We were lucky enough to visit Komodo Island in Indonesia to see the legendary Komodo Dragon, the largest living lizard species in the world. The lizard grows to 3 metres (10 feet) in total length and attains a weight of about 135 kg (about 300 pounds). It occurs on Komodo Island and a few neighbouring islands of Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands.
Indonesia: Sulawesi – Trekking in Tana Toraja
The main purpose of coming to Toraja was to do a walking tour through the countryside and villages. So, when we woke up it was time to transfer enough clothes for a couple of nights into a small backpack. We’d be leaving our big bags with Budi in Rantepao while we were on our trek.
After breakfast, we were picked up along with our bags and taken to the Local Guides office, which is on the ground floor of Budi’s, the local manager’s house. Local Guides is a small eco-tour company operating small group and private tours throughout Indonesia. We have used them for several tours and they have always communicated well and the local service has been fantastic.
Our bags safely deposited we set off in the van into the hills surrounding Rantepao where we would be trekking with Luther for the next couple of days and nights.
We had been told that there was the possibility that we might be able to attend a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new tongkonan. Luther confirmed we could go. It was so exciting! Anyway, when we arrived it was approaching lunchtime, and the party was in full swing. A large group of ladies, ranging in age from children to some with a full head of grey hair, in traditional costumes were performing a day. Hundreds of other people, mostly in family groups had set themselves up on the platforms underneath other tongkonans ready for their victuals. It was lovely to see the community in action. To get us out of the way they got us to go up on the balcony of one of the tongkonan, which was being used as a sound desk. It was full of speakers and other electrical things. We’d been there a couple of minutes we got the word to ask us to stop moving around as we were causing dust to drop on the people sitting on the platform below.
It was interesting to see a traditional ceremony being supported by modern technology. The masters of ceremony had been given radio microphones to make announcements which on the face of it sounded good, but they liked the sound of their own voices too much. I wish I could have pulled the plug on the sound system! Interestingly they were also using a drone to film the event.
As we sat watching it was lunchtime for all the revellers, so mats replaced the dancers and a huge amount of food started to appear from all directions. It was a feast fit for a king. We sat there fascinated by proceedings when people appeared next to us offering food, which was all vegetarian, so we thought it only polite to obligingly eat it. It was so tasty. We’d been at the ceremony for about 90 minutes when Luther suggested we move on. So started out trekking. We passed through a couple of villages punctuated by rice fields, and along the way, we saw so many beautiful tongkonans and rice barns. About an hour after we’d left the ceremony it was time for our lunch. Luther suggested we stop at a farm and use the platform underneath one of their rice barns as our picnic spot. From nowhere Luther produced a huge lunch for all three of us from the depths of his backpack. In Indonesia is hard to be alone and that was the case as the farm dogs and chickens decided to join us. The dogs were respectful, but the cockerels were more aggressive and in your face. We threw them some rice we’d spilt, and they started fighting over it.
After lunch, we carried on walking. Our peace was rudely woken by the sounds of amplified singing. This was our first experience with the Indonesians’ love of Karaoke. The singing was emanating from a house next to the road, which doubled up as a local shop. Luther walked into the house and beckoned us to it. Again, this was something we’d not feel comfortable doing back home – walking into a stranger’s house. It was small inside, so I hung in the doorway while Karen went further in. There was a lady inside and it was not her that was singing. Karen and Luther peeked behind a curtain where two young girls were singing their hearts out. They didn’t see Karen and Luther at first and carried on singing. When they did finally see them, they screamed in shock followed by rolling around in laughter. It was lovely to see.
Our resting place for the night was a homestay located high on the hills overlooking Rantepao. The views were spectacular. Luther went in to see if they had room for us, which they did. It seemed that we were just about the only people staying there. This meant we had a choice of rooms, so we got to have one with the best view. The rooms were styled like tongkonans, with a large room in the middle with two smaller outside rooms. We had the outside room with a deck that faced the valley. This was very basic accommodation. Our space was probably about 3 metres by four metres with a low-pitched ceiling I could not stand up in. There were two small windows, with no glass just wooden flaps you could close to keep out the elements. The toilets were in a separate block which we could reach by going around the outside, but there was no staying in the adjoining rooms so we could walk through those to get to the toilets. For these occasions, our headlamps are our best friends for those middle-of-the-night calls of nature.
We had one electrical outlet that our plug adapters would not stay in and of course no air-conditioning. Our beds were simple mattresses on the floor and some blankets, which we of course didn’t need as our room was hot as hades. As hot as our room was, we were tired from the day’s exertions, so we managed to get an afternoon snooze in before dinner. Our restless sleep was shortened by claps of thunder and ‘pinging’ sounds of heavy raindrops on our room’s tin roof. It was very relaxing to hear the passing storm, although to be honest I am not sure Karen’s nerves were in the same state of rest as mine.
Once the storm had abated, we headed down to dinner. Apart from the family members, there was no one else there. As we waited for our Nasi Goreng to appear I couldn’t help but notice all the teenage boys chain-smoking. It is sad to see that nearly every man in Indonesia smokes, it is not just the older generations this is an issue for it is passed on to the youngsters. We’d seen children who must have been no older than ten smoking. Sadly, society does not seem to recognise this problem or if has then little seems to be happening to fix it. We can only hope. What I do find odd is that in Islamic countries alcohol and narcotics are considered ‘haram’ but tobacco is not seen as an intoxicant, after all, it does alter the state of mind. Complicated stuff!
It is fair to say that it was not the greatest night’s sleep we’d ever had, but we were keen to get going again for our second day of trekking.
After a less-than-satisfactory breakfast, we hit the road. The rain had been heavy the night before which made the roads very slick. It was hard to believe that the people passing on motorbikes were staying up – or was it just me? Anyway, we had not got far before we got to a steep section of road, and I suddenly lost confidence about remaining on my feet. I took what I thought was a good move and started to walk on the grassy sides of the road. This worked momentarily by the mud filled the tracks on my soles and coated the bottom of my shoes with slick mud, so I felt I was now walking on an ice-skating rink. As soon as I stepped on the road ignominiously ended up crashing to the ground, luckily my calorie-fuelled padded bum saved me from a painful landing. The only thing damaged was my pride as the whole thing had been seen by several of the locals who were going about their business. I was frustrated and decided the damage was done to any hope I had of being the ‘cool’ visitor, so carried on down to the base of the hill on my bottom.
When we got going again, I remained cautious, and it was a good half an hour before I got any confidence back walking. The walking was tough. It was a hot and sticky day and there were many uphill sections and of course downhills too but we didn’t remember those.
Occasionally, Luther would find us somewhere to stop to look at some local artisans. There was one place where four men were working a furnace and smelting metal to make the long metal blades that are used by the farmers in another shop, we met the man who makes the handles. These stops were nice. but it didn’t seem to make the going any easier.
Karen began to struggle badly, a combination of the heat and the effort of ascending all the hills. We reached a particularly long and, in some places, steep ascent during the hottest part of the day. She got to breaking point and three times had to sit down on the road to rest. Luther pressed on and we eventually lost sight of him.
Finally, we reached the summit and much to our relief it was now lunchtime. Luther found us another rice barn to shelter under for lunch and produced another feast. As usual, we were joined by the local dogs, who are ever the opportunists. One snatched a bag of our rice crackers and ran off to the long grass to eat his ill-gotten gains.
We felt a lot better from taking a rest and eating something.
The afternoon trekking was a lot more pleasant. For a start, it was more of a downhill trajectory. Secondly, we found a lot more shade from taller trees on the roadside.
It was late afternoon before we reached our destination. We had covered about 15km, which had been challenging in the heat and rolling hills of Toraja. We were knackered.
We were staying with a family in their tongkonan. The men folk were away working on a farm. The lady of the house was to be our hostess. Our room was the front room of the tongkonan, comfortable but basic.
When we first arrived, we were given a most welcome cup of tea and the chance to put our feet up.
Later we were served a delicious home-cooked dinner. I am not sure our hostess had much experience feeding vegetarians, but she did a great job.
As we settled in our bed for the night there was a tremendous noise coming from next door. It was karaoke! People were coming and going on foot and motorbikes, with each entrance and departure accompanied by a choir of barking dogs. The singing went on for hours but did quieten down around one in the morning. Perhaps we could finally get some sleep. Unfortunately, no one had shared our agenda with the local cockerels who seemed to coordinate the start of their crowing with the fading of the last note of the karaoke. What a nightmare – literally!
It was hard to raise the enthusiasm for the day ahead after such a horrible night’s sleep. The good news was that we’d finished our trekking so today we’d be ferried around in a van with short walks in between.
We sleepily made our way down to breakfast feeling grumpy with the partygoers, dogs and cockerels who had contributed to our broken night’s sleep. I should also mention it was so hot in our room. A trifactor plus one (I don’t know if there is such a word as ‘quadfactor’) of reasons we didn’t get enough sleep. Luther greeted us and was apologetic, even though none of the things that kept us awake was his fault. What we thought was a party turned out to be a wake. An elderly lady next door had passed away in the early evening of the previous day and the villagers had called upon the family to give their respect, which in Toraja involves Karaoke. We suddenly felt guilty about feeling mean about being kept awake by the music and singing. Whilst this excused the people and dogs, the cockerels were not let off the hook!
We sat there enjoying a cup of coffee, which was not exactly the best, but still welcome. Next door some of the men of the village gathered, resting on their haunches as they smoked cigarettes and chatted. One man collected a couple of fierce-looking cockerels and pegged them to the spot with a short string, so they were just out of reach of each other. Cock fighting is a popular sport in Indonesia and these birds were in training.
At some point during our hike, Karen had mentioned to Luther that I liked potatoes. So, this morning he went in search of potatoes from the neighbours’ gardens. He didn’t find any but did manage to get some cassavas, which our hostess had cooked up. So, for breakfast, we were served with a huge plate of fried cassava.
It was a delight to watch people go about their business as we ate our breakfast. As we ate an elderly lady came over to speak to our hostess. Her years of wisdom were etched into the wrinkles of her face. Despite the fact we shared no common language she and Karen engaged in a conversation of sorts. She was still there after we’d gathered our bags and readied to leave, she got some photos of us with her and our hostess. It is quite amusing to look back on these as she was tiny and barely reached my waist. It is another picture to add to my collection of me with short people on our travels.
We had to walk about a kilometre from the village to meet our driver. It was another glorious day, and it was a delight to travel through the beautiful Toraja countryside.
After about half an hour of driving, we pulled over and left the van to take a short walk through another village. It was Sunday so there was a lot more activity on the streets of the village. Children were at play and families milled around in their Sunday best on the to and from church.
It was not a day of rest for everyone. We came across a group of young girls weaving decorations for a celebration. Karen was curious to find out what they were up to, so we spent a few minutes observing them at work.
A little further on we came to a neat little church on the side of the road where they were obviously wrapping up their Sunday service. Luther asked if we’d like to see inside, obviously the answer was yes.
A few families were hanging around inside the church. We looked very scruffy next to the congregation, but they were so welcoming. Of course, we were now a captive audience, and they all wanted their photographs taken with us. There was one young family with twin baby girls, and they were all too keen to hand the babies over to us to hold while they took photos. Giving your baby to a total stranger seemed somewhat bizarre.
We finally escaped the church and continued our walk through the village, where we came across a large group of people setting up for a ceremony. There was going to be a wedding the following day so the community was busy getting ready for the hoards who would be descending here over the next few days. There were people setting up the platform where the marriage ceremony would be performed, and other platforms with shelters for the revellers. As we as getting the structures ready there was an army of women (apparently the men don’t do this) preparing huge amounts of food, from vegetables to chicken to fish. As we stood talking to these women a young man, around eleven years old came up and started to chat to Karen. He was very intelligent and most probably somewhere on the autism spectrum. As we moved around, he continued to follow us, even as we left to go. His mother became concerned and came over to see what was going on. Once she realised who we were she relaxed somewhat.
It was now lunchtime, so we were picked up by our driver and taken into the centre of Rantepao where Luther took us to the restaurant where he left his motorbike when he was off trekking with clients. The food here was very cheap and tasted marvellous.
In the centre of Rantepao, there is a large market for buffalo. Luther offered to take us there to have a look around. There were hundreds of bulls on display, and we were able to wander freely around the yards and pens, which felt a bit sketchy. Luckily, these bulls are all very timid, because I am sure they could do a lot of damage with their horns and sheer size if they set their minds to it.
The best time to visit Tana Toraja
Average temperatures in Rantepao vary very little. Considering humidity, temperatures feel hot for most of the year with a chance of rain throughout most of the year. The area is far less temperate than some — in the 6th percentile for pleasant weather — compared to tourist destinations worldwide. Weeks with ideal weather are listed above. If you’re looking for the very warmest time to visit Rantepao, the hottest months are June, August, and then July. See average monthly temperatures below. The warmest time of year is generally early June where highs are regularly around 91.6°F (33.1°C) with temperatures rarely dropping below 72.6°F (22.6°C) at night.
Getting to Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja, Indonesia can be reached by air, bus, or private car.
You can find more info on each option below. Flying to Toraja is the easiest, but bus is the cheapest. Driving there in a car may be best for groups
By Air
All flights to Toraja have to transit first in Makassar (UPG), and then you can fly directly to the new Tana Toraja airport (TRT) which was just completed in 2020. The flight from Makassar to Toraja takes 1 hour.
You can shop for flights to Makassar and Tana Toraja at Skyscanner. Lion Air operates this flight daily.
Once you reach the airport, it’s a 1-hour drive into town, and a taxi will cost about 250k Rupiah.
By Bus
There’s a daily morning or night bus to Tana Toraja from the bus terminal in Makassar.
The bus ride from Makassar to Rantepao takes about 9 or 10 hours and there are several stops along the way. The bus departure times from both Makassar and Toraja are 9 AM for the morning bus or 9 PM for the night bus.
This is a very long journey, but it could make sense for solo travellers on a strict budget. It costs around 200k Rupiah per person (one way).
By Car
A car + driver can be hired to take you from Makassar to Tanah Toraja for about 750k to 1 million Rupiah ($50-70). This is the most cost-effective option if you’re travelling in a group with several people. The drive takes 8+ hours and the road is in good condition.
Alternatively, you can rent a car to self-drive from Makassar for about 600k Rupiah.
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