Note: Below is the standard itinerary, however the actual program may be different depending on the ceremony schedule, rice field conditions, or your wishes. The overnight dates in Rantepao and in the villages are fixed, though. Meals are only included for long treks.
Day 1: Toraja Highlights (South)Rantepao >> Lemo – Kambira – Tampang Allo – Lampio – Kete’ Kesu >> Rantepao
Included: guide, car, driver, fuel, parking fees, entrance fees, accommodation in Rantepao*
excluded: meals
Visiting the Southern area will feel as if a cultural documentary has been brought to life. These are the must-sees of Tana Toraja.
Typically we will visit Lemo, Kambira, Tampang Allo, the weaving village Lampio, and the burial site in Kete’ Kesu. If there is time we could also visit the animistic villages Bebo and Karuaya.
Perhaps the best known and most crowded burial site in Toraja. The sheer rock face has a series of balconies with tau tau, wooden statues of the dead persons inside the graves.
The most famous baby grave site in Tana Toraja. Torajans from Kambira would carve a hole into the trunk of a Jackfruit tree and place the baby in it. Over time the living tree would grow around the hole sealing the baby into the trunk. Unfortunately, the trees have died by now. This somewhat dark site holds around 20 deceased infants.
Perhaps the least known of the fabulous must-sees in the Southern area: A beautiful, natural cave that has been used in the past as burial site, and where you find tau tau and some human bones.
Lampio is a traditional weaving village in Toraja. It is the authentic equivalent to the touristic and commercial Sa'dan village.
Bebo and Karuaya are traditional villages, where the villagers still have a traditional, animistic belief. The walk from Bebo to Karuaya takes around 45 minutes, in which you see both traditional Torajan houses and beautiful nature
Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is perhaps the best known traditional Torajan village and very close to Rantepao. It is renowned for its traditional tongkanan houses, rice barns and its hanging graves. Also, there are a few scenic trekking options from here.Day 2: Trekking to Tinapu village (L D)Rantepao >> Pana – Kata – Kepe – Poya – Perangian – Tinapu
Included: guide, car and driver for drop-off, long trek (Pana – Tinapu), entrance fees, accommodation in Tinapu, meals as mentioned
After breakfast, you are picked up and dropped off at Panaa. We visit the old stone grave, and then start our scenic day trek. We walk to Kata which located in the middle of rice fields.
We continue via Kepe to the very old village Poya, where some still have animistic beliefs and who have been studied by European scientists. The next stop is at Perangian village, with many joyful children excited to see foreigners.
We hike through a beautiful and rough landscape before arriving at our final destination Tinapu village, where we meet the hospitable villagers and feel the warm Torajan atmosphere where people live simply and are happy at the same time.
Day 3: Trekking to Salu village (B L D)
Tinapu – Limbong – Parinding – Bela – Salu
Included: guide, long trek (Tinapu – Salu), accommodation in Salu, entrance fees, meals as mentioned
After breakfast we start our hike to the beautiful ricefields at Limbong village, and the many Torajan houses and rice burns at Parinding
We will have lunch in the forest or the rice fields. And then we pass cacao- and coffee plantations and beautiful rice fields before we arrive at the remote, traditional village Salu. We meet the villagers, have diner, and spend the night in a local house.
Day 4: Toraja Highlights (North) (B)
Salu >> Lombok Parinding – Bori – Palawa – Tinimbayo – Batutumonga – Loko Mata >> Rantepao
Included: guide, car, driver, fuel, parking fees, short trek (Loko Mata – Kata – Kayurame), entrance fees
excluded: accommodation in Rantepao, meals
After breakfast in Salu village, we are picked up by car to explore the scenic Northern part of Toraja.
We visit the stone graves and rice burns in the village Lombok Parinding, the megalithic stones in Bori, and the traditional village Palawa and Tinimbayo.
Lunch will be served in Batutumonga, where you enjoy a beautiful panorama view. After lunch, we drive to Lokomata to see the boulder grave.
At Loko Mata we start our scenic trek of 2-3 hours through rice fields, bamboo forests, cacao and coffee plantations, until we arrive at Kayurame village, from where we return by car to Rantepao.
Suaya. Seven royal families from Sangalla are buried at this famous and relatively quite burial site. The wooden effigies tau tau are in balconies that are cut in the large rock face.
