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!
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 Batutumonga (L D)
RANTEPAO >> PALAWA – AKUNG – TINIMBAYO – LEMPO – BATUTUMONGA
Included: guide, car and driver for drop-off, long trek (Pana – Tinapu), accommodation in Batutumonga, meals as mentioned
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 which has a beautiful panorama view, and where we will spend the night.
Day 3: Trekking to Tinapu Village (L D)
Batutumonga – Kata – Kepe – Poya – Perangian – Tinapu
Included: guide, car and driver for drop-off, long trek (Pana – Tinapu), accommodation in Tinapu, entrance fees, meals as mentioned
After breakfast, we hike from Batutumonga 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 4: Trekking to Salu (B L D)
Tinapu – Limbong – Parinding – Bela – Salu
Included: guide, long trek (Tinapu – Salu), accommodation in Salu, 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 5: Toraja Highlights (North) (B)
Salu >> Lombok Parinding – Bori – Loko Mata – Batutumonga – Lempo – Naggara >> Rantepao
Included: guide, car, driver, fuel, parking fees, short trek (Loko Mata – Kata – Kayurame), entrance fees, meals as mentioned
excluded: accommodation in Rantepao, meals
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.
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.
