Mount Dempo

Dempo reaches 3,173 metres in the Barisan range of South Sumatra and is the highest mountain in the province, standing over the town of Pagar Alam with its flanks planted in tea - the Pagar Alam gardens climb well up the mountain and the trail starts among them at Kampung IV. The climb is a hard day or an overnight, through tea into forest and then onto open volcanic ground, and at the top is a crater holding a lake whose colour shifts between green and turquoise with the water chemistry. The volcano is active and monitored; eruptions have been small in recent decades but alert levels rise and the summit closes. The Pasemah plateau around the town holds megalithic stone carvings of figures and animals dating back around two thousand years.

Highlights

• A crater lake at the summit - green to turquoise, shifting with the chemistry.
• Tea gardens up the flanks - the Pagar Alam plantations reaching high on the mountain.
• South Sumatra's highest point - 3,173 metres in the Barisan range.
• The Pasemah megaliths - carved stone figures on the plateau below.

When to go

May to September; overnight for sunrise from the rim. Two days.

Practical notes

It is an active volcano and closes on alert - check before travelling. Registration and a guide are required. The climb is steep and muddy; nights near the top are cold.

Nearby

Pagar Alam and the Pasemah megalithic sites are below; Lake Ranau is south-east.

Key facts