TORAJA 6 DAYS / 5 NIGHTS with Soppeng & trek Maros

Day 1. Arrival in Makassar
From the airport of Makassar you will be taken to your hotel in centre of town. The rest of the day is free for you to spend. You can visit places of interest or relax in your comfortable hotel with an attractive pool right at the waterfront of Makassar.

Makassar (called Ujung Pandang between 1972 and 1999) is the lively capital of South-Sulawesi and because of its central location the city functions as a gate to the eastern islands of Indonesia already for centuries. Makassar also has a rich historical past with two powerful kingdoms that were able to resist the Dutch colonial forces for many years. The fort of Rotterdam (Benteng Ujung Pandang) in the centre of Makassar is a well-preserved remain of that past.

Day 2. Makassar – Leang- Leang – Watansoppeng
Early departure to the town of Maros. From here the first site, Leang-Leang is 15 minutes away. Leang-Leang is the site of several caves hidden in the Bantimurung limestone cliffs were relatively clear prehistoric drawings can be found. The limestone cliffs are an very unique and impressive feature in the landscape of the southern part of Sulawesi. The cliffs, protected by law, are covered with a dense vegetation and are the home of several mamal species like the black macaca and the bearcuscus. From Leang-Leang you will start walking for several hours following and crossing the limestone cliffs. You will find yourself surrounded by abundant vegetation and steep cliffs. You will often see butterflies, if lucky encounter monkeys and have vast views on the surroundings. The walk ends near the site of an another cave with some drawings. Afterwards you will continue northwards via a scenic road following the coast and via sawah landscapes to the small and friendly town of Watansoppeng. In the middle of this town thousands of bats spend their lazy days hanging in trees. Take a look at the Soppeng palace near the centre of town. You will overnight in a friendly guesthouse.

Day 3. Watansoppeng – Toraja
In the morning you will drive further northwards following secondary roads. There are several interesting stops on the way: see how silk is being processed and woven into colorful sarongs, take a look at some traditional houses, enjoy the panorama and stop at the small nature reserve of Lejja. Located on an altitude of around 300 meters and set amidst a lush nature in Lejja there are several man made pools filled with hot water. A great place for some relaxing. Afterwards you will continue northwards via a winding road to Toraja. If there is enough time, just before you enter Makale, you can follow a scenic secundairy road into the heart of Toraja. You can then stop at the ancient hanging graves of Tampang’allo and the grave rock of Suaya where the death are guarded by orgininal tau tau (wooden puppets), all located in the southern part of Toraja. Arrival in the afternoon.

Day 4. Toraja, sightseeing
During this day you will visit some more Toraja villages and interesting sites in the northern part of of Toraja. Just like the villages and sites in the southern part of Toraja, these picturesque villages are located in an amazing mountainous landscape dominated by rice terraces and bamboo forests. You will see the ancient graves, and beautifull decorated tongkanan, ancestral house, with ricebarns lined in front and visit a site with stone menhirs, a long time ago dedicated to important kings. In the surroundings of Batutumonga, with its spectaculair views you have the opportunity for some nice short walks via ricefields.

In the evening you will enjoy a Torajan meal served in traditional house in a small kampung on a short distance of Toraja. Most famous is the pa’piong manuk: chicken with grated banana stem cooked in a bamboo tube. Cooked young fern and red rice are the perfect match for this chicken dish. If you arrive on time you can witness your meal being prepared.

Day 5. Short trekking in Toraja land
Today you will be driven to the start point of a wonderful 4-6 hour easy to moderate trekking. You will be walking at high altitudes (900-1300 meter) with astonishing views. You walk through rice terraces balancing on narrow rice dikes and via small dirt roads only used by local people. The villages you pass are very traditional and in some you will stop to have some tea and enjoy a pick nick lunch.

In the afternoon you will be picked-up by car and driven to your hotel in Rantapao.

Day 6. Toraja – Makassar

In the early morning you will drive by aircon car to Makassar. This interesting and varied route will take around 8 to 9 hours. You will arrive in Makassar or airport in the afternoon.

SOUTH SULAWESI 11 DAYS / 10 NIGHTS with Malino

Day 1. Arrival in Makassar
From the airport of Makassar you will be taken to your hotel in centre of town. If there is time you will stop by the harbour Paotere with tens of wooden traditional sailing ships (pinisi). The rest of the day is free for you to spend. You can visit places of interest or relax in your comfortable hotel with an attractive pool right at the waterfront of Makassar.

Makassar (called Ujung Pandang between 1972 and 1999) is the lively capital of South-Sulawesi and because of its central location the city functions as a gate to the eastern islands of Indonesia already for centuries. Makassar also has a rich historical past with two powerful kingdoms that were able to resist the Dutch colonial forces for many years. The fort of Rotterdam (Benteng Ujung Pandang) in the centre of Makassar is a well-preserved remain of that past.

In the evening the boulevard starts to live when many pushcarts are placed near the waterside and start selling all sorts of food until late in the night: for seafood dishes this is the right place to go. A part of the boulevard is closed for traffic and here you can enjoy a nice sunset.

Day 2. Makassar – Malino, walk to waterfall
In the morning you will leave Makassar behind and travel to the town of Malino. This fresh and fertile town is located at an altitude of around 850 meters on the slopes of the Bawakaraeng & Lompobatang mountains. Malino is beautiful located, surrounded by pine trees, green rice teraces and waterfalls. Historical viewed Malino was well known as a retreat for colonial Dutch, as the meeting place of East-Indonesian leaders who endorsed the Netherlands’ ill-fated plans for a federation and more recently, peace agreements have been struck for Maluku and Poso. The town is often visited during the weekends by local Makassar people. Passion fruit grows abundantly here.

Upon arrival you will be met by your guide who will take on a wonderful walk through pine forests, rice terraces and small villages to the waterfall Takapalla (literally: ‘without head’). On your way back to Malino you will make another walk of around 1 hour with amazing views and will visit two old traditional Buginese houses. If preferred you can stop at another waterfall to take a fresh bath.

Day 3. Malino - Bira
You will leave in the morning by private car to the small fishing village of Bira, around 120 km east of Makassar. First you will stop at the tea plantations of Nitoh and enjoy the beautiful scenery here. If lucky you can see women pick the tea leaves. After the tea plantaiton there are two different ways to reach Bira: via Sinjai allowing you for amazing scenery of rice terraces and mountain views or via the coast line, an interesting landscape of vast plains bordered by mountains alternated by views of the coastline. All sorts of palm trees grow in this coastal area like the coconut palm and lontar palm. You will make a stop at a nice waterfall. During the dry season you will see people collecting and processing sea salt and seaweed.

Day 4. Bira, snorkel excursion (optional)
In the morning you depart by small boat to a fisherman island nearby with a beautiful beach and colorful fishes and corals. Your lunch will be a picnic at the island. Afterwards your guide will take you walking through a small village near the beach to see the local daily life. Women weave nice colorful clothes. In the afternoon there will still be some opportunity to snorkel before heading back to Bira.

If you not feel like snorkeling, Bira also offers some nice area for short walks, some caves, dry forest with endemic black monkeys and off course the well known traditional wooden boat building (pinisi). If you are lucky you can witness this labor-intensive work at one of the beaches nearby.

Often it is possible to find some simple bicycles or motorcycles to rent so you can explore Bira’s surroundings.

If you like we organise a nice fish bbq on the beach for diner.

Day 5. Bira – Kajang – Sengkang
You will leave the white-sandy beach of Bira behind and will drive in northern direction to Sengkang. It is a varied route and after around 2 hours (passing a rubber plantation) you will stop at a small traditional area that is called Tanah Tua, homeland of the Kajang. The Kajang try to live according to traditional rules, in harmony with nature. This nature provides them for everything they need. Food is cultivated, houses are made of wood and palm leaves and the clothes are weaved themselves and dyed with a dark natural dye. You will walk through the village (dressed in black clothes yourselves) and visit some of the houses.

In the afternoon you will reach Sengkang. Sengkang is a small and quiet town with a population that is almost 100% Islamic Bugis who dominantly live in traditional wooden pile dwellings. It is the capital of the district of Wajo, one of the most influential Bugis states of the sixteen-century.

Day 6. Sengkang: Lake Tempe and silk-home industry – transfer to Rantepao.
Early in the morning you will walk with your guide from the hotel to a small local pier were you board a traditional colorful motorized canoe. The canoe trip will take you through the small Walennea River to the Tempe Lake, a lake that covers an area of at least 1.000 ha in the dry season and expands to around 35.000 ha during the wet season when all surrounding areas are flooded. On the lake you can observe the local fishermen catch fish in different ways using nets, fishing roads and bamboo fences. More than 20 species of water birds can be seen at this lake. Some of the fishermen live in floating houses near the edge of the lake. You will visit a floating house to drink tea and coffee together with its inhabitants. After return to Sengkang you will drive to some small villages nearby to see the process of traditional silk weaving. At certain days of the month it is also possible to see the cocoons or the spinning of the fine silk threads.

In Sengkang you will enjoy a great traditional meal seated on mats in people’s home. After lunch you will drive further north to the town of Rantepao, the hart of Toraja land. You will arrive here in the late afternoon.

The mountainous district of Toraja is the homeland of several ethnic groups who are called Toraja (Toraja means ‘the people of the mountains’ or ‘the people of the west’. The Toraja call their traditional religion Aluk to Dolo (rites of the ancestors) and they live according to the patron that was defined by the ancestors and gods. These include the impressive rituals that accompany the burying of the deceased. The beautiful carved houses with the remarkable roofs, the so-called tongkonan, are also built according principles of Aluk to Dolo. Although most Toraja are Christian nowadays, still many traditions live on.

If during your stay at Toraja there will be the unique opportunity to visit an impressive funeral- or house ceremony or the big animal market we will try to alter the program, according to your wishes, to fit in these visits.

If preferred we can also organise two- or three days trekking through Tanah Toraja. You will be sleeping in people’s homes.

Day 7 & 8 Rantepao, sightseeing
During two days you will visit several Toraja villages by minibus to get a good picture of the culture of past and present Toraja. These picturesque villages are located in an amazing mountainous landscape dominated by rice terraces and bamboo forests. You will see the different ways the Toraja burry their death, like hanging graves as it was done in the old days and the well known stone graves guarded by puppets, tau-tau, high up a rock. Also the baby graves in the trunk of big trees as well as huge richly carved traditional houses with their rice barns will be on the program.

On the evening of day 7 you will enjoy a Torajan meal served in traditional house in a small kampung on a short distance of Toraja. Most famous is the pa’piong manuk: chicken with grated banana stem cooked in a bamboo tube. Cooked young fern and red rice are the perfect match for this chicken dish. If you arrive on time you can witness your meal being prepared.

Day 9. Toraja, free program
There are lot of interested activities to undertake, rafting on the Maulu-river is perhaps one of the highlights. This trip takes you to a wonderful gorge, with small waterfalls, lush vegetation and remarkable lizards warming up in the sun on big rocks. Grade is around 3, which means that this trip is also suitable for beginners. However if you want to take it easy this day you can also consider short trips by bicycle or just have a swim in one of the pools of some of the bigger hotels near Rantepao.

Day 10. Toraja – Makassar
In the early morning you will drive by aircon car with private driver to Makassar. This interesting and varied route will take around 8 to 9 hours. If there is time left you can make a d-tour and see some more of the incredible lime-stone cliffs belonging to the national park Bantimurung Bulusaraung. Here you can visit a cave with prehistorically paintings and see hundreds of flying foxes hanging from tree. You will arrive in Makassar in the late afternoon.

Day 11. Makassar - airport

Transfer to the airport and connecting flight.

  TORAJA 6 DAYS / 5 NIGHTS with Soppeng & trek Maros
  SOUTH SULAWESI 11 DAYS / 10 NIGHTS with Malino
  TORAJA 8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS with Bamba Puang
  NORTH SULAWESI 9 DAYS / 8 NIGHTS