Waingapu

Introducing Waingapu

Waingapu is an enjoyable, dusty, spread-out town: urban enough to boast a few modest hotels and warungs, but so close to the countryside in spirit and location that roosters put paid to any chance of a lie in. It became an administrative centre after the Dutch military ‘pacified’ the island in 1906 and has long been Sumba’s main trading post for textiles, much-prized Sumbanese horses, dyewoods and lumber.

Waingapu is the main entry point to Sumba by air or sea, but the island’s principal attractions lie in the west and southeast. The town has a few ikat shops and workshops, and traders with bundles of textiles and carvings hang around hotels or walk the streets touting for custom.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009