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| Entrance Gate to Bukit Condong |
After a lazy morning in bed, enjoying our room and the view over Jambi at the Yello Hotel we started heading towards Palembang. It’s a 450km ride on the Lintas Timor over lots of hills and through endless palm oil plantations. So if you are like us and like to break that long ride up into two legs, I got an awesome campground for you: Campground Bukit Condong
I felt so lucky when I discovered this campsite on Google
maps. I have actually been googling and using my zooming-in strategy looking
for a campsite for a while without much success when Bukit Condong suddenly popped
up on my screen.
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| Our campsite next to the selfie spot |
How to get to Bukit Condong
This campground is in Selensen, right on the edge of Bukit
Tigapuluh National Park. It’s just a few kilometers after the province
crossing from Jambi to Riau. Finding the access road to the campground was a
challenge. Luckily there was a phone number added on Google maps. The contact
person responded quickly, reassured us that it was open, and gave us detailed
instructions on how to get there. Otherwise, it would have been near impossible
to find the place and considering the challenging road we would probably have
turned around halfway there. So, here are some detailed instructions to help
you reach this amazing spot.
Once you arrive in Selensen, look for a school called SMP Negeri 1 Kemuning. Continue on the main road for another 150m and look for the small road sign indicating the access road to Bukit Condong. Turn left onto the dirt road and follow it through the palm oil plantation until you reach the campsite. It took us probably around 10 to 15 minutes to get there from the main road. The dirt road is quite challenging to drive, but the locals try their best to maintain it. They even built a few log bridges and a curvy trail to get up the steep parts. We managed to get there with our Black Pearl, a Toyota Avanza but some parts were very slippery. Especially getting back was quite an adrenalin-filled ride. It had been raining which made the road muddy and getting up the steep parts was quite challenging. Shout out to my husband – the awesome driver who got us up all those slippery slopes. We even had a little happy dance once we were back on the main road. Who would have thought we’re so happy to get back to the Lintas.
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| Access from Lintas Timor |
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| Road to Bukit Condong |
The campsite
We were amazed when we reached Bukit Condong. It’s such a
beautiful spot. The campsite is located on a hillside with stunning views over
the hills of the national park on one side and the plantations and town on the
other. We were lucky and had the whole place to ourselves.
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| Late afternoon view from our camping spot |
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| View at night |
The campground offers spots for tents or campervans and also has a few simple huts for rent. The facilities are basic but in great condition. There is running water in the bathrooms and electricity at night time.
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| The captain |
Right behind the campsite, there is another hill which you
can climb up to for an even better view and we were told that there are also
some waterfalls to explore nearby. Unfortunately, we did not manage to see the
waterfalls. After I came back from my little hike up the hill it started
raining so we packed up and left as we were worried that the road might become
even more challenging in the rain.
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| View of the campground from the top of Bukit Condong |
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| View over Bukit Tigapuluh National Park |
Magical morning
I am usually not a morning person at all. I love to sleep it
and got to have my coffee before I can face the world. But when camping, this
has changed. The mornings, surrounded by nature are often magical. When I wake
up and see the sun slowly rising and the day slowly starting through the car
window I am actually excited to hop out of bed. In Bukit Condong I experienced such
a magical morning. We were woken up by troops of monkeys who seemed to
communicate with each other from one hill to the other. It was my first time
hearing anything like this and it was fun to listen to them and imagine what
they might be saying to each other. Sitting on a log with my coffee, watching
the clouds pass over the hills, and listening to the monkeys was a wonderful
moment. It still makes me smile when thinking about it.
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| Morning time = Coffee time |
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| So much fun listening to the monkey calls |
At a glance
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Location |
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Ticket price |
100.000Rp for
two people and the car/night |
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Contact |
Pak Eprianto
081326301898 (caretaker) |
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Tip |
I’d recommend
contacting Pak Eprianto before driving there to ensure that they are open and
that they have a spot as it might get crowded on weekends or holidays. |
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| These nice ladies spotted me while taking a picture of the road sign and asked for a photo |
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| Our Black Pearl proved her sense of adventure |
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