Bagged Gunung Sago on Saturday – unfortunately I had low clouds too but it was an easy and pleasant forest hike in an interesting and friendly area. Watch out for leeches – there are one or two on the lower slopes of the mountain, in addition to some of the largest ants I have ever seen. On the positive side, we saw quite a few monkeys thrashing around in the highest branches and there is a lovely wild raspberry bush at the viewpoint – which went some way to making up for the lack of view!
If you google ‘gunung sago’ you will find local news reports of 3 tigers having descended from the mountain into local villages. This was in 2009. Apparently a man out collecting wood was eaten in Lintau (a less common approach for hikers climbing the mountain). I don’t know what happened to the 3 tigers but they almost certainly aren’t on the mountain anymore. They must have left the area as a last resort due to lack of food. But this is just another reason not to go hiking alone, especially in Sumatra.
Thumbs up to the local hiking group Mapala Pagaruyung for their many red and green puncak signs. I’m not sure who put up the signs on the true peak but the elevation figure is way, way off!
That night I had a great time at Bedudal Cafe on Jl A Yani, Bukittinggi – the best bar in town. The night before I stayed in Padang at a new place called Brigitte Guesthouse – owned by a pleasant woman called Brigitte and popular with surfers. For those who fancy an adventure, you may want to consider flying back from Pekanbaru. It takes the best part of a day to get there from Bukittinggi but there is some good scenery around Harau Valley and then some large lakes and rivers once into Riau province. You can use a ‘travel car’ (shared with other passengers) for less than 100,000 – much better than taking a bus.

We had a great hike up Gunung Sago, even though it was cloudy on the summit. It’s a straightforward mountain to climb and if you are luckier than us, the views are supposed to be excellent.

We stayed in Bukittinggi and arranged an early morning one-way drop off to Payakumbuh through one of the “tourist cafes.” We met up with Anto, our guide who we found Anto through a friend of a friend of a friend. Anto is now listed in the Guides database. Organising the hike and where to meet was easy using SMS. Instead of needing ojeks to the trailhead, Anto brought two friends along for the hike and also confirmed that they would drop us off at the right place to catch an express bus back to Bukittinggi after the hike.

Apart from the lack of view because of cloud, everything worked out really well and we would definitely recommend this hike if you are in the area and looking for a nice mountain that is off the tourist trail.