Mount Sibayak

Sibayak stands at just over two thousand metres above Berastagi in the Karo highlands and is one of the more accessible active volcanoes in Sumatra - the walk up takes two to three hours from the road head, on a track that is steep and slippery but needs no equipment, and most people start around three in the morning to be on the rim for sunrise. The crater is not a single cone but a broken bowl with fumaroles hissing sulphur through yellow-crusted vents, steaming pools and loose scree, and the smell is strong enough to be unpleasant. Hot springs at the foot are used afterwards. The volcano is monitored and has been raised in alert level at times, closing the climb; the neighbouring Sinabung, dormant for centuries, erupted from 2010 and has killed people and displaced villages.

What you actually see

• A sulphur-vented crater - fumaroles and yellow crust in a broken bowl.
• A two to three hour climb - steep but requiring no equipment.
• Sunrise from the rim - the reason for the pre-dawn start.
• Hot springs below - the bathing pools at the foot of the mountain.

When to go

All year; pre-dawn start for sunrise. Half a day.

Honest expectations

This is an active volcano and access closes when the alert level rises - check before going. Sulphur gas is genuinely unpleasant and dangerous in hollows. The track is slippery; a guide is sensible.

Nearby

Berastagi and Sinabung are close; Lake Toba is south.