54 - Orang Pendek & Motivation Frustration (Kersik Tuo, Sumatra)
Bigfoot. Littlefoot. Redfoot. Bluefoot. Come out, come out, wherever you aren’t. Jungle ain’t no joke, ya heard? What’s a parade without someone to piss on it? Let ignance be thy guide.
by Mr. Nos T. O’maniac
BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN… Sungai Penuh become my HQ for my upcoming “assault” on Kerinci Seblat National Park. The days brought with them many a frustration citation. Can I? Can’t. Should I? Shouldn’t. Would I? Wouldn’t. And why would you want to, anyway? That about sums it up. Remember the Rule of Ignance? Keep it in mind. On top of that, more food-borne illness shrank my resolve and softened my stool. Took a lickin’ from some fried chicken.
At my hotel in Sungai, I inquired at the front desk about exploring Kerinci. The clerk made a few calls, and a guide rendezvoused in the lobby. Yan was a personable fella, and we became instant friends. What he wasn’t was a guide. Not anymore. This was disheartening but my frown quickly turned upside down. He had a friend living in Kersik Tuo, a village in the shadow of Mt. Kerinci. He was sure Sahar would be game for all manner of adventure. As it turns out, he seriously overestimated Sahar’s motivation, but let’s not skip ahead.
Sahar had a fascinating résumé. He’d assisted researchers under the aegis of National Geographic in search of Orang Pendek. What the hell’s Orang Pendek? Good question. Think of Sumatra’s version of Bigfoot or Yeti, albeit a scaled-down version (somewhere between three and five feet tall). So, more like Littlefoot, if you will. Rumors of an unidentified primate stalking the Sumatran jungle go back as far as the fourteenth century, and there have been hundreds of eyewitness accounts over the years.
“Orang Pendek (Indonesian for "short person") is the most common name given to a cryptid, or cryptozoological animal, that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra. The animal has allegedly been seen and documented for at least one hundred years by forest tribes, local villagers, Dutch colonists, and Western scientists and travelers. Consensus among witnesses is that the animal is a ground-dwelling, bipedal primate that is covered in short fur and stands between 80 and 150 cm (30 and 60 in) tall.” See Wikipedia.
All attempts to capture evidence of the “Little Man of the Forest” have ended in failure though Western researchers have claimed their own sightings. The petite hairy bastard is an elusive bugger. (Check out the Orang Pendek Project homepage.) Sahar assisted the effort by maintaining motion-activated cameras in remote jungle areas. He also aided a professional photographer (Jeremy Holden) for years in his periodic search for the shaggy humanoid. This description of Sahar’s bona fides filled me with excitement, nearly losing my excrement. Exactly the person I was looking for. Jungle, here I come!
“Jeremy Holden originally traveled to Kerinci Seblat in Sumatra as a photographer in 1994, but an encounter with the mysterious Orang Pendek, a bipedal ape of Yeti-like reputation, changed his life. He and Debbie Martyr persuaded Fauna and Flora International (FFI, Britain’s oldest conservation organization) to fund a project to photo-trap the elusive animals of Kerinci Seblat.
In addition to allowing Jeremy to study animals like tigers and tapirs, the project revealed animals previously thought to be extinct (Schneider’s pitta) as well as those that had never been photographed before (the Sumatran rabbit).
Jeremy now lives six months of the year in Sumatra and spends the rest of the time photographing around the world for FFI. He is still trying to obtain the first ever photo of the Orang Pendek.” See PBS.org.
Explorers find 'perfect' yeti tracks
Tuesday, 30 October, 2001, 20:21 GMT
A group of British explorers claim to have found irrefutable proof of a "Yeti-like" creature on an Indonesian island.
The three-strong team discovered a footprint and hair samples of a primate which they claim could be from an Orang Pendek - meaning 'Little Man of the Forest'…READ MORE
Evidence of 'jungle yeti' found
Tuesday, 12 October, 2004, 05:05 GMT 06:05 UK
Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson found footprints which seem to match examples they found three years ago, which were shown to be from a new species of ape.
The orang pendek, as it is known, is said by islanders to walk like a man…READ MORE
Yan’s assistance didn’t stop with the Sahar recommendation. He also escorted me to the local chapter of Flora and Fauna International (FFI) where I met a Mr. Agung. The local chapter is particularly focused on tigers, so he was an excellent resource concerning giant orange furballs. If Mr. Agung were a Magic 8-Ball, he would’ve read “Outlook Not So Good”, emphasizing the “ain’t no joke” quality of the Kerinci jungle. His exact words were “real jungle” and not a place for “common people” (i.e. everyday tourists and yahoos like myself). And Bingo was his fucking name-o, I thought. Exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to be “in the shit” as we used to say in ‘Nam. Clearly, he wanted to discourage me. Clearly, the exact opposite occurred. All I needed was a jungle sherpa. According to Yan, Sahar was my champion.
Sungai Penuh.
I also visited the national park office for information on Mt. Kerinci, receiving another wet blanket in return. The mountain was closed due to frequent eruptions. This confirmed what Yan had told me, but I needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth. The horse beat me down like a panda in a Chinese zoo. I remember thinking, How do you close down an entire volcano?
I was mildly optimistic about park exploration, and far too excited to take the rational step of waiting another day for lickin’ chicken to work its way through my system. The morning of my departure north was something of a poopfest. Thankfully, the onslaught subsided for my forty-three-kilometer ride north to the village of Kersik Tuo. For my trouble, I was rewarded with an intense downpour that made driving a dodgy affair.
My first order of business after finding a hostel (owned and operated by the venerable Mr. Pak of Pak Sunbandi’s Homestay) was a call to Sahar. He didn’t arrive until evening. How could he? It was raining. (Ummm, doesn’t like going out in the rain? Can you say “red flag”?) I sat down with him and Pak (a fountain of jungle knowledge) for a strategy session. They then proceeded, metaphorically speaking, to pull out their weeners and piss all over my parade.
Back in Sungai, Yan recommended a trek to Danau Gunung Tujuh (Seven Mountains Lake). He said there might be tigers in the area and a two-day/one-night excursion would be worth my time. I brought this up. Both Sahar and Pak gave me the “What’s Yan been smoking?” expression. See a tiger? Better chance of taking Orang Pendek to the prom, ya silly fucknut. Sahar’s apathy also covered the Tujuh camping idea. Why would I want to do that? I mean, really? Cause I’m fucking ridiculous, obviously. He claimed the trail around the lake was in piss-poor condition. Whatever the condition, he had zero desire to overnight anywhere.
I relented and agreed to the normal day trip up to the lake. What I wanted? Nope. But no use forcing a disgruntled guide into service, not if you want to enjoy the experience. And what about climbing Kerinci? Earlier that day, I was told (by a man whose position at the hostel was unclear) that the volcano was indeed closed. Imagine my surprise when Pak informed me three Malaysian men staying there were climbing the next morning. Umm… ‘kay. Enter the Rule of Ignance. Never believe anything anyone tells you ever. Trust but verify. If the mountain were closed, no one bothered to tell the folks in Kersik Tuo.
So, game on? Super. I asked Sahar about guiding me up the volcano and was met with unbridled enthusiasm. (Perhaps, you can detect my unbridled sarcasm?) After five minutes of poking and prodding, he finally admitted he couldn’t do it. Soccer injury. To his credit, he did offer to hook me up with another guide for the climb. I could only hope he didn’t share Sahar’s dispassion. No need for an 8-Ball consultation. I was less than optimistic.
I had spare time before meeting with Sahar, so I went for a local spin. My destination was a waterfall, but I never found it. Instead, I meandered along a jungle road with nowhere to be and no wish to get there. Another of the countless experiences impossible without a set of wheels. I huffed gratitude the whole way back to my hostel.
