indo, which rises from sea level.

I didn;t cath the exact name of the town I stopped at. I stayed at G&T Guesthouse, a local tourist place near Kerinci base camp. I didn't see another bule, though some do venture here to climb the mountain. The main irritant here was a common one in West Sumatra: every moto was exhaust-less, and the main social activity seemed to be roaring up and down the road, making extreme noise - yee-haw.

Ride: 140 km / 4 hrs

Stay: G&T Guesthouse / $10 *

Questions or comments?

Drop me a line: terraxplor1@gmail.com