Sulawesi, Java & Bali: Indonesian kaleidoscope

Morning transfer to the Maros region (once discovered by Alfred Wallace), renowned for its rice fields and karst peaks. Short walk around the area and exploration of a cave dating back nearly 39,000 years, which is full of rock paintings. Your guide will also offer you a boat trip on a river near which many bird species live. Encounters with the local population who live in stilt houses.

Late morning, transfer to the maritime city of Pare Pare, then you travel up the Sa'Dan river, towards the mountains, through magnificent landscapes. The plain landscapes are quickly replaced by thick coconut forest. Stop on the way at Bambapuang, from where you will have a view of a mountain said to be "erotic".

Arrival in Rantepao,(the capital of Toraja Land) in early evening. Check-in at the hotel.

In the morning, visit the Bori village, famous for its megaliths carved in the shape of tombs, then that of Palawa (the largest in the region), and finally that of Sa'dan, renowned for its traditional textiles.

Transfer to the wild north of the Toraja region, which offers magnificent panoramas at 1,400 m altitude. Easy walk around Batutumonga through rice fields, traditional villages and bamboo forest.

Later, hiking from Lokomata (where the tombs are carved into a giant rock) towards Mariri, during which you will have the opportunity to meet children returning from school and stop at a few knife-making workshops.

Return to the hotel in late afternoon.

Visit to the colorful market of Rantepao, where many buffaloes & pigs are offered for sale. This is followed by the opportunity to attend a funeral ceremony (see Note J3).

In the afternoon, transfer to Pemancar, where you begin a lovely walk towards Salu, through rice fields and plantations (coffee & cacao, mainly).

Walking duration: approximately 4 hours

In the morning, you join the charming little town of Sengkang which stretches along the banks of the Walanae river.

In the afternoon, visit traditional silk weaving workshops.

Departure for Makassar airport and flight to Yogyakarta in early evening.

Airport welcome in Yogyakarta (or Jogjakarta) by your guide and transfer to your hotel.

Early this morning we head towards the Menoreh hills, located about 25 km west of Yogyakarta and overlooking the Borobudur plain.

You then begin an original walk through superb landscapes, along a few ridges as well, which offer us an extraordinary panorama of green rice fields below and of the volcanoes rising on the horizon (Mt Sumbing, Mt Merapi and Mt Merbabu)…
Then, in the middle of the valley emerges the imposing sanctuary of Borobudur Temple, which you visit at the end of our walk.

Transfer to Sukuh, on the slopes of Mt Lawu which overlooks Surakarta.

Night at the hotel.

Morning transfer to the Sukuh Temple, the last bastion of Hinduism in central Java in the face of Islam's spread.
This temple presents original iconography, such as phallic figures and large turtle-shaped tables, which would reveal the existence of initiatory, even orgiastic rituals.

Then you begin a hike towards the village of Tawangmangu, on the slopes of the Volcan Lawu. This hike is an opportunity to discover certain plant species present in this region as well as to admire superb panoramas over the pine forest and the surrounding high-altitude plantations. You will end our walk by crossing Tawangmangu park. Your first steps in the park lead us towards a superb waterfall (Grojogan Sewu) in the middle of a tropical forest inhabited by a large community of monkeys.

4 hours of hiking – Positive elevation gain: 400m / Negative elevation gain: 300m

In the afternoon, transfer to Tumpang, in the surroundings of Malang, at the western foot of the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru massif.

Night in homestay.

Early morning departure to the Lumajang region, skirting the southern slopes of the majestic Semeru volcano. You then reach the Tumpak Sewu waterfall ("Thousand Waterfalls" in Javanese). As you descend into the gorge (via a slippery and sometimes steep path), you will indeed feel the force of these hundreds of streams cascading dramatically as they plunge over 100m.

Viewed from above, the beauty of this waterfall appears moreover ephemeral as the fine mist soaks everything in its path. It's no wonder then that a photo of Tumpak Sewu with Mt Semeru in the background was awarded "best aerial shot" in 2019. And, if you also bring your camera equipment, remember to protect it against moisture.

Return to Tumpang late afternoon.

Transfers 4h
Hike 3h

Early in the morning, 4x4s take us to the Tengger region, where the famous Mt Bromo (2329 m) billows its plumes, and the caldera surrounding it forms a gigantic sea of sand. During this journey, we traverse the stunning forest of the Tengger-Bromo-Semeru National Park, also skirting part of the ridge of the Bromo volcano caldera, before descending towards the sea of sand to reach the village of Cemorolawang (located on one of the opposite ridges). Le mont Bromo is the most revered by the Hindu Tengger people who live in the region.

Ascent of the Bromo volcano in the afternoon. We can thus admire its crater resembling a smoking cauldron. It is then easy to understand why the Javanese once considered this place as the entrance to purgatory.

Night at the hotel.

By 4x4, you reach very early the summit of Mount Pananjakan (2775m) to witness a fabulous spectacle. You witness the awakening of the world in a lunar landscape, with an unobstructed view of Mount Bromo, its sea of sand, and the Semeru volcano, both releasing thick fumes. Unique!

Possibility to redo the short ascent of Bromo in the vivid morning colors, then we return to the hotel to have breakfast.

Transfer in late morning to Ketapang at the eastern foot of Kawah Ijen.

Late at night, you head back in a 4x4 towards the slopes of Kawah Ijen. Early in the morning, walk towards the edges of Kawah Ijen (meaning the "green crater") where men extract sulfur on the edge of the world's largest acidic lake.

These true sulfur laborers carry nearly 100 kg of ore on their backs over approximately 15 km to the processing plant! You then witness the weighing and various work contracts. A very powerful and striking image from our journey.

Late morning transfer to Pemuteran, a small seaside resort located on the north-western coast of Bali, away from tourist crowds.

Free morning then in early afternoon you take the road to the highlands of Bali. Visit along the way of Pulaki temple, located at the foot of a cliff and inhabited by a large community of monkeys.

The road that branches off towards the mountains is magnificent. Your destination, the small village of Belimbing, is surrounded by some of the most breathtaking terraced rice fields on the island.

Visit to the Luhur Batukaru temple, which emerges in a lush green setting and where several "meru" with multiple roofs stand, some dating back to the 17th century, dedicated to the ancestors of the Tabanan dynasty and local protective deities.

Early in the morning, transfer to Jatiluwih, a small village located in the heart of the most beautiful rice terraces of Bali, in the center-west part of the island.

You will then begin, in the early afternoon, a superb hike through this true ocean that the terraced rice fields surrounding us represent.

3 hours of walking

You finally head towards Ubud, the cultural capital of the Island of the Gods.

This morning, we begin a walk through magnificent rice fields towards Tampaksiring. A family of Balinese artists welcomes us into their traditional home and offers us a meal, equally typical of Ubud, Ubud, accompanied by Balinese dances.

A family of Balinese artists welcomes you into their traditional home and offers you a meal, equally typical, accompanied by Balinese dances.

Visit of Tirta Empul and its sacred pools where hundreds of Balinese come each day to purify themselves.

Then, visit of the Gunung Kawi temple. This site is surely the most impressive in Bali with the 9 tombs of the family of King Wungsu, carved into the cliff.

Return to Ubud in early evening where you will be able to stroll freely through the village.

Free time until the transfer to Denpasar airport.