The green expanse stretches out, interspersed with rising fog, and Mount Kerinci stands firmly alongside her sister, Mount Tujuh. Underneath them was where I spent the nights, just basking in the surroundings.
At the foot of Mount Kerinci, Jambi, are several hidden destinations that have not been visited by many, one of which is Rawa Bento. Rawa Bento, with an altitude of 1,375 meters above sea level is the highest water habitat on the island of Sumatra, earning the nickname The Amazon. Kerinci is famous for the beauty of its swamplands with the backdrop of Mount Tujuh and Mount Kerinci as well as the diversity of flora and fauna.
The stunning, natural scenery of Rawa Bento allows you to see Mount Kerinci towering in the west with Mount Tujuh to the east. From its unique geological history, Rawa Bento is a remnant of the ancient Kerinci Lake which resulted from sedimentation from the surrounding rivers. The ancient lake experienced siltation and was eventually covered by swamp forest. The dwarf swamp forest is home to tree species such as Eugenia spicata, Palaquium, Syzygium, Elaeocarpus, and Ficus trees, some of them with roots that are always immersed in water. Rawa Bento is also a habitat for dozens of bird species, including the grouse, a bird endemic to Sumatra. In addition, there is also a type of langur that lives in trees while the riverbank is grazed upon by a herd of wild buffalo. Although they have existed for a long time and live naturally in the Bento Swamp forest, the buffalo are still owned by several villagers.
One of the charms at the foot of Mount Kerinci is Kayu Aro, a village that holds the story of Indonesian tea. Every morning, motorbikes heading to the tea plantation are driven by tool-carrying residents. Yes, Kayu Aro village is one of Indonesia’s legendary tea gardens. Its existence is known throughout the world for its flagship commodity, Black Tea.
The Kayu Aro Garden, the second highest tea plantation in the world after the Darjeeling tea plantation at the foot of the Himalayas (4,000 meters above sea level), was pioneered between 1925 and 1928 by a Dutch company, Namblodse Venotschaaf Handle Vereniging Amsterdam (NV HVA). This tea plantation is also listed as the oldest in Sumatra. Not only that, the Kayu Aro tea plantation, with an area of around 2,000 hectares, is one of the largest tea plantation expanses in the world. Apart from The Kayu Aro Garden, there is also a tea production factory managed by government owned PT Perkebunan Nusantara VI (PTPN VI). The large scale of tea production comes with 90 tons of wet tea, or around 18 tons of finished tea daily. The quality enforced by the elevation of the tea garden.
Farmers use traditional hand picking methods for harvesting, however some have started to use a lot of DIY tools such as scissors tied on top of a plastic bucket. Once the tea bags attached to their waists are full, farmers carry the bags to open ground. The bigger bags are tied up and taken to the factory by motorbike, which comes to pick them up at noon. There are no tired faces under the sun, only smiles and jokes accompanying the farmers’ way of life while maintaining the tea culture in this village which once was the favorite drink of the Queen of England and the Queen of the Netherlands during the colonial period.
