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.
Recommended Pick for Hikers! Off-the-beaten Trails!
Rantepao >> Lemo – Tampang Allo – Suaya – Bebo – Karuaya – Kete’ Kesu >> Rantepao
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 with its impressive cliff with tau tau effigies, the burial cave in Tampang Allo, the animistic villages Bebo and Karuaya, the grave of the seven royal families from Sangalla in Suaya, and the burial site in the picturesque Kete’ Kesu.
Around Karuaya and Tampang Allo there are also beautiful rice fields where we could walk around if weather- and rice field conditions allow.
In the afternoon we drive to an authentic village around Rantepao and check in to our Tongkonan accommodation. Relax, enjoy the view, and meet the kind locals as your guide or a villager will prepare you a traditional diner.
Nothing is set in stone so we can also visit other sites if you wish. Subject to ceremony schedule and your wishes, we could also visit on this day a funeral or a wedding instead of some of these sites.
RANTEPAO >> Palawa – Akung – Tinimbayo – Lempo – Batutumonga (L D)
After breakfast, we are picked up and dropped off at the old village Palawa with many Torajan houses and riceburns.
We continue to Tinimbayo, from which the hike to Lempo is perhaps the most scenic in North Toraja as we enjoy the beautiful view of the rice field terraces and the panorama of North Toraja.
Finally, we arrive at Batutumonga mountain village which has a beautiful panorama view. Here we will spend the night.
Batutumonga – Pana – Kata – Kepe – Poya – Perangian – Tinapu (B L D)
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.
Tinapu – Limbong – Parinding – Bela – Salu (B L D)
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 kind villagers, have diner, and spend the night in a local house.
Salu >> Lombok Parinding – Bori – Loko Mata – Batutumonga – Lempo – Nanggara >> Rantepao (B)
After breakfast in Salu village, we are picked up by car. We visit the stone graves and rice burns in Lombok Parinding, the megalithic stones in Bori, and the boulder grave in Lokomata.
Lunch will be served in Batutumonga, where you enjoy a beautiful panorama view. Then we visit the ceremonial ground in Lempo, and finally the traditional village Nanggala.
We return in the afternoon to Rantepao.
Subject to ceremony schedule and your wishes, we could also visit on this day a funeral or a wedding instead of some of these sites.
Accommodations
We can’t say in advance where we’ll stay overnight in Tana Toraja, since we’d like to optimise the itinerary against weather- and rice field conditions.
But we can say that regardless of the itinerary, we always try to stay in a traditional house in picturesque villages.
Lemo. 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.
Kambira Baby 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.
Kete Kesu'. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is perhaps the best known traditional Torajan village with Tongkanan houses. Visit the rice barns, hanging graves, or start a scenic trek from here.
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.
Tampang Allo. 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. Lampio is a traditional weaving village in Toraja. It is the authentic equivalent to the touristic and commercial Sa'dan village.
Bebo and Karuaya. Traditional villages, where the villagers still have a traditional, animistic belief. The walk from Bebo to Karuaya takes around 45 minutes, during which you see both traditional Torajan houses and beautiful nature.
