Discover Tana Toraja
- A Secret Retreats journey -
This journey has been personally designed by Ibu Ati, who is a native Balinese who has traveled around the Archipelago to understand and share the diversity of its people and cultures.
All our itineraries have generally been constructed on the basis of the rooms that have the most charm or best view, and not necessarily the first prices, nor the most expensive suites.
We can of course adjust according to your request.
Highlights of the Journey:
- Karts landscape
- Lemo Cliffside graves
- A night in a traditional village
Starting from Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi, home to the famous boat builders "the Bugis" (most of the phinisi in our Secret Cruises in Indonesia are built with the know-how from these people), this journey will lead us to Tana Toraja, with translates to the land of Toraja, a remote highland situated in the Province of Southern Sulawesi, also known as the Land of Heavenly Kings. The local culture offers a variety of unique and unusual traditions, not to say bizarre. A journey to Toraja is a nice adventure with unique cliffside graves, karst mountains, and unusual funeral customs and beliefs.
The journey proposed here is a low impact ecotourism adventure. Accommodations are basic, but off tourism tracks.
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Your Journey Day by Day
from 1,075 USD /person for 6 days / 5 nights
based on 2 people traveling together and sharing the same room
Day 1 : Makassar Airport – Ramang Ramang (-/L/D)
Upon landing in the morning at Makassar airport, your guide and driver will pick you up and transfer (About 1hr drive) to Ramang Ramang, the second largest karst in the World. Kampung Ramang-Ramang is a village surrounded by towering Karst hills, offering majestic scenery. The surroundings are filled with dense mangrove, nipah trees and rows of towering limestone hills. You may spot some endemic Sulawesi Eagles, Sulawesi Apes, and ad sunset time, thousands of bats come out of their nests.
You will check in at an ecolodge by the river in the middle of the jungle. After lunch, we walk in the middle of the karstic reliefs, visit a firefly cave and go for a canoe ride.
In the evening, dinner is served at the lodge.
HOTEL: Ramang-Ramang Eco Lodge
Day 2 : Ramang Ramang - Toraja (B/L/D)
After breakfast, departure for Toraja country: The southern part of the island of Sulawesi is a very fertile region, it is a lush and mountainous region. We will first cross the Bugis region with its houses on stilts and we stop to visit a traditional house. The menu for lunch us fish and seafood prepared at a local restaurant by the sea.
We then continue on a mountainous road with magnificent views, to reach Rantepao by the end of the afternoon.
After check-in you can enjoy a dip at the swimming pool.
Dinner at the hotel.
HOTEL: Hotel Misiliana
Day 3 : Tana Toraja (B/L/D)
After breakfast, we start the exploration of the fascinating Toraja country with a local guide to be informed of any event of ceremony happening around, so that we can join and participate.
If a funeral party takes place in the region during your stay (almost every day) your guide will take you there. It is recommended to bring sugar and cartons of cigarettes as a gift to the head of the family who will welcome you among the guests.
During your stay, we will visit Lemo - the cliffs and funerary caves with an impressive series of balconies with mortuary effigies- the Tau Tau. The visit of Kete Kesu villageis organized around the chief's house, a true masterpiece of architecture and colorful harmony.
In the afternoon, we go by car first, then on foot to the birthplace of our friend Martin who will welcome you with his family for dinner and overnight.
The conditions are very simple but the atmosphere is guaranteed to be authentic.
Overnight: in the village (Nenek Bida)
Day 4 : Toraja - Batutumonga (B/L/D)
In the morning, we continue the visits, after a short ride in a van, we continue on foot through bamboo forests and rice fields, to the mountain village of Batutumonga (between 1h30 and 2h of hiking). Magnificent walk with superb views of the rice fields. When we reach the village of Batutumonga, we settle in our mountain inn for the night large Toraja houses overlooking the valley. The conditions are basic but the view is breathtaking over the entire valley and the rice terraces.
Lunch at the guesthouse.
In the afternoon, excursion to Lokomata where the tombs of the inhabitants of the village were carved out of a giant rock. We come back by foot, crossing some villages and we may come across children finishing school, artisans making knives, or women going to sell their vegetables at the Rantepao market ...
Dinner is served at the guesthouse.
HOTEL: Guesthouse Mentirotiku
Day 5 : Batutumonga – Rantepao (B/L/D)
After breakfast, beautiful descent on foot through the villages and rice fields, then we take a van to a small village where the inhabitants will prepare a delicious lunch for us, served under the rice barns.
We spend some time to exchange and discuss with the villagers after lunch, then we continue to explore the region.
Return to Rantepao at the end of the day.
Dinner at the hotel.
HOTEL: Hotel Misiliana
Day 6 : Rantepao - Makassar (B/L/-)
Early in the morning, we go to visit the colorful and fragrant Rantepao market, with its stalls of local products, before we take the road back to Makassar.
We stop for lunch on the way at Pare-Pare.
By late afternoon, we transfer you to the airport to catch your flight to the next destination.
*****
End of our services
Discover Tana Toraja
6 days / 5 nights
from 1,075 USD /person
based on 2 people traveling together and sharing the same room
The total price includes:
Accommodation for 5 nights.
All meals mentioned in the program.
All transportation from/to airport and during the excursions (Air-con private car)
Entrance fees to all sites mentioned in the program
Local English-speaking guide (other languages possible when required) for all tours mentioned in the program.
The total price does not include:
VISA – Most country do not need visa for Indonesia, but we recommend you to check when you issue airtickets. Please make sure your passport is valid for 6 months beyond your departure date.
Flights (international and domestic) to Makassar.
Other meals that are not included in the program.
Drinks, personal expenses, tips and gratuities.
This Secret Journey was designed in cooperation with Ibu Ati and Rabina Tours (License 06/D.2/BPU/90)
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