East of Wallace Tours
Adventures in East Indonesia
Sulawesi: Decorative rock tomb
 Sulawesi: Menhirs Torajaland
 Sulawesi picturesque Toraja village
 Sulawesi: Toraja baby graves
Sulawesi: Buffalo in Toraja village
 Sulawesi: Toraja Tau Tau Rock Balcony
Sulawesi: Toraja buffalo market
Sulawesi: Toraja coffee - sale on market
 Sulawesi Toraja: Pig is transported on moped
 Sulawesi Torajaland: Two 'sleeping' persons in coffins
Sulawesi Toraja: Funeral ritual with Tau Tau
Sulawesi Toraja: Sunrise over cloudy valley

Sulawesi: Toraja Heritage Tour

From € 899,- per person (6D/5N)

Sulawesi Toraja Heritage Tour: Immerse yourself and let yourself be enchanted by the Toraja's extraordinary culture. Your individual journey leads you through culturally unknown and unique terrain. The tour takes you along a picturesque mountain scenery past numerous small rice terraces, through picturesque villages and impressive burial sites that express their unique death cult.

  • Duration:
    6 days / 5 nights
  • Start I End:
    Makassar
  • Departure:
    Daily
  • Minimum number of participants:
    2 persons
  • Best period to visit:
    March to November, but basically all year round
  • Rainy season:
    December to February
  • Vacation styleSuitable for children to a limited extent
    Culture discovery, walk
  • Activity LevelModerate fitness required
    3/10
Tour description

Private cultural experience tour to the Toraja people in Central Sulawesi

Go on a discovery tour: On our Toraja tour you will have the opportunity to gain a deep insight into the unique culture and traditions, especially the death cult, of this friendly ethnic group. While immersing yourself in their way of life, you will also get to know the beautiful Toraja highlands. If you are a coffee drinker, try the Toraja coffee!

Your fitness level: To be enthusiastic about this tour, you should be normally fit and, in addition to an interest in unusual cultures, enjoy walking through scenic areas. Thanks to the high plateau, the trails are mostly quite flat and even.

Our services
  • 6 days individual round trip according to description
  • All activities will be individually organised for you and will be accompanied by your personal guide
  • 5 nights with breakfast in authentic accommodation with own bath or shower/WC
  • Meals according to description
  • All transfers (accompanied) from/to Makassar
  • Your personal English-speaking guide/tour guide will accompany you on your trip and will be your contact person if you have any questions or requests.
  • Travel insurance certificate
     

Services not included: 

  • Arrival and departure (international flights or domestic flights).
  • Meals and drinks not mentioned
  • Tips
  • Personal expenses
  • Entrance fees for sightseeing unless otherwise stated

We recommend taking out travel insurance (travel health insurance, travel cancellation insurance).


Book now!
Tour Plan

Day 1: Arrival Makassar

  • Upon arrival at Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, you will be met by your personal driver and transferred to your booked hotel near the airport.
  • Depending on your arrival time, you could use the remaining day to slow down and relax a little more or perhaps explore the surrounding area of your hotel before your exciting tour to the Toraja highlands begins the next morning.
  • Lunch not included
  • Dinner not included


Day 2: Transfer to the Toraja Highland

  • After breakfast at the hotel, your driver picks you up and your eventful tour into the realm of the Toraja begins. In an air-conditioned car, you will leave the bustling city of Makassar behind and immerse yourself in the varied scenery that the overland journey offers.
  • On your way and not far from the island's capital, you will visit the small village of Ramang-Ramang. Due to its geographical location, embedded in a picturesque landscape of fields and framed by high limestone cliffs, it can only be reached by boat. Once there, you will have plenty of time to wander through the grassy scenery and record your impressions for later memories.
  • And the journey continues in a northerly direction. About halfway you will stop in Pare-Pare, if possible at Bukit Kenari. There you will enjoy your lunch with a view of the bay in front of you.
  • Your journey will also take you past Buntu Kabobong, the Erotic Mountain. Here you will also have the opportunity to capture your impressions of the beautiful mountain landscape on a souvenir photo.
  • On the last leg of your journey today, a large entrance gate signals that the realm of the Toraja has finally been reached.
  • Upon arrival at your hotel in the evening, you will have the opportunity to have dinner there (not included).
  • You will also meet your tour guide to discuss the tour plan for the coming days.
    However, be prepared for changes of plan that will be made only to allow you to experience many customs that often just happen along the way or require some travel and about which your guide has just received a Whatsapp message. This is so that you can immerse yourself as deeply as possible in the unique culture of the Toraja. Of course, changes of plans will be coordinated with you.
  • Breakfast at hotel
  • Lunch on tour not included
  • Dinner not included


Day 3: Menhirs, megalithic tombs of Bori and surroundings

  • After breakfast, your tour guide will meet you and take you to one of the first cultural monuments of the Toraja, the megalithic tombs of Bori.
  • Enjoy the quiet ambience of this small place with its about 100 so-called menhirs, and let the special atmosphere take effect on you.
  • Not far from here you can admire a large megalithic stone, which is home to numerous tombs and is an extraordinary landmark.
  • Afterwards, your tour guide will take you on an easy walk along the rice terraces, from where you can catch a glimpse of the wonderful scenery with its picturesque Toraja villages nestled in the green landscape.
  • Then it's time for lunch (not included).
  • Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to further deepen your impressions of the charming Toraja landscape and culture on another easy walk.
  • You will also have the opportunity to get a glimpse of the local village life and to see the impressive houses with their interesting decorations from close up and maybe even from the inside.
  • Back at the hotel in the afternoon, you could end the day there with dinner (dinner not included).
  • Breakfast at the hotel
  • Lunch not included
  • Dinner not included


Day 4: Visit to the burial sites of Kete Kesu and Londa and visit to a 'sleeping person'

  • After breakfast today, your tour guide will take you to visit another traditional Toraja village: Kete Kesu. Nestled between vast rice fields and framed by a scenic mountain landscape, Kete Kesu has a village history spanning several centuries and is one of the oldest villages in the region. Like a walking museum, one encounters numerous relics of the Toraja culture, especially those related to the special death cult of this tribe. Besides a large, old cave tomb containing numerous elaborately carved coffins with human remains, you can also marvel at the richly decorated boat-shaped houses, the so-called 'Tongkonan', which display elaborate colour ornaments as well as an unusual buffalo horn decoration.
  • The tour then continues to Londa, another traditional village with numerous cave tombs in its vicinity. Londa's special feature is its large rock tomb with an inlaid elongated balcony, where numerous beautifully dressed Tau-Taus can be seen lined up side by side, visibly fulfilling their representative role as respective representatives of high-ranking deceased.
  • If the opportunity arises today, you will be part of a mourning or burial ceremony and gain a deep insight into the extraordinary and interesting Toraja culture of the dead - a truly unforgettable experience. Such an event is usually accompanied by cock and bull fights and also sacrificial ceremonies until the coffin is taken to its final destination at the climax of the festivities. The ceremonies are usually spread over a number of days, each with its own significance and often preceded by a process of consultation within the family and villagers. Therefore, several hours may pass before a ceremony actually begins on any given day. During the waiting time, the guests of a Toraja funeral are always provided with snacks and drinks in the specially built guest quarters. Although funerals take place all year round, the post-harvest period between July and October each year is a kind of peak season.
  • If time still allows for today, you will visit the small traditional village of Buntebune and interact with the locals to learn more about the unique culture of your hosts.
  • Breakfast at hotel
  • Lunch on tour not included
  • Dinner not included


Day 5: Morning view, Lemo and Kambira burial sites

  • After your very early breakfast today, your tour guide will take you to Puncak Lolai Toraja or Lolai Tongkonan Lempe, also known as the 'mountain above the clouds', from where you can enjoy an impressive view of the surrounding mountains in good weather conditions.
  • Continue on to the local market in Rantepao. On a tour of the market, you will have the opportunity to see all kinds of interesting things for your daily needs, as well as to take a look at the bizarrely packaged live pigs that are waiting there ready for transport to their final destination, or to buy some of the precious Toraja coffee at one of the stalls. No matter if Arabica or Robusta, ground or whole bean - just mmhhh...and unlike Javanese coffee, not that bitter either.
    If you are in the Toraja Highlands on a Tuesday or Saturday, it might make sense to change your programme a bit to experience the buffalo market in Rantepao, which only takes place on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Buffaloes play a very central role in Toraja culture, not least because they are indispensable for a funeral ceremony. Here you can see an almost endless number of buffaloes in different and meaningful colours and patterns, the meaning of which your tour guide will explain to you.
  • Afterwards, the tour continues to the unique rock tombs of Lemo. Lemo is one of the oldest settlements in the region, and you will have the opportunity to gain further insight into the Toraja culture of the dead. 
    A huge megalith houses numerous graves at some height, all of which were carved by hand long before they were used. On the balconies, which are also carved in stone, you can marvel at colourful representations of former noble villagers, and on a subsequent short walk you can learn even more interesting facts...and of course marvel at the beautiful landscape.
  • On a next stop, you will become familiar with the impressive baby graves of Kambira. Carefully embedded in the trunk of a living tree, infants find their final resting place and - according to local belief - live on in this way.
  • Afterwards you will visit the royal tombs of Sangalla, which your tour guide will introduce to you on an easy walk.
  • Now it's time for lunch (not included).
  • You will have another opportunity to visit a traditional village and pay a visit to a 'sick' or 'sleeping' person. Be prepared for this extraordinary encounter. (Please let your tour guide know if you would rather not have this experience).
  • After an eventful long day, you will have time in the afternoon to relax at the hotel or to take in the surroundings on your doorstep before you leave. Either way, enjoy the time. Now it is time for your local tour guide to say goodbye to you. 
  • Breakfast at the hotel 
  • Lunch on tour not included
  • Dinner not included
     

Day 6: Return journey to Makassar 

  • After breakfast at the hotel, your driver will take you back to Makassar.
  • The return journey follows the same route. You will therefore have the opportunity to catch up on missed photo opportunities.
  • Depending on the arrangement, your tour ends either at Makassar airport or in the city centre according to your further connection programme.
Prices
  • from 899 EUR per person (based on 2 people sharing accommodation)
  • Single traveller on request
     

This tour is suitable for children to a limited extent. 


The prices quoted are prices from/to the starting point of the tour. They include all services as per the respective tour description. Higher prices may apply during Indonesian holidays such as Ramadan or Idul Fitri. All prices are in Euro and per person based on two people travelling together in the same room/accommodation. Our terms and conditions apply.
 


Extent your Trip

...and explore destinations beyond the wonders of the Twin Spice Islands. Extending a trip creates even more unique experiences and breathtaking moments for you and your travel companion. Combine your active cultural trip with a volcano experience or a beach holiday or even more adventures. Make your trip a unique experience and extend it to experience Indonesia east of the Wallace Line to the fullest.


Expand your Options


Design your Tour

The above tour description is intended as a suggestion. The tour can be split or extended according to your wishes. We will be happy to customize it to your individual wishes and ideas.


Just get in contact with us