Sibanggor Julu

A village at the foot of Sorik Marapi, with stilt houses roofed in palm fibre and hot water running in the river.

There are three villages called Sibanggor: Sibanggor Jae, Sibanggor Tonga and Sibanggor Julu. All are buffer-zone villages of Batang Gadis National Park in Puncak Sorik Marapi district. Sibanggor Julu is the highest and the main gateway to Sorik Marapi. It is about 45 minutes by car or motorbike from Panyabungan.

Palm-fibre roofs

The village is known for its many wooden stilt houses roofed with ijuk, the black fibre of the sugar palm. The roofs are thick and steep, and on some houses they have turned almost black with age. Elsewhere in Mandailing most roofs have long been replaced with corrugated iron, so a cluster of ijuk houses like this is rare.

These are people's homes, not a museum. Ask before photographing people or walking into a yard.

Hot water

Around the village, hot water comes out of the ground and runs into the river. There is a simple hot-spring bathing pool, sulphur steam from the ground and a small warm waterfall. The park office's old records also mention a "seven-flavour waterfall" about 5 metres high and hot water in the Sibanggor river, about an hour's walk from the village.

Safety

Since April 2026 the Geological Agency has asked residents and visitors to keep away from the Sibanggor Tonga and Sibanggor Julu craters, which can suddenly throw out mud and toxic gas. There are also geothermal wells of PT SMGP near the village; in 2021 five residents died from gas at one of them. Follow warning signs and local advice, and do not enter well sites.