Toraja Funeral Rites & Majestic Volcanoes of Java

Airport pickup in Makassar and transfer to your hotel. Makassar is the capital of South Sulawesi province located on the Makassar Strait.

In mid-afternoon and depending on your arrival time in Makassar, visit the fish market, an essential meeting place and hub of activity, as fish represents an important food in Indonesian culinary culture.

Transfer then to Paotere port, to admire magnificent wooden sailing ships.

You finish with a visit to Fort Rotterdam, built in 1545 by Raja Tunipalangga: it originally consisted only of an earthen rampart called "makassar". It was not until 1634 that these were reinforced with stone walls, at the request of Sultan Alaudin. The fort was later (in 1667) conquered by the Dutch and renamed "Rotterdam" (the birthplace of Speelman). Today, the fort is fully restored and even houses a small museum that traces its history.

In the evening, welcome dinner. An opportunity to get to know your English-speaking guide team.

Morning transfer to the Maros region (once discovered by Alfred Wallace), renowned for its rice fields and karst peaks. Short walk in the surroundings and exploration of a cave dating back nearly 39,000 years, which is full of rock paintings.

Your guide also offers you a boat ride on a river near which many bird species live. Meetings with the local population who live in houses on stilts.

Late morning, transfer to the maritime city of Pare Pare, then you go up the Sa'Dan river towards the mountains, through magnificent landscapes. The plain landscapes are thus quickly replaced by dense coconut forest.

Stop on the way at Bambapuang, from where you will have a view of a mountain called "erotic". Arrival in Rantepao (the capital of Toraja Land) in early evening. Check-in at the hotel.

Today, you will begin with a visit to the Lemo funeral site. It is a rock wall in which balconies have been carved that shelter numerous figurines, called Tau Tau.

Transfer to the Suaya royal tombs and then continue on foot to another interesting site: Tampangg'alo. In the afternoon, visit the Londa caves, at the foot of a large cliff, which house coffins and scattered bones.
Easy hike to the village Kete Kusu (renowned for its wood carvings and rice granaries), through rice fields, villages & bamboo forests. Discovery also of troglodytic tombs, and others, more ancient, suspended.

Walking duration: 02h30 – 03h

Preamble: the course of the program for the three days of exploration of the Toraja region may be adapted if a funeral celebration takes place in the area at this time. Your guide will take you to attend this ceremony and introduce you to the family of the deceased. For information, no ritual, in Toraja, is organized for tourists: everything is absolutely authentic.

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

In the afternoon, visit to traditional silk weaving workshops.

Early in the morning, transfer to the shores of Lake Tempe and boarding motorized canoes for an extraordinary discovery of this swampy lake which is home to numerous bird species and where an amazing floating village lies.

This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the customs and way of life of the villagers, for whom time seems to have no hold.

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

*Lion Air / Makassar – Yogyakarta / 1810-1910*

Early in the morning, transfer to the banks of the Kulon Progo river, where you will enjoy a pleasant warm-up walk in a small Javanese village, from which you will discover the surrounding nature by bike (Dutch style).
You will indeed discover the Javanese countryside gently, and you will make a few stops in the surrounding villages, where you will in particular have the opportunity to observe local artisanal work.

In mid-afternoon, transfer to the Borobudur temple.

Return to the hotel early in the evening.

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

Then we begin a walk towards the village of Tawangmangu, on the slopes of Volcano Lawu. This walk is an opportunity to discover certain plant species present in this region as well as to admire superb panoramic views of the pine forest and the surrounding highland plantations. We will end our walk by crossing through Tawangmangu park. Our first steps in the park lead us to a superb waterfall (Grojogan Sewu) in the middle of a tropical forest inhabited by a large community of monkeys.

4 hours of walking – 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.

Early morning departure towards the Lumajang region, skirting the south flanks of the majestic Semeru volcano. We then reach the "Tumpak Sewu" waterfall (in Javanese). Descending into the gorge (via a slippery and sometimes steep path), we will indeed feel the force of these hundreds of streams cascading down at more than 100m.

Viewed from above, the beauty of this waterfall seems all the more ephemeral as the fine mist soaks everything in its path. It's no wonder 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 humidity.

Return to Tumpang in late afternoon.

Early in the morning, 4x4s take us to the Tengger region, where the famous Mt Bromo (2329 m) spews its wisps, and the caldera surrounding it forms a gigantic sea of sand. During this journey, we cross the amazing 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).

Mount Bromo is the most venerated 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.

Then you reach the summit of Mount Pananjakan (2,775m) to witness a fabulous spectacle. You witness the sunset in a lunar setting, with an unobstructed view of Mount Bromo, its sea of sand, and the Semeru volcano, both releasing thick fumaroles. Unique!

Return to the hotel early in the evening.

Early morning transfer to the surroundings of Kawah Ijen.

After checking in at the hotel, your guide takes you to stunning terraced rice fields from which you begin a pleasant walk through traditional villages and other plantations (fruits, spices, etc.).

Return to the hotel in late afternoon.

Early in the morning, we head back in 4x4 towards the slopes of Kawah Ijen. At dawn, we 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! We then witness the weighing and various work contracts. A very powerful and striking image from our trip.

4 hours of walking

Late in the morning, transfer to the port of Ketapang or the airport of Banyuwangi, or even to Bali (if you wish to extend your stay at the beach).