Hey there! In this post, I would like to share my recent
trip to South Sulawesi, Indonesia. If you have visited Indonesia and want to
come again but do not want to visit the highlights like Bali and Lombok, South
Sulawesi is a great decision for your next destination!
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| The City Name Statue in Losari Beach |
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| South Sulawesi Location in Indonesia Map |
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| Map of South Sulawesi |
Located between Borneo and Papua Island, Sulawesi offers you
beautiful landscape and rich culture. In the beginning of May 2016, I got the
chance to travel there for 4 days 3 nights. Here's the itinerary, budget, and
travel tips~ Hope this can help and encourage you to visit this beautiful
island! Don't wait before it gets too touristy and crowded~
HOW TO GET THERE?
To get to South Sulawesi, you can fly from many major cities
in Indonesia to Sultan Hassanudin International Airport (Code: UPG). Here are some
cities that have direct flight to Makassar: Surabaya, Jakarta, Denpasar,
Yogyakarta, Kendari, Balikpapan, Timika, and Bandung. For international flight,
you can fly from Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia and Singapore.
If your origin city or country doesn't have direct flight,
you don't need to worry! There are many connection flights that will take you
there. For more info, check: http://hasanuddin-airport.co.id/
THE JOURNEY (MAXIMUM
EXPERIENCE, MINIMUM COST!)
Please note that this was written by a greedy person who
wanted to see a lot in a very short time. If you want to visit it longer or
shorter, please adjust with your own itinerary ;)
Day 1. Thursday, 5th
of May, 2016.
I arrived in Makassar on Thursday, 5th of May, 3am local
time (GMT +8).
TO GET TO MAKASSAR
CITY
The plan was we (my cousin and I) would stay in the airport
for couple of hours and then took the earliest bus (or called Damri) to the
city center. We browsed on the internet before and found that the earliest bus
departed on 4am. THAT WAS NOT TRUE!
The earliest bus left from Sultan Hassanudin Aiport heading to Makassar City is at 8am and will stop operating at 8pm (source: airport officers). As the result, we took the taxi and we paid 130.000 IDR (without taxi argo). We talked with other travelers later and they paid 150.000 IDR with the argo. So, use your puppy eyes to get the best dealJ.
The earliest bus left from Sultan Hassanudin Aiport heading to Makassar City is at 8am and will stop operating at 8pm (source: airport officers). As the result, we took the taxi and we paid 130.000 IDR (without taxi argo). We talked with other travelers later and they paid 150.000 IDR with the argo. So, use your puppy eyes to get the best dealJ.
Since we didn’t plan to stay in a hotel or guest house, we
did last minute booking via online booking platform. The problem was we couldn’t
book the previous date (4th of May) and if we booked for 5th
of May, we need to check in at 2pm. But, we need to sleeeeep (we flew from
Surabaya at 12am and had a little sleep before). So, we decided to book it
anyway and discussed it with the management later.
Suggestion:
- Find a flight that arrives in the morning (9am maximum) so you do not need to do early morning check in and miss your resting time but still can explore the city that day.
- If you want to stay in Makassar the night before, book an accommodation near the city central! You can save money for transportation for that.
09.00-10.00 | Losari
Beach: After breakfast, we walked to Losari Beach. It is quite hot in
Makassar so make sure you bring enough water, hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
Losari Beach is only 1km away. You can use google map for the direction or just
ask local people if you are not connected with internet.
Losari Beach is a popular destination for domestic tourist.
It is like the landmark where people take selfies as the prove “Hey! I have
been to Makassar!”
Suggestion:
- Visit this beach in the afternoon. You can see a beautiful sunset and also mingle with the locals as they spend their leisure afternoon.
- A lot, I mean a loooot of food stalls around this area. So, prepare your belly to try local delicacies.
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| Phinisi Statue in Losari Beach |
10.00-11.00 | Fort
Rotterdam: This port is located in the same street as Losari beach and you
only have to walk around 1km to get to this place. Before enter, you need to
fill the guest book and give donation to enter the compounds. I gave 10.000 IDR for two persons. Fort
Rotterdam is now used as a museum of South Sulawesi’s culture and history,
called La Galigo Museum. This museum
has been acknowledged by UNESCO as one of the heritage of Indonesia. To enter this
museum, you need to pay extra 5.000 IDR
per person. If you liked museum and history, this museum is a great choice
to visit.
Suggestion:
- The museum is located in two different buildings. Don’t miss one of them and you do not need to pay two times. So, keep your ticket!
- The information might be too boring to read (very long description!). If you do not have the patience to read all of the information, there is guide service provided. Give them around 30.000 – 50.000 IDR depends on your satisfaction. I didn’t use the service but I tried to listen two of them and they were good in explanation.
11.00 – 15.00 |
Samalona and Kodinareng Keke Island: Sea lover time! Samalona Island and
Kodinareng Keke Island are for those who like to snorkel. To get there, you can
take the boat from Losari Beach or small port across Fort Rotterdam. It cost
around 400.000 – 600.000 per boat depends on how many island do you want to visit and service included.
If you can go with many people, that would be so much better (for your budget).
Each boat normally can go with maximum 6 persons. We paid 600.000 IDR for moving to Samalona then to Kodinareng Keke and snorkel
kit was included. It took around 30 minutes to get to Samalona and another 30
minutes to Kodinareng Keke. Kodinareng Keke offers better view of the under-water
world compare to Samalona. However, we have to go to Samalona first before going
to Kodinareng Keke because the snorkel kit renting is in Samalona Island. So, adjust
this with your time and interest :D
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| Floating Boat in Samalona Island! |
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| Corals seen from Kodinareng Keke |
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| Corals and Fishes Seen from Kodinareng Keke |
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| Clown Fish! Holaaaa~ |
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| Small Port in Kodinareng Keke Island |
- Make sure in the beginning that the snorkel kit and life vest is included. Our boat driver said snorkel kit was included but we forgot to mention the life vest so we have to pay 10.000 IDR extra for one life vest.
- There’s no fresh water in Samalona (the water is still salty) and no water at all in Kodinareng Keke. Having accommodation in Makassar City would be nice since you can take shower after swimming in the ocean.
- Sadly, there is no trash bin in both islands. Be a responsible traveler and do not litter ya J
- Accommodation is provided in Samalona Island if you are interested to spend more time there.
15.00 - … :After,
we had lunch mixed with dinner in Losari Beach and enjoyed the sunset. We
walked back to our hotel, took shower, then take online ojek (motor taxi) to
the bus pool going for Toraja. It costed us 30.000
IDR for one motorbike.
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| Sunset Seen from Losari Beach |
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| Sunset Seen from Losari Beach |
MOVEMENT FROM MAKASSAR TO TORAJA
Suggestion:
- Book in advance because it will be so busy in the office and difficult to do walk in! Here’s the link to call them http://www.portalsolata.com/2015/03/data-dan-info-bus-tujuan-toraja.html It is written in Bahasa Indonesia but the number can be seen clearly.
- Come to the bus pool at least 1-hour before the departure to be safe. Bus can depart earlier than the schedule or in case you need to queue for the ticket (exchange the payment receipt with ticket).
- If you plan to make the bus as your moving accommodation, choose Scania type. It is a little more expensive but extremely worth it. We chose Scania Bus from Bintang Prima and it felt like 5-star hotel. Paid 170.000 IDR per person for that.
- The distance to Toraja from Makassar is around 300kms and takes 8-9 hours. The bus departs at 9pm and will only have one time stop at midnight for those who want to do late dinner (pay on your own). However, if you feel like going to toilet, tell the driver!
- Pillow and blanket are provided so you can lessen your baggage size.
- Book the bus back to Makassar also!
Day 2. Friday, 6th
of May, 2016.
Time to explore Toraja!
Toraja is a very interesting place. They still preserve their local culture and
values. Visiting this place was one of the most interesting experiences in my
life because I saw totally different culture even though it is still inside
Indonesia.
I had only one day to explore this place and here’s the
itinerary:
06.00 – 07.00: we
arrived at the bus pool after a very lovely rest inside the bus (I closed my
eyes in Makassar, opened it in Toraja). We directly contacted the motorbike
renter and he came to us. We asked him whether we could leave our belongings at
his office or not and… he said YES!
(It is not marriage proposal but the excitement felt the same ha-ha because
before we planned to carry our backpack everywhere)
Note: We already
booked it before we arrive so we only needed to call him to deliver the
motorbike. It is important if you are traveling in the peak season because they usually cannot find available motorbike if you do last minute call. We rented an automatic motorbike for 100.000 IDR from 7am until 7pm from a very nice Torajanese named Mr. Markus. He runs
the place called Bagus
Tourist Information Center. This is his number if you would like to contact him: 081 355 390 131.
Why should you use his service? Here’s positive point about him: (1) his office is in Mangadil Street number 25, Rantepao, North Toraja. Why is it positive point? It is walkable from the bus pool (less than 1kms). Another positive point! (2) He let us use his bathroom both in the morning and evening. Yay! Very very very nice guy! Wait, there’s another point! (3) He took us to see traditional ceremony for funeral which was the buffalo sacrifice. We were SO LUCKY! We had to pay for his guiding service 100.000 IDR per person but we felt so lucky he joined us so that's no problem at all.
Why should you use his service? Here’s positive point about him: (1) his office is in Mangadil Street number 25, Rantepao, North Toraja. Why is it positive point? It is walkable from the bus pool (less than 1kms). Another positive point! (2) He let us use his bathroom both in the morning and evening. Yay! Very very very nice guy! Wait, there’s another point! (3) He took us to see traditional ceremony for funeral which was the buffalo sacrifice. We were SO LUCKY! We had to pay for his guiding service 100.000 IDR per person but we felt so lucky he joined us so that's no problem at all.
07.00 – 12.00: We
had a quick breakfast near Bagus Tourist Information Center and a super quick wash
after. Then, Mr. Markus took us to Pangli, an area in the northern part of
Rantepao, Toraja. There was somebody passed away and they were ready to hold
the ceremony of the buffalo sacrificing. I would not explain too much detail
about the ceremony because you need to see it yourself (or google about it).
The people there would also love to explain it to you. My note is only you have to respect their culture, no matter how much
it against your own values.
12.00 – 13.00: we went to Ke’te Kesu~ It is a compound of Tongkonan – traditional building to
keep the harvested rice. The entrance fee is 10.000 IDR per person. If you go with motorbike, there is no
parking fee. It was quite easy to reach this place. You could just follow the
map that Mr. Markus provided. This place is quite busy. If you happen to have
free time in the morning, do visit it at that time to be able to enjoy this
place more quietly.
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| Tongkonan Building with Buffalo' Horns |
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| Old Tongkonan |
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| Two wanderers! Yay! |
14.00 – 15.00: Visited
Lemo. Lemo is a graveyard on the
cliff wall. They create a hole on the cliff and put the corpse inside. In my
own opinion, I like this place more compare to Londa and Ke’te Kesu. Why? (1)
It is less crowded. Located in Makale, this place is further than the other destinations.
Also for some people who don’t want to explore, they only see cliff and that’s
it. So, mainly they just visit, quickly take picture, and leave. However, if
you walk through the path on the left side of the cliff, you will see more
grave holes and (2) you can see Torajanese atmosphere: the rice fields (the
main occupation of Torajanese is farmers) and Tongkonan. So beautiful and
peaceful!
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| Lemo, a GraveYard on the Cliff |
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| View of Torajanese Village from Lemo |
16.30 – 18.00: See
Toraja from above! We visited the Viewpoint
from the Hill in Rantepao. It is the
hill that you can see from below with a huge cross on top of it. The walk is
quite stiff but of course it doesn’t matter for kewl travelers like us ha-ha. It
is FREE to walk up here! You only have to pay for the parking and it was 5.000 IDR for motorbike.
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| North Toraja from Above the Hill |
Note:
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We filled the gasoline one time (1 liter) and it
cost 10.000 IDR.
·
There are so many other destinations in Toraja
except those that I visited. Please kindly google them and adjust with your
time-schedule and interest. (This is the link of the map uploaded by another blogger --> https://travelingneverdies.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/20150409_0558101.jpg
·
One meals costs around 20.000 – 30.000 IDR.
Suggestion
- Make sure where the bus pool in Toraja is. Bintang Prima's bus pool was in the city central so it is easy to move afterwards. I saw another bus pool in Makale, quite far from the central. I personally suggest you to use Bintang Prima.
- Manage your destination! Don’t go south, then go north, then go south again.
- Ask local people for traditional ceremony! Local person told me that they have ceremony almost every day so ask them where.
- Bring raincoat and/or umbrella. Weather there is quite unpredictable.
- There are many not halal foods. Make sure you know what you eat.
Day 3. Saturday, 7th of May, 2016.
Bira! Bira is
located around 190kms away from Makassar to the south-east. This place offers
you both beautiful sunrise and sunset, beautiful white sand beach, beautiful
blue ocean, beautiful corals, beautiful night sky, beautiful… urrrmm…. Everything!
However, to get there is a little bit struggle. So here’s
our experience to go to Bira.
MOVEMENT FROM
MAKASSAR TO BIRA
Suddenly, the bus from Toraja dropped us in Daya Terminal (it should be in the bus
pool). So, we took ojek again to Malengkeri
Terminal and it cost us 45.000 IDR since
it was quite far. If the bus dropped you in the bus pool, you still need to
move to Malengkeri Terminal if you want to go to Bira with public
transportation.
Daya Terminal is for transportation going to the north and
Malengkeri for those who are heading to the south. That’s why we needed to go
to Malengkeri to find a public car, usually called as Kijang or Panther, to go
to Bira.
We departed from Malengkeri at 9am and arrived at 2pm. We paid 70.000 IDR per person. Using
this transportation to go to Bira really requires you good luck because the
driver will try to put as many people as the car could handle. Luckily, we were
the only two that rode in that car so we didn’t have to sit closely to each
other in that non-AC vehicle. The weather was supeeeer hot!
The kijang will
stop one time for lunch in a local restaurant. The expense is of course on your
own.
Suggestion:
- Don’t sit on the left side of the car because the sun shines from that direction.
- Discuss with the driver where he should drop you. Some driver only want to drive until Bulukumba (which needs 1-hour more to reach Bira) so you need to be really sure! My driver dropped me in front of my guest house :D
- Bring a lot! A LOT! A LOOOOOOT of water! It is mandatory!! So you won’t get dehydrated inside the sauna-alike car.
The boat from Bira to Liukang Loe is 350.000 IDR. If you want to combine Liukang Loe and Kambing Island,
it becomes 700.000 IDR. Kambing
Beach is better for free diving and Liukang Loe is for fun snorkeling. The
snorkel kit plus life vest is 25.000
IDR. No time limit to rent the boat. However, better you be back to Bira
before the sunset since the boat cannot reach the shore in that time.
We had lunch in Liukang Loe Island. For fish, simple vegetable soup, and rice, it was 45.000 IDR per person. For me, that's way too expensive. I would try to find another choice if I knew it (I imagined the fish would be huge when I ordered).
In the evening, we rent motorbike from Nini for 80.000 IDR (gasoline there is 9.000 IDR per liter). We went out and found the
different side of Bira where they have ‘karaoke’ sites with loud music and dark
rooms and sexy singing companion. I was interested but I was broke so I couldn’t
stop by. :P
We had lunch in Liukang Loe Island. For fish, simple vegetable soup, and rice, it was 45.000 IDR per person. For me, that's way too expensive. I would try to find another choice if I knew it (I imagined the fish would be huge when I ordered).
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| Liukang Loe Island |
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| Sunset Seen from Bira |
Then, we stopped on the port to stay away from the lights
(and the noises). What we saw was truly amazing: hundred, or maybe, thousands
stars…
By the way, this is the port that can take you to Selayar Island, another paradise island in Sulawesi.
So, we went back after that because we needed to be sunrise hunter the next morning~
Day 4. Sunday, 8th
of May, 2016.
04.30 – 06.00 |
Kaluku Beach: This is the best beach to watch sunrise. The sun rose right
in front of you and you could see traditional fisherman boats in distance. In
this beach, you can also see on-building Phinisi Boat. It is free to enter this
beach, no entrance nor parking fee.
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| Sunrise Seen from Kaluku Beach |
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| Sunrise Seen From Kaluku Beach |
06.00 – 07.30 | Appalarang Beach: You like to jump into the clear sea water? Do it here! Appalarang is a cliff beach with very calm water. They have installed a platform where you can jump into the water and ladder to go back up. It is deep enough that you won’t hit your body on the floor. If you like sightseeing, this place is more than what you expected. Marvelous! The way to get here is also sexy! Ha-ha. Skilled biker only!
No entrance fee. You only need to pay parking fee and it is 5.000 IDR for motorbike.
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| Appalarang Beach |
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| Jumping Platform in Appalarang Beach |
You only need to pay another 5.000 IDR for parking J
09.00 - …: After,
we went back to the hotel, took shower, packing, had breakfast (bread, sunny side-up egg, and coffee), and then rode
another sauna-alike car to Makassar at 10am.
This time, it was 80.000 IDR (we
order via the guest house) and we had 8 people for a car that designated for 5
passengers. Combo sauna!
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| Look at that Blueness of Bara Beach! |
We reached Malengkeri at 3pm. We directly called BlueBird Taxi (0411 441234 à I still remember the
number till I wrote this down because the number is sooo catchy) and headed to
the airport. From Malengkeri to Sultan Hassanudin Airport it cost 160.000 IDR included the toll fee.
Then, we took the flight back to our hometown…
____
Well, that’s our itinerary to go to Makassar, Toraja, and
Bira for 4 days and 3 nights. We spent around 3.000.000 IDR in total, all included. However, it can be cheaper if
you go with more people as you can share the boat price.
South Sulawesi, you are amaaaaaazing! I absolutely want to
come back! Selayar Island, maybe? :D
If you have any further question about this itinerary,
budgeting, or travel tips, just ask me ya~
See you in another trip!
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