"TANAH TORAJA - Sulawesi" Top 5 Page for this destination Rantepao by RoyJava

Rantepao Travel Guide: 125 reviews and 297 photos

Living For The Dead

RANTEPAO, the centre for tourists who visit Tanah Toraja (to ri aja in Buginese), is a market place in the rocky area of Sungai Sa'dan, where the Toraja people are living, and get overrun by swarms of tourists for 6 months a year at least.

Visit Rantepao's market, North-east of the bus Terminal Bolu centre and watch the bargaining of buffalos, buy some palm wine, get Tanah Toraja souvenirs and listen to the many chats ... it's funny, amazing, however my best memories were the visits to the "cave-tombs" villages around, which left very deep impressions about peoples "living for the dead"...

thanks for visiting

Long Kept Secret

tanah-toraja-sulawesi

I remember when we entered the Tanah Toraja land. The typical saddle-roofed houses (tongkonan) showed a fabulous tradition kept for so long time. And I got overwhelmed by their myths which claim that their ancestors arrived in a storm from the Northern Sea, pulled their splinter boats ashore, and used them as roofs; the principal attraction of Tanah Toraja and its houses, shaped like ships and, all face North, the direction of their origin ... isn't that a magnificent kept secret ?

Water & Mountains

buginese-stilthouse-sulawesi

The Toraja saddle-roofed and Bugi stilt-houses are known from art-paintings on Dongson-drums (500 BC), which show similar houses. South Sulawesi is a special link between Asia and Australia. There are some areas with Pleistocene fossils, dating back until 400.000 - 500.000 years ago! There are lakes everywhere, once part of the sea in prehistoric times. Temperature can be very hot, so maybe this remind you to bring a lot of water with you traveling to the Toraja mountain-land, where its people have never seen the ocean ...

Pros and Cons

Pros:Impressive - Historical - Ecological - Cultural - Traditional - Ceremonial - Ritual -
Cons:Touristy - Cross-Country-Wide - Touristy-Priced
In a nutshell:Tanah Toraja Magnificent Region Fascinating People

Intro Updated Nov 2, 2009
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Reviews (32)

bus-trip-ujungpandang-rantepao - Rantepao

Hiking Your Way Transportation (1)

Most travellers get to Rantepao by (long-distance) bus companies, booked in home-land like we did (trip is about 8-9... more travel advice

toraja-prince-hotel-tanahtoraja - Rantepao

Enjoying Toraja Coffee Hotels (2)

This is a beautiful hotel, we visited because of the Toraja Cofee. Sounds funny, though we read about this special... more travel advice

ujungpandang-makassar-sulawesi - Rantepao

Ujung Pandang - Makassar Things to Do (12)

When coming from the North to the Toraja Land it is a worth to travel to Ujung Pandang, the formerly named Makassar by... more travel advice

No Candy Anymore ... What to Pack (1)

Take what you want. A backpacker's luggage will be different from the rich group-tourists. A rucksack small size for... more travel advice

Shopping (3)
See All Vitamins Ready To Hand
Warnings and Dangers (2)
See All Superstitious?
Favorites (2)
See All Rice Padi Fields

Local Customs (4)
See All Baby - Tree At LIANG
Off The Beaten Path (5)
See All Tropical Xanadu
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Comments (6)

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JessH Nov 14, 2007 at 12:58 AM

Hello Roy and thank you for sharing your great detailed info & stories on this unusual destination! I really enjoyed reading your pages, and my ratings are definitely with you. Greetings from the desert :-) Jess in Dubai
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mircaskirca Sep 16, 2007 at 7:52 AM

Fascinating page Roy! It called to memory some wonderful stories and images of Toraja. Loved tongkonan and tau-tau and was even lucky enough to attend the funeral ceremony. Toraja kopi tubruk is delicious and durian, mmmmm :))
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black_mimi99 Dec 23, 2006 at 12:44 AM

thx for the great info and also great pics u have mas Roy...thx banget yah... it help me much...:) Happy Holiday!!! and wish u the best coming year...:)
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go2indo Sep 7, 2006 at 2:46 AM

Emerald Indonesia tours & travel, visit www.GO2INDO.com is the best gateway to Indonesia, why this travel agency? Because they are social and suport serveral projects in Indonesia!
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staal Feb 22, 2005 at 12:45 PM

Very good hotel and I booked via Toraja Highland tours & travel in Jakarta.
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ukirsari Oct 19, 2004 at 8:35 AM

wowwww, Mas Roy, i want to see more and compared it with my pictures, not about the quality [because you're such a great photographer!!!] but about tana toraja look like, maybe has changed??? :) is this picture taken at lemo?! or kete' kesu?