Hi I am travelling to Sulawesi in August- 6 adults for 2 weeks
We've been recommended to go to Tana Torajaland, Manado, the Togean islands and Komodo natioanl park.
does anyone have any recommendations of how to get to these places, places to stay and sites to see?
Also are there other places we should look to visit?
Thanks in advance
You may not like my suggestion, but I recommend buying the LP Indonesia guidebook, or at least the downloadable Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara chapters.
All your Qs are answered there in much more detail than you could expect to be written up here.
http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/indonesia-travel-guide-11/
And of course yes, there are many other places to visit in both regions. But 2 weeks are too short even just to cover all those you have listed already.
as above but Komodo is or should not be an option as it is something of a detour both in time and distance
I wish you traveled to Togean this month. You could stay at my bay on Malenge Island, free. I will be away for around two weeks between May and June 2017.
Salam,
Gypdoc
Distances are long and time is short in your case... Unless you fly... Even then you are asking a lot.
If you fly into Manado and out if Makassar(aka ujang pandang), its easier but Komodo still not possible... Or visa versa
From Manado to Togeans is 2 full days of travel by bus/private taxi plus and boat ferry... From Togeans to Toraja is another 2 days, and Toraja to Makassar is 12hours by bus...
Suggest you do only Toraja and Togeans and fly in and out of Ujang . This would give you a week in Togeans and 3-4 days in Toraja..... Or similar
If you really must do one more place, Bira in the south is a nice change
Some depends on what you want to see though... Snorkeling /diving is better IMO in Manado then Togeans, but Togeans is very idyllic.. Big currents in both Manado and Komodo, so be aware.. Komodo divibg is excellent
Hi
I spent 3 weeks in Sulawesi in July 2016 with a friend. We flew from Jakarta to Makassar. From there we made our way to Rantepao. We were based there for about 4 days and stayed in Rosalina homestay. The owner Enos was amazing and gave us lots of tips. We were visiting villages and funeral ceremonies in the region. It's pretty unique place. From Rantepao we travelled to Ampana and we took a taxi with a few other people. It was a little bit more expensive than local bus but we didn't want to lose a day in Ampana as boat to Togeans leaves early morning and bus from Rantepao arrives after the boat has left. Lots of other people we meet did the same thing. We were supposed to stay 1 week in Togeans but we stayed 2 weeks. We stayed on Kadidiri island in Harmony Bay bungalows which was amazing. On the beach surrounded by the jungle. They were newly opened and by far the best of all options. Lots of people we spoke to were complaining about food in other guest houses while we could not get enough of it. They did not have dive centre yet (they do now) so we were diving with the Black Merlin dive centre which was next to our bay. Togeans are amazing. No internet, telephone signal is poor, amazing home made food, diving and snorkelling to die for. It takes some time to get there but it really is worth it. From Togeans we took overnight ferry to Gorontalo. You can book in advance and pay a little bit extra to get crew cabin and have a good night sleep. We flew back to Jakarta from Gorontalo. You could do it in 2 weeks but in order to save time you will have to take taxis from place to place which is more expensive. A lot of people we met in Togeans stayed longer than planned.
Hi everyone thanks for all the useful feedback. I think if we go there we will just focus on Toraj and The Togeans, However I am a bit concerned that Sualawesi may be too adventurous and too much travelling for some of my party so am considering Flores instead, but worry Flores may be too touristy. In your opinion is Flores also worth visiting? and if so any recommendations?
Flores travel is just as long and difficult... Sure you can stay only in Lebuanbajo and snorkel and see dragons, but long long busrides to get anywhere .. Or taxis.... The road Lebuanbajo to ruteng(very stone age) is a full day as is to ende another full day of travel... From ende you can then go north east to the colored pools(kelimutu) and end up in maumere.... Leaving maumere, which has pretty decent snorkeling and diving can be done by boat or plane...
This way atleast no backtrack...
Of the choice, Sulawesi is far superior imo, and togeans are great... Great great...
Taking private taxis in Sulawesi, as suggested, makes travel 100% better with really marginal cost increase when adding in the comfort level, especially if you pack only 4 or 5 into a vehicle made for 8
I have been to both and Flores is not touristy and it is easy to get around and has good hotels. True somewhere like Labuan Bajo is touristy and perhaps Moni to a lesser extent but the rest is not. Sulawesi could be considered adventurous and i would say it is more so than Flores
labuan Bajo is a must for visiting the Komodos and to ease yourself into Flores. From LB you could organise a tour to Waerebo Traditional Village and then on to Ruteng - do not miss the spider web rice fields. From there go to Bajawa and explore the traditional villages nearby and head down to the coast for deserted beaches and fresh fish. Bajawa and the surrounding area is well worth a few days - do not skip it as suggested above it was the highlight of Flores for me
Ende is not necessarily exciting but I stayed 5 days and enjoyed interacting there with the locals and from there it is an easy hop to Moni for kelimutu and hiking in the countryside. Maumere is a pleasant city