Bashing Bentong

Bentong
One thing that can not be said about the hot springs of Bentong, are that they are difficult to find. They are nearly on the main road from Kuala Lumpur to the eastern city of Kuantan. They are also not too far from Malaysia's capital, so even though it's not the weekend, there should be a couple more visitors. That's more than just myself.

The expansive car park though, only holds three other cars, two of which are parked next to each other and whose occupants have little interest in the soaking facilities. Slightly more encouraging is the occupant of the third car who has chosen to have a quiet lunch while gazing over the springs. But not interested in soaking either.

A dam divide. Opposite somebody enjoying their time here, but he had his own lunch

A tour of the site
The site is fairly big. On the western fringe is a fenced pond which probably contains the main source. A small dam divides this pond, from another large pond. The second pond is intentionally meant for soaking. It is very murky, so maybe it's 30 cm deep, maybe 2 m. From this pool there is an overflow to a small concrete pond which might have been intended to be a kiddies pool. And from here, there's an overflow leading to a stream which flows towards Bentong town.

Kiddies pool with final overflow. Yeah, I know, it looks OK.

Despite the lack of visitors there are otherwise enough tell-tale signs of prior visitors alas, though the undergrowth is also slowly coming back.

But what strikes me most is how deserted and desolate it looks. Clearly some effort has been made to clear the surrounding jungle and create the pools. A huge sanitary block has been added on, as well as another few buildings and some smaller tubs. But not much seems to be functioning.

I'm quite stunned. Obviously quite some public money must, at some time in the past, been pumped in to spruce the site up. Why? To provide recreation facilities. But then, with the monies spent, the site has been left to slowly be destroyed by nature and by the users themselves.

Developed hot springs in Malaysia
Elsewhere in Malaysia, hot spring sites have been renovated for continued public use, albeit at a cost to the same visitors. Wet World Pedas and Sunway Lost Lagoon (formerly known as Tambun hot springs) have been turned into 'thrilling' water parks, with a corner reserved for traditional soaking. While Poring (arguably Southeast Asia's most publicized / well-known hot springs) in the Malaysian state of Sabah has certainly been successful in attracting many tourists without affecting the naturalness of the site. Then again it may just be Malaysia's PR efforts, which manage to sell everything as a 'must see' sight. Or things are falling apart here as well, due to the government management (or lack of it).

The murky waters of Kolam Air Panas Bentong, otherwise known as Bentong hot springs

Experiencing Bentong
But then there's Bentong. Cyberspace nudges at quite the same conclusion; there are hardly lyrical descriptions. Js2smart actually soaked here, though that's nearly 2 years back:

'This was the natural hotsprings, at the ground, it was filled with mud and sand... usualli people using the mud to heal some sensitive skins! As for me, i always go there to refresh myself after the hardwork in college and home! The place was cooling and warming at the bottom of the hotsprings!

After tha bath at the hotspring, we head to a Shell station to change our clothes'.

Fancy that, with all the changing rooms they've built, you have to go to a petrol station to change! Khairi on VirtualMalaysia agrees with this sites opinion it seems:

'The place is dirty with rubbish strewn all over the place. The local autorities didn't seem to care about sprucing and maintaing the place. With a little bit of an extra effort, the place can be wonderful. If you are bringing foreign friends, it can be a BIG embarassment. What a shame'.

Isann has some very recent conflicting experiences:

'We tried the less hot one first. It was disgusting!! ... It was so disgusting that we were outta of there in a minute and hopped into the ‘hotter’ pool. It wasn’t that hot after a while and it felt really really good!'

Norashima:

'... and stop at kolam air panas, Bentong which is not a very nice place to go because of its condition'.

Wi:

'3:30am. '6 guys, 1 van………total darkness inside the hotspring. We had our torchlights held tight as our guide around the area. The water was warm, but I doubt there was any maintenance down there as I could felt some slimmy slippery stuffs as I step into the hot pool. It felt like……..moss. Eww…'

Ryan Tan:

'Ouch! My dear has a slipped here and she kind of hurt her back a little. Sob sob, but thankfully, she is fine now.
Pretty disappointed with this place though, we expected more, but what we get is a pool full of murky water, unmanaged and we even caught one guy happily bathing with lots of soap in this hot spring. Guess his house has no water heater?'

The waters may be warm, the surroundings green and verdant, but this site is certainly not appealing for a soak. Just skip it. Around Bentong there a number of waterfalls which might offer a better opportunity for a pleasant, but cool soak. Then again there are some opinions who seem to beg to differ....

The large soaking pool

Getting There: The springs are located 7 km before Bentong town on the old road (highway no. 2) between KL and Bentong. Though the exit from Expressway 8 at Genting may be the shortest route, it's way faster to continue to the Bentong exit and drive the 5-6 km back. It's very obvious located on the north side of the road with a large car park.

Soaking Experience: Can't really say, but as the waters seem less than appetizing, can't believe that soaking here would be a positive experience.

Overall Impression: On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best soak ever, Bentong would be around 2 or 3. No need to travel up here, not at least if you looking for a warm soak.

Soaking in the heat

On yer bike

On a gorgeous day, my son and I decided set off from the village of Tuktuk on the island of Samosir for a bike trip of more than 50 km's, along the islands' shore with Danau Toba, all the way to Pangururanwhich is administrative capital of the island. The ride is pleasant, flat and extremely picturesque.

On the island side, steep mountains rise which used to form the crater rim of the Toba volcano, while on the other side, one can see over the lake towards the equally steep mountains which form the other side of the volcano rim. Between the mountains and the shore were a slow procession of pleasant and quiet villages, with the landscape evolving from rice fields to orchards / plantations to forests. Traffic was light, the rental bikes well-greased. And the sun was shining.

By mid day, we were nearing Pangururan and took a right turn just before the town, cross a bridge which leads from Samosir onto Sumatra proper. Then after the bridge, another right turn leads to a track which follows the shore clockwise this time, but on the other side of the lake. A few km's up the road, we park our bikes for a richly deserved lunch.

Air Panas

We were now at Air Panas. The sun was relentless: besides being near the equator, we're also at a high elevation. The hot springs site seemed to be a plethora of hot water springs, gradually climbing up the slope which faced the sun. After parking the bikes, we wander off to explore the site.

From the main park area which gives access to 2-3 soaking sites, there's a track which goes up the steep slope giving access to another number of soaking sites, while a small walking track to the right leads to a 'hot springs walk'.

We choose the highest soaking site, as the restaurant provides a great view of Danau Toba and Samosir, while the restaurant is next to a very hot stream and there is a big rectangular pool above the restaurant.

View of a few of the hot springs. In the background, Danau Toba and Samosir island.

The third sex
There are actually two rectangular pools above the restaurant, the higher one is for men, the lower for women. Why the distinction I would not know, as the women's pool is easily observable from the males pool, But beware, not the other way around. Maybe, it's because the men's pool is better (larger, better view), equality is still some way off I'm afraid.

One of the resorts below even had a third sex, I'd yet to encounter: a pool for men, a pool for women and a pool for foreigners! Naturally the pool for foreigners could be observed from all corners, the other two were hidden away somewhere in the back. Odd.

The sign for "Foreigners": complete with (inflated?) price: 0,50 $US; still very cheap.

Dori, in her travel blog describes a visit to the women's hot springs:

'The hot springs was a bunch of separate pools-men and women bathed separately. The women were mostly older and bathed topless with a sarong on the bottom and dipped screaming babies into the water'.

Relaxing? Somehow she failed to qualify for the foreigner springs ...

A lunch time soak
After the ride we were pretty hungry. We ordered our lunch and while waiting, went to have a soak. Of course this being during the week, the pools were deserted and (with exception of the restaurant mistress) so was the restaurant. The pool was actually great, nice length, good depth, hot but not extreme hot. Glare from the lake and the surrounded denuded hills did make this a very hot event.

Everything was a bit makeshift though. For instance, the toilet had only a wall of 50 cm height, with full view of the surroundings (in both ways). It was the first toilet I've ever seen, that's flushed with hot springs water. At least the sulfur smell hides all other smells!

The uppermost pool. Alas ladies, it's reserved for us men. Note the big pipe with steaming hot water gushing into the pool.

The pool is surrounded by a 50-60 cm wall which is a pity because the view is stupendous. Well, we will just have to leave the view for lunch.

Lunch consists of some fried rice, good but nothing special. After lunch we mess around a bit in the pool and stream. Confident nobody is coming along, I enjoy an uninhibited soak this time round.

The highest restaurant, great views. In the foreground a hot water stream flows.

Exploration

We get dressed and before leaving take a stroll over the hot water walk. Well, most tourists will be stupefied, as the path ends 30 m from where it begins. But having seen the path from higher up, we move further over a track and enter a small canyon, 50 m in length maybe, 10-15 m high. As we move to the end of the canyon, more sulfurous steam is gasping from the porous earth. Is this dangerous?

The stream itself contains a number of small boiling hot springs. At the end of the canyon, you can take a really hot shower: hot water is falling down from about 10 m higher.

It's also where the track ends and where we return. Back to our bikes, back on our bikes and back for the 50 km trek to our hotel.

The hot water stream

More information
The correct name for this site is well, um, unknown? It's referred to as Pangururan / Tele / Samosir / Toba hot springs. But none with the exact location. Others refer to it as Permandian / Kolam Renang / Kolam Air Panas / Aek Rangat meaning bathing place / swimming pool / hot springs swim / sulfur springs; none as to the exact location. So I'll file these springs under Pangururan hot springs, if only to avoid confusion with the onsen in the Japanese town of Toba ....

The actual source of the springs themselves are described by an anonymous blog:

'After lunch we search for the hot springs. Every restaurant appears to have a bath of swimming pool fed with hot water from the springs, but we want to find the springs themselves. So we climb up, until we reach a restaurant that only lets us through if we order something. Here is a pool as well, but also a natural bath in the rocks. And as we climb up, we reach the actual source of the hot springs. In some kind of white moon landscape there is a stream of hot, yellow water. It is boiling up from the rocks, although we cannot see exactly where'.

Getting There: From Pangururan, it's very straight forward. Just cross the bridge and take the first right. After roughly 2 km you'll come to a large number of restaurants and hot spring pools. This is it.

Soaking Experience: Well, we made a good choice to walk up to the 'last' resort. Not only the solitude, both the accessible stream and large pool make this a great place to soak. However experience may differ per resort and even women might have a different 'view' on this.

Overall impression: It's a pity that, on the one side, development has been haphazard: it certainly is an area of outstanding beauty, if not outstanding for it's uniqueness. Most resorts though, seem to have made quite an effort to attract visitors and some of the pools are quite large. More could have been made of the view. And it could be much better ...

Lonely Planet though refers to this site as 'uninspiring', so whether or not it appeals to you, that's your choice.

Sloppily

Right, the main source; straight in front, the main soaking pool with a number of overflow pools to the back, right. This is what constitutes Lau Debuk Debuk hot spring site.

Semangat Gunung, it's not
Lau Debuk Debuk (also written as Lau Debuk-Debuk or Lau Debukdebuk) seems an odd name for a hot springs. And after visiting this site I can only say that it did look a bit odd.

A quick look on the internet gives a confusing overview. Though Lau Debuk Debuk hardly counts any first-hand experiences, the links are mostly tourism related overviews.

Lau Debuk Debuk is quite often referred to as the already 'Blogged by SEA' Semangat Gunung hot springs. This site corrects that assumption as follows:

'The hot springs that most tourist visit is however not Lau Debuk Debuk, but the Gunung Semangat hot springs, which sloppily is also called Lau Debuk Debuk'.

It furthermore reveals:

'Every month on a certain day, a unique traditional Karonese ceremony / event takes place here called Erpangir Kulau'.

Erpangir Kulau?
Erpangir Kulau? Explain please:

'The Erpangir Kulau ceremony takes place once every month on the day of Cukra Lau, the best according to the Karonese calendar. On this day, people come to pray and ask for help, to get well, to find a wife or husband, most people come before noon and normally come in small groups and dressed in white'.

Erpangir Kulau is translated here as 'the hair washing ceremony' but seems to be an elaborate ritual including dance and music leading to:

'participants becoming possessed by the begu ['spirit or soul of the dead'] of their ancestors and other spirits'.

Then on Roughguides Travel Talk, I found this extensive entry by sumatrahornbill:

Lau Debuk Debuk Hotspring
When you climbed Sibayak volcano, and you down to Semangat Gunung hotspring, this place is a bathing place with natural sulfuric water is also effective to cure many kind of skin diseases.
But when you left that place and by walking directly to the main road of Medan, and before the main road about 1 km, in the left side you will also see a small road to go down, and you can find small lake or we call Lau Debuk Debuk, as also hot spring area the water is not too hot but the sulfuric smell are really strong.
This area is very quite [quiet?] area because normally this place is a ritual activities called "Erpangir Kulau". So everyside of that area full of worship places, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Pemena (Ancestor spirit religion, Animism, etc). And for you if you really want to do ritual there by your self or invited a guru for calling spirit you have to offer some plowers, tobacoes, betelnut, incense, jeruk purut (a citroen family [family of the lemon is meant], normally people used it for all ritual). And also you can do Erpangir Kulau (clean your body with some kinds of plowers, jeruk purut and burn the incense), this ritual is kept away from all kinds of evils, bad luck and illness.
If you want to do by your own ritual, you have to buy all the offering stuff in special herbal medicine man shop, and they will prepare to you,and with sincerity you do a ritual in that places, hope you can get contact with your spirit, ancestor spirit, etc'.

Better days?
Um, well that explains something, then again, I obviously did not visit during the monthly Erpangir Kulau ceremony, so maybe that's why I failed to see much of a soak here.

It seemed, as observed elsewhere in Southeast Asia, that the hot springs have seen better days. Somehow, development has taken place in the past and a picture on this site shows a different view of the site than the one which I obtained.

Lau Debuk Debuk hot springs in better days: stalls along the pools, not overgrown. Why has the site, representing such a religious symbolism, been allowed to deteriorate?

Unfortunately, I again failed to retrieve this information prior to leaving for Sumatra, otherwise I would have put more effort into timing my visit. Who knows, possibly the ceremony does not take place anymore, thus explaining why the site looks desolate.

Site is partially overgrown

Experience?
The Lau Debuk Debuk springs are also difficult to find. The Semangat Gunung road which originates from the main Medan - Brastagi highway, hugs the base of the mountains, but you only need to follow this road for about 500 m when, on your right hand side, you can see a track splitting off the tar-sealed road and continuing downhill, towards the valley floor. Oddly enough, you think, the track leads only to a large space with a very small but solid building. This is (was?) the car park with entrance gate / guard post. Well, there's nobody really on guard and while I passed this building it had acquired an alternative use, as motorcycle garage.

There is only one obvious route beyond this guard post and it passes a few rice fields before sqeezing between two buildings and coming to an end on the lip of a small drop. From here you can see a number of ponds. Continue down the slope and you will come to a partially cemented fast flowing hot springs. Let me correct myself, not hot, but warm. Ish. Tepid. I believe that is the correct word. Sites refer it to being 35 C. Air temperature thus.

The main source emitting tepid waters

The water of these springs flows down to a a bigger pool with clear water. In this pool bubbles still appear, so most probably, this is also a hot spring directly sourcing this pond. There are steps leading into this pool so, presumably it probably does not get warmer than this. Oddly though, as if there is a need to cool this water, there are a number of huge basins functioning as overflows. Even odder is that this water is white; would they have a different source?

Hygienic standards seem failing and, with none other soaking, I think that giving this site a soaking pass might be wise.

Overflow ponds or just more soaking space to the monthly rituals?

The hot springs site is of course very much deserted, so no one to answer my questions. I walk around the basins, see the eventual overflow and return to where I started where there are or more correctly were toilets / changing rooms.

More info on the surroundings can be found in the post of Semangat Gunung.

Getting There: Lau Debuk Debuk hot spring is located 500 m up a side road of the main Medan - Kabanhanje road. Take the first side track to your right at the point where you have a clear overview of the surroundings; a small guard post building in front of a parking area should also be able to be seen from the turn.
The small road eventually going partially up Sibayak volcano originates from a crossroad, roughly 10 km before the mountain resort town of Brastagi, where there are ample opportunities for overnight stays. Continue 3 km's up this road and you'll be in the hot springs resort village of Semangat Gunung.

On guard? Pass the guard post (on the left) and continue for 100m before getting to the warm spring itself.

Soaking Experience: One could soak if one would wish, but the pools up the road at Semangat Gunung would be a far more superior experience. They are also hot, as opposed to the tepid water at Lau Debuk-Debuk. Then again Semangat Gunung hot springs miss the religious significance.

Overall Impression: Satisfies your curiosity, but 10 minutes here suffice. If the ceremonies still take place, it would be a great time to visit.


Update [22-08-08]: The previously cited sumatrahornbill adds:

'Lau Debuk debuk is still exist as a ritual of Karoneses and Hinduism and buddhism. Not many Backpakers know that area, the area is just used by locals for family party when they make a ritual of calling family spirit.
The area is not far from the junction to hotspring so from main road only ten minutes and turn right down a bit to Lau Debuk Debuk. It is a good changes when you can see the local make ritual, you may take the pictures,it is ok. The good way to know the ritual, according to Karo calender or every saturday or sunday, normally we can see them'

Many thanx for that.

Elusive?

Elusive tranquility: the hot springs source reflects the palm oil trees nearby

Where am I?

How had I come to sitting at this table was a long story. Opposite me was the patriarch, his family crowded behind him. We were somewhere just above a stream in a palm oil plantation, somewhere north of KL, Malaysia's capital. He offered me some durian.
Obviously they don't see real tourists that much here, but that fact I had already established on this seemingly un-endless goose chase. On the other hand I knew I was near the hot springs; I had already asked a local laborer at this palm oil plantation twice, with differing answers but with the assurance that it was just one km away. But where?

Nearly there?
The first quest brought me to a five way crossroad of plantation tracks, all similar in size, none clearly indicating where they would end. My second effort, leading in a different direction, ended at an enclosure, surrounding a small stream. From the outside it was obvious that this area had been enhanced, so thinking that the hot springs must be here, I jumped the fence. Unfortunately once inside, the stream waters were cool. Some dams had been made and with the stream bed made of white sand, it certainly was a nice place for a picnic, but not what I was looking for.
At the far end of the enclosure I could see a motorcycle parked. I strolled over there, discovering a void in the fence and downstream, a young lady in a flowing and colorful dress was scooping up water out of the stream. I asked her for the directions and in excellent English she managed to communicate that

• a. yes, she knew where the hot springs were,
  
• b. they were not here,
  
• c. she was useless in giving directions and
  
• d. let's have a chat with her father, he knew the place.
  

So that was part of the story of getting here.

Where?
Hulu Tamu was the name of the hot spring I'd been on my way to. My info had narrowed down the search to the Hulu Selangor district, Selangor state. The day preceding, while looking for a good map in one of the un-endless shopping malls of Kuala Lumpur, I'd been able to find a map of Pahang state with an overview of Genting Highlands, showing a hot springs near Hulu Yam Baharu. Having pinpointed the hot springs on a map, it should not seem too difficult to find the place.
Hulu Yam Baharu is located just off state highway 1, north of Kuala Lumpur. About 30-35 km from the city center. After some weird procedures, the hotel enabled me to rent a car and this morning ten-ish I believe, I left the sprawl of high rises behind me.
And now, I was, what seemed to be the middle of a palm oil plantation, ever so near, but still not near enough, to see this my first hot spring of Malaysia.

Sungai Sendat
The trip up to Hulu Yam Baharu had gone brilliantly. On the map I also saw a named waterfall nearby so I decided to visit this as well; if only because it was sign posted.
The waterfalls of Sungai Sendat are relatively easy to find. Continue down the main street of Hulu Yam Baharu coming from the north and continue through a small neighbourhood ensuring you have the river on your right. After leaving the village the road becomes a little steeper and you'll be going through rubber and palm oil plantations. These give way to rainforest and the tar-sealed road turns into a dirt road. Eventually after about 3-4 km's beyond the village center, the road leads to a bridge, with a security gate across it. You can park here, I mean before the bridge.
Continue past a guard post and within 200m, you can see the main fall with a big pool in front. At the moment of my visit, construction work was under way; they are looking into sprucing the site up, so it seems. It did look a bit desolate, but the enormous amounts of refuse were ample evidence of recent visitors, so clearly the customers must have been satisfied. It being a week day, evidently meant that I was the only visitor.
If you climb up above the main pool, there are a number of other deep pools and falls, a really beautiful area, now why on earth would visitors trash the place?

Sungai Sendat: a great place to trash?

AllMalaysia.info ignores this last issue and concentrates on describing the waterfalls as follows:

'Paddling, swimming, picnicking - if that sounds like fun to you, then head for the Sungai Sendat Waterfalls. The falls are surrounded by greenery and kissed by sunshine; truly a place for relaxing and rejuvenating yourself'.

Well, if the Sunday crowds turn up, you might be just unlucky.

Back on the road
Leaving the falls site, I asked the guardsman for the way to the hot springs, to which he replied, turn right in the village. That means the road to Genting Highlands. After taking this turn, 500m out of the Hulu Yam Baharu, I take another turn right leading to ... well somewhere (There's a sign to Amberstone Eco Resort).
I continue up the road for about 3 km's, but obviously it's not leading anywhere. After some hand and foot work, a local manages to communicate to me that I should return and turn right to the Bundoora Estate (or is it Bindoora?). It being a narrow lane with no side roads, the turn to Bundoora is obvious. There's even a sign post. Five hundred meters up this road and you are entering the palm oil estate. And that's where it gets tricky.

Made it
With some translation by his daughter, the man opposite me now knew where I wanted to go. Fortunately he did not ask why. He set off trying to explain where it was, but translating this proved tricky. "You with car?" "Um, ...yes?", I replied. "Well, let's go!"
With that, we crossed the stream back to where I had parked the car and he had parked his motorcycle. He jumped on the motorcycle and I followed in my Proton Wajah. We returned to the earlier five way cross road, roughly 1 km beyond the plantation entrance. I don't recall which of the five we took, probably the most left, it leads across a stream from where you should take the next track right. The road is rocky and the Wajah is (still) scratch free. Therefore, I park the car here and follow the motorcycle for another 50 m on foot.
It's all pretty obvious though, there's only 1 stream and the waters of which originate from the hot springs. My guide shuts his motor at a small, foot high dam in the stream. "Air Panas" and stretches his arm. I feel the water. It' hot alright. There's also some trash around, so this must be the place.

The source of Ulu Kalong: in the middle of a palm oil plantation

Ulu Kalong hot springs

I proceed to follow the stream to it's source. There's another small dam, 20 m upstream with an overgrown pool close by. A further 20-30 m upstream, I come upon the source itself. The water flowing from a caved in gap in a 50 cm high wall is hot. Very hot. The pool itself is very tranquil. No bubbling.
After taking a few pictures I return to where the motorcycle is parked. My guide has just finished soaking his feet, strips to his underwear and takes a full body soak in the 30 cm deep water. Having no underwear on and unwilling to cause offense, I limit myself to a foot soak, hoping my host might leave me alone sometime soon.
After 15 minutes, it's clear that that's not going to happen, so I thank my guide who takes this as a sign for ending his soak and our paths diverge. I to return to the hustle and bustle, he to return to his hut on the beautiful river.

A futile attempt at developing the springs? About 5 m out of the hot springs stream bed, a large bath tub has been constructed, but is now filled with earth and partially overgrown.

So what's it called?
I hoped that this was Hulu Tamu hot springs, but my informer mentions it as Ulu Kalong. My map refers to it being "hot spring". Well, that's not much help. What I should have done on forehand was to look more carefully on internet.
Wikipedia's entry on Ulu Yam, refers to no less than 3 (!) natural hot water pools (if only I had known). The pictures to Hulu Tamu hot springs certainly don't reflect what I visited. Kerling, another hot springs in the area, it's not either.
This description of an ANZAC day run describes the location correct and refers to it as Hulu Kalong and the springs to be called "Ladang Jasmin (Air Panas)"; the Air Panas translates as "hot water". The plantation company is referred to as Bindoora. And somehow that's all the info out there. And now this. Elusive no more?

Getting There: From Kuala Lumpur take the old road to Ipoh and turn off this road, roughly 30 km after leaving Kuala Lumpur, towards Hulu Yam Baharu. (or Ulu Yam Baru or any variations of this). Entering the village from the north, turn left in the center towards Genting Highlands and turn right, 500m up this road, well before the main road to Genting Highlands starts. Follow this lane for 2 km, turn left (signposted Bundoora Estate).
After entering the estate take the dirt road right, more or less straight on from where you are coming from. Stay on this main track for another 800m leaving an abandoned building ('No trespassers') on your left. You'll come upon a five way crossroad. Follow the track (left?) crossing the nearby stream and take the first track right, after the stream. From here it should be easy to see the stream originating from the hot springs.

Soaking Experience: Well, what it lacks in depth, it makes up in naturalness. And though, the surroundings point to quite a bit of rubbish, the waters themselves are clean.

It's clear: a soak is required. The main soaking area, about 50-60 m below the source.

Overall impression: Truly a find. Despite the small quantities of refuse, the area is very tranquil. It being a palm oil plantation one would not expect it to be so 'natural', but only little has been enhanced in the springs themselves. You could hear birds jibbering and jabbering and I managed to spot a Kingfisher proof enough of a worthy visit. Let's hope it stays like this!

Appeasing the mountain spirits

One of the Semangat Gunung hot springs resorts, called Rindu Alam. Unmistakably in the background is the Sibayak volcano with visible thermal / volcanic activity.

Soaking (In)donesia

In the coming months you'll slowly see the number of soaking sites visited rise, especially after my most recent visit to Indonesia, arguably the top spot for soaks in Southeast Asia, at least in numbers. But how do they compare in quality?

Sibayak
The first soak ever taken in Indonesia was in Semangat Gunung, which is located under the shadow of the ever active volcano Sibayak. No active lava flows or eruptions though (the last eruption was more than a century ago), but up in the crater of Sibayak, the volcanic activities exist of a number of fumaroles / steam vents; enough to give the mountain a permanent plume of white cloud slowly dissipating into the north Sumatran air. But no hot springs on the mountain itself.

Inside the crater of Sibayak: not too dangerous, just a fair number of steam vents

The steep flanks facing and leading down to Semangat Gunung are also fumarolistic, if such a word exists (does not seem so). The sight from the village towards the mountain is quite special, a huge gash exposing, as it seems, part of the innards of the volcano, producing a number of clouds.

Captured heat
The same facing flanks also produce a great source of heat. Coming down from the mountain you will pass a electricity generation project, a small 2 MW project run by Petramina, which possibly might be upgraded to a 10 MW plant, even that is not considered large. Surprisingly, This plant is just one of three in all Indonesia despite the huge existing potential. However increased investment is 'heating up', Iceland leading the way!

Harnessing the steam, Semangat Gunung's thermal energy plant

Mountain spirits?
Coming from the mountain one needs to make a sharp bend before entering the town of the mountain spirit. Continue straight at this bend (or right coming from Semangat Gunung) you'll come to the site of Pertek Teken (or secret place) where locals pay tribute to the mountain spirits by offering fruits and foods.
Continuing straight you'll run into a large number of hot spring resorts. Typically these are places which either offer extended soaking facilities or have a small pool adjacent to a restaurant.

The biggest of these resorts is Alam Sibayak, but the beats emanating from this resort shroud the whole village. From the adjacent road, we could witness guests doing their moves, pool side. Maybe this was a draw for the weekend crowds from the million plus Sumatran capital of Medan, which is just 1,5 hours drive down the road. Or possibly this is the way to celebrate a soak in Indonesia.

Rindu Alam
We settle on the resort of Rindu Alam, mostly because it has many pools on offer, there are other people in the water (always a good sign ...) and is the furthest away from the aforementioned hot springs disco. There are about 10 public pools, private pools don't seem to be available. All pools contain water with varying temperatures, not necessarily from hot to cold. The ridiculous cheap entry fee (0,5$) however apparently doesn't include maintaining any hygienic standards apparently; the waters are quite filthy and a maintenance man nearby, whose job for the day consists of scrubbing the tiles surrounding the pool, regularly lets the resulting rinse water, flow back in to the pool! Luckily all water is a very cloudy white which hopefully obscures any other irregularities.

Rindu Alam: 10 pools with blue walls covered with Disney characters. Now, can anyone explain the connection between the two?

Business is slack, despite it being a Saturday, but a few out-of-towners have turned up. Possibly Sunday might be a day to avoid.
Besides Semangat Gunung having an ex proportional amount of restaurants and resorts the town also has a small market where most cars park. On sale are the various products from the sloping mountain fields. The produce on offer mid July are strawberries, small mangoes, avocado's, oranges, rambutans, passion fruit and tamarillo's. Another crop widely cultivated in the area is coffee.

As if there are not places to soak, more are on the way. This one looks big, but hardly adds to the existing choice. Moreover it will be viewable from the road. Could it be their main selling point?

Surroundings
The main town here is Brastagi (also known as Berastagi), which offers tourists a breath of cool fresh mountain air and a large number of resorts to stay. In the evening, the main road sidewalks turn into a large food market. The daily fresh produce market is very busy, with much local produce on offer. There is also a tourist market from where horse rides can be taken.
A nearby peak offers views of both Sibayak and Sinabung volcanoes. The highlands around Brastagi are populated by the Karo Dayak, which give a certain distinctiveness to the area.

More information on Brastagi can be found here:

• Natural highlights of Brastagi,
• Karo region,
• Tanah Karo Guide or the
  
• Wikitravel entry and / or
• Virtual Tourist entry on Brastagi

Some sites mentioning Semangat Gunung also refer to the village as or confuse it with another nearby hot spring called Lau Debuk Debuk. Another blog entry on Semangut Gunung hot springs is by Neil Hogan.

Getting There: Semangat Gunung is located 5 km's up a side road of the main Medan - Kabanhanje road. The turn off is located roughly 10 km before the mountain resort town of Brastagi, where there are ample opportunities for overnight stays.

Soaking Experience: Despite some serious reservations concerning the hygienic standards, the pools provided a great place to sooth the possible pains and strains of walking up and over Sibayak volcano from Brastagi, a 5 hour venture. The pools were hot, but not too hot and had a good depth, though all pools were a bit small. Don't know why the resort was covered in Disney characters, I myself preferred gazing up the mountain. There were no private pools and most pools can be seen from the road side. Changing facilities were poor and despite the setting there was little 'natural' to the soaking surroundings beyond the view.

Overall Impression: Would I travel far to soak here? I think not, but it being en route to and from hiking Sibayak, this certainly encouraged a soak. Let's hope Indonesia has more like this or even better on offer!