There's a morbid attraction to many of Tanah Toraja's sights, which feature ceremonial animal slaughter, decaying coffins and dank mausoleums spilling bones. Fortunately, the people and landscape are very much alive, and there's nothing depressing about spending time here. Entry fees of a few thousand rupiah are becoming common at sites around Rantepao. If you speak a little Indonesian, guides are seldom necessary for hiking or visiting villages, though outsiders should really have an invitation to visit a ceremony, which guides can provide. As more participants means greater honour, however, it's also possible to turn up at an event and hang around the sidelines until somebody offers to act as your host.

Bemos to just about everywhere originate at Rantepao's Terminal Bolu, though those heading south can be hailed on Jalan Ahmed Yani; the further you're going, the earlier you should start looking for transport. Accommodation and tour agents also rent out bicycles (Rp20,000 a day), motorbikes (Rp50,000), or minibus/car and drivers (Rp90,000). Hikers heading off to villages should carry cigarettes, if only to initiate conversations.

Rantepao to Makale
Tanah Toraja's most famous sites lie off the eighteen-kilometre Rantepao-Makale road. Just south of Rantepao, a concrete statue of a pied buffalo marks the four-kilometre road east to four much-restored tongkonans at KETE KESU (Rp3000). The...
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East to Nanggala, and north to Sadan
If you're pushed for time, you can see almost all the main features of Torajaland at MARANTE , a spread-out village 6km east from Rantepao on the Palopo road. Close to the road are a fine row of tongkonan; behind, a path leads to where tau-tau...
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Northwest to Batutumonga
The area northwest of Rantepao surrounding Gunung Sesean, the region's highest peak, is quite accessible but not overly explored. There's a smattering of morning traffic about 17km to LEMPO , which has a great series of moss-ridden tongkonan....
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