We visited Bada Valley in Lore Lindu Nationalpark in April 2024 for only three days because we were... read more
We visited Bada Valley in Lore Lindu Nationalpark in April 2024 for only three days because we were... read more
There are hundreds sculpture around this national park. But I think the one at Bada Valley was the... read more
We went to Lore Lindu 1 week ago (Sept 2023) for a 5d4N trip and would like to share our thoughts and comment for other travelers. There are awfully little information on the internet written in English for organizing a private tour. We spent lots of time trying to organise a trip that is reasonably priced. For those wanting to plan the trip themselves, a detailed map of Lore Lindu can be found in the book- "Sulawesi" by Periplus Travel Guides. Although the version we borrowed from our local library is the 2003 version, it contains a reasonably detailed map of Lore Lindu, much better than Lonely Planet for this part of Indonesia.
Thanks for the latest review in TripAdvisor, we contacted the WA no. of Palu Lore Lindu Park Office, the officer there actually has been super helpful, he gave us 4-5 guides contact no. Unfortunately all the guides the Officier gave us have quoted us a price that is way over our budget for a 5D4N all inclusive tour for 2 people (car, 1 driver, 1 guide, entrance, full board with homestay). The price they quoted start from 1200usd to way over 2000usd. Despite the price variations, they all use the same lodgings (both Besoa and Bada has a limited amount of homestays, according to our guide- Besoa Valley has 2, Bada Valley has 3, these homestays are of similar qualities so it shouldn't be a huge price difference among the homestays).
Perhaps the car is better or the guide is more professional?? I still could not make out the huge price variations given of the same itinerary.
Our 5D4N itinerary is like this, we started from Palu - Besoa valley 2 nights stay - Tentena 1 night -Bada Valley 1night - Tentena.
This itinerary was recommended by a couple of guides we contacted. To us, after visiting both Valleys, we think we would better off skip Besoa if one s main interest is to see some megaliths (not all) and some bird watching (in particular the hornbills). Reasons for this is
1. Besoa has megaliths but mainly the Kalambas and several smaller human like megaliths. for those who are interested in the largest megalith, it is in Bada. Unless you really want to see the large Kalambas, it is not worth the 13 hours travel (6 hours from Palu to Besoa, then 7 hours Besoa to Tentena). To us as an outsider (not an anthropologist or archeologist) , Bada Valley actually has more varied megaliths- The largest Megalith called Palindo, the "Buffalo stone" which sits among the beautiful rice fields, the "monkey stone" once again in beautiful rice fields (there are a couple of broken Kalambas near the monkey stone if one is really interested to see) and couple more of interesting human like megaliths.
2. Apart from a small part of road (45min of ride out of 7 hours journey) from Besoa to Tentena which is quite beautiful (a bit like going through the moor of
Scotland or the Pine forest of Switzerland) , the rest of the scenery is quite similar to the Bada-Tentena road. The worst bit is because not so many tourist go to Besoa compare to Bada, the road conditions to Besoa (either from Palu or Tentena) is quite bumpy.
3. There are a couple of places of interest from Palu to Besoa, Tembing Lake and the largw rainbow tree near Tembing lake. Personally we found the Tembing lake uninteresting. We thought it will be a lake with nice natural setting, yet we found out that it is more like a weekend vacation place, which means there are a large camping ground with concrete buildings and facility right in front of the lake. This is not what we expect for when we come all the way from overseas to see nature. The scenery could be from small lakes near countryside of any countries. Nevertheless, we did saw a couple of interesting birds/insects in this area- the hanging parrot and Iron rajah (Charaxes mars) butterfly. The rainbow tree (Eucalyptus deglupta) is quite beautiful but one can actually found a bigger older tree in Bada (thru about 20-30 min rainforest walk which by itself is quite nice).
4. Lastly the main reason we would have skipped Besoa if we do this trip again is because of the poor quality accomodation. The homestay we stayed at in Besoa is way below basic. We have stayed in many homestays in Indonesia but this has been the worst homestay ever. We are not expecting hot water or anything as many homestays in Sulawesi only had cold water, but we were at least expecting clean bedding, yet... we were highly doubtful that the bedding was washed at all, as there was a strong bad odour of oily scalp from the pillow and the mattress. Despite covering the pillow with our own towel and wearing our wind jacket to sleep, we could still smell it. This is how bad and strong the smell was. And the bedroom wall was full of crushed dead mosquitoes. Needless to say, the room was poorly lit and damp. One just would not want to stay in the room, yet siting outside wasn't much better, the courtyard where the room is facing was not clean, there were litters of small candy or snacks packets in the flower bed, on the path and driveway. Last but not least, food provided could have been better, there was one meal where there was 1 small dish of vegetables with instant noodle soups to go with plain rice to share for 4 people (2 of us plus driver and guide). Even our guide was appalled at what they served. (our guide did not know what they would serve and he has not been to Besoa for 3 years due to Covid, so it wasn't his issue, it was the issue of the homestay). Overall it was a substandard travel experience. Right across the road of the homestay was a vast land of beautiful rice fields, there is so much potential to make a clean basic homestay yet this place is just disappointing. Unless the hygiene and food standard of the homestay in Besoa improves, I would not recommend anyone to stay there.
On the other hand, Bada Valley to us would have been a much better choice to have a taste of the megalith and bird watching of Lore Lindu.
1. car journey is much shorter, 3.5hours (60km) from Tentena, there are several places of interest to visit en route- Saluopa Waterfall, stop over to see the pitcher plants, the giant rainbow tree (thru 20-30min rainforest walk).
2. The bird watching and megalith experience is overall better in Bada. We managed to see 5 Red Knobbed Hornbills along Tentena-Bada Valley (we have not seen one during the Besoa 2 days trip), the short walks to different megaliths was very pleasant with nice scenery. Please be aware Tarsiers sightings are mainly in Lake Poso region near Tentena, not in Lore Lindu, please enquire Petrus for sightings.
3. The Homestay (Ningsih homestay) in Bada has very clean room, quite bright and with excellent food. although the room do not provide any view (it faces a small dirt road in the woods) which was a shame given there is such a beautiful valley view everywhere.
4. If one want to go for jungles walk, Bada would have been a better choice too just because most guides actually base at Tentena, they are more familiar with the jungles in Bada rather than Besoa (i.e they know where the birds, animals usually are and all the interesting spots)
Last 2 bits of comment
1.for those who would like to DIY to Bada Valley, I think it is possible if you know Bahasa Indonesian and with own transport and good internet reception (best is Telkomsel) . The only thing to double check is if it is indeed necessary to use a guide to enter Lore Lindu National Park (According to Lonely planet, it is necessary to have a guide to enter Lore Lindu National Park). Throughout the 3.5 days we were in the Park area(there is no distinct National park boundary), the only place where tickets were checked was actually in Tembing lake at Besoa Valley. There werent any ticketing area in Bada Valley that we could see no check points neither in Bada Valley.
By public transport, it would be possible for first half of the journey but not for second half. On our way we saw long haul public bus going from Poso to Bomba (the main village in Bada Valley). So it is possible to get to Bada Valley by public transport, however once you reach Bomba and the homestay there (I think there is only one homestay in Bomba village called Ningsih,sorry i dont have contact no.)
, you will need transport to see the megaliths which scattered around different villages near Bomba village, ranging from several km to 10+ km, walking would seems difficult. I am not sure if it is easy to organise an ojek driver in Bomba. For details one would have to ask someone in Poso/ Tentena. A good contact would have been Noni the manager at Victory Hotel Tentena. Her contact no. should be easily found on google.
There is no reliable internet signal along the entire way from Tentena to Bada valley, so for those who are driving, you will need to ask your way as GPS don't always work.
There is no detailed map marking where exactly the megaliths are on the internet. The only map we saw is a hand drawn map in Ningsih Homestay. Even so, it is not detailed enough to guide you to the megalith, you may only know which village the megalith is close to, the exact location you will have to ask around.
If one can afford, I still would recommend a guide, as they can show you the birds and secret spots for interesting plants and animals, some megaliths are among the woods, without some guidance it would be difficult to find...
2. Cost of a private tour for 2 people.
We organised our tour with Herson at Dolidi guesthouse near Lake Poso. We paid 9.7million idr (650 usd) for a 5D4N trip all inclusive except entrance ticket to Lore Lindu (150k idr per person, once off payment for the 3.5 days we were in the national park) and dinner at Tentena on day 3.
Hope above information is helpful for future travelers who are wanting to visit Lore Lindu. We recommend spending 2-3 days in Bada and a couple of days in Tentena for refreshments. Go for Tarsier sightings with Petrus and chill out along Lake Poso. The megaliths and animals (especially Hornbills) certainly are very unique experience to us.
The guide and driver Herson has organised for us are Agus (the guide) and Poni (the driver). Both are extremely good! Agus is a keen bird watcher and has been a guide in Tentena for 20 years. Although he is very experienced, he is nevertheless very humble, gentle and a very easy going person to hang out with. His English is very fluent, no accent whatsoever (makes it very easy to understand) and he know A LOT about birds and plants. His updated WA contact is as below
+62 813-5485-1349. You can also contact him directly for tour information. if we come back to Bada, we will certainly contact him again.
As there are not many informations available online we stuck to a simple information that the village of Kamarora would be a good starting point to explore the Nationalpark. We trusted in the unspecific information that there would be homestays and guides available.
We found out afterwards that you could contact the office of the Nationalpark in Palu (apparently no informations in Englisch, but there seems to be a whatsapp number, most likely someone can answer in English https://lorelindu.info/).
From Palu airport we chartered a car to Kamarora. It took us about two hours to get there. The drivers didn't know exactely where the village is and how bad the road is. Therefore they charged us IDR 500'000 which seems to be too cheap.
Arriving in Kamarora we learnt that there is - only - one guide and one homestay. It's the Tarsius Homestay of Pak Raymond who lives there with his wife. He himself is working for the office of the Nationalpark.
Apart from the nearby church which is starting to pray and sing every early morning at around 5 am it is very quiet.
As we weren't equipped with maps or detailed information it was not that easy to make up our mind what best to do. Pak Raymond gave us some advice but we still missed the whole picture as there were no maps at all about possible routes, sights et cetera. We only afterwards saw a map of the area which we attach here and strongly recommend you to use that as a basis when making up plans.
As we were sick for two days we couldn't make that much in the end. The "bird watching" is one hour drive from Kamarora. The spot is close to a small lake. In our opinion it is not very worthwhile.
Transport costs in general are high as the roads are in a bad condition.
Apparently there is a six hour walk through the forest to Lake Lindu. It seems that the starting point is also not in Kamarora and you would have to drive to another village to get started. You could sleep in the village of Anca, which lies on the western border of Lake Lindu, and return the day after by foot or you could yourself being picked up at the village. We think that this must be a very rewarding trip as the rainforest looks amazing.
We went to the village of Anca only to do a tour on the lake for two hours the following day. We can't recommend this, as it is not worthwile compared the long four to five hours drive (one way) to there.
From Kamarora to the Bada or Napu Valley, where you could see the megaliths, it would take a whole day driving by car.
There are hundreds sculpture around this national park. But I think the one at Bada Valley was the best one. Located in the open area make us easy to reach it and take picture.
Thank you for your attention.
In fact, there are 3 large valleys that are the main concentration of megaliths in Central Sulawesi, namely the Napu, Behoa and Bada Valleys.
Most of the megalith remains are in the Behoa valley.
The location of the findings is within the Lore Lindu National Park area and in the buffer zone of the area.
To visit the megaliths in the Napu and Behoa valleys it takes several days and today access to the site area is more open and easy to reach.
Alright, now that my wife and I have travelled to this place let me share some (hopefully) practical comments on our trip. Not much info that we could find before going to Lore Lindu!
The main goal of our visit was to see the unique birds and animals (specifically - tarsiers) that Lore Lindu has to offer. Given this goal, we went with a professional guide - Nurlin from Malia Tours. This proved to be a very good decision, as Nurlin was critical to ensuring that we see as much as possible and have a reasonably comfortable stay. His services were quite expensive, however, especially if you compare them to the average prices on Sulawesi.
In terms of accomodation - we stayed one night at a local house in Kadidia village and two nights at Nasional homestay in Wuasa village. Facilities at the local house were extremely basic and I am not sure many people would consider them comfortable. Homestay at Wuasa was fairly good, given the remote location; you even get hot water for shower delivered to you in vacuum flasks :)
Lore Lindu is certainly a remote location; just getting to Palu was a challenge, with cancellation of Garuda flights. This remoteness, coupled with montane rainforest conditions, have allowed for unique fauna to develop. A whole series of birds and animals can be seen only in Lore L and the surrounding mountaneous regions.
Despite this remoteness there are 137 villages located in a circle on the park's borders (just to let that sink in - one hundred and thirty seven...). So even while in Lore L you still see people fairly often.
Our overall impression is that foreign visitors might appreciate the unique biodiversity of Lore L to a slightly greater extent than the local people living near the park... Frequent motorcycle rides even on footpaths with the park borders, very loud music being heard in the villages and even from park HQ near Lake Tambing, garbage that you may see on the roadside - all of that is unlikely to contribute to the wellbeing of the local wildlife.
Tourist infrastructure within the park is not very developed; it would be difficult to navigate/travel without any local support. Anaso track (beloved by birders) might be the only 'official' trekking trail in the park - and even that trail is not well maintained.
Weather-wise - quite comfortable 25 or so desgrees during the day, 15-20 degrees at night. Fairly humid, esp inside the rainforest. It rained heavily on one day after lunchtime and also intermittently on one or two evenings - not pleasant as it deprived us of some valuable birding time, but far from critical nonetheless.
Now, in terms of birds - we were moderately successful, having managed to see such precious endemics as Great Shortwing, Malia (multiple times), Cinnabar Boobook, Speckled Boobook, Satanic Nightjar, both endemic Cuckooshrikes, Spot-tailed Sparrowhawk and a whole series of other birds. Looking for the Great Shortwing (and eventually seeing one individual for a very brief period of time) was one of the highlights of the trip. Disappointments - we missed Maleo, Purple-bearded Bee-eater, both Masked Owls and could not see any of the coveted high montane endemics Geomalia and Halycitrea (to be fair, our chances for these two were quite slim anyway).
We also saw Dian's Tarsier, a rarer type of this fluffy creature that you can also see at Tangkoko. Admittedly, you get better views of tarsier at Tangkoko than at Lore L.
Lore L is also famous for its megalyths and we had a very nice experience of seeing four of them - a man, a woman, a lying individual and a huge bowl presumably used for religious purposes.
Overall - a great and in many ways a unique experience, but you need to know what to look for and what to expect.
Thanks to your visiting Sulawesi, hoply you may comeback again.
On my way from Makassar to Ampana I decided to visit the Bada Valley to witness the Megatliths. I got in contact with a local Guide named Petrus Sinawan. Together we drove the motorbike through the VERY scenic mountain cross into the valley. We spent the day in Bada Valley driving around and walking through amazingly green paddy fields. Petrus speaks (among other languages) English very well and had a lot of interesting information about the surroundings.
The highlight of my visit to the valley was a two day jungle trek in Lore Lindu national park. Starting in the valley we hiked a full day in the jungle to set up a tent near a small water stream in the middle of the jungle. Petrus made the tent himself using materials from the forest only bringing a large canvas to cover our heads. See the photo of the tent setup. We drank water from the water stream after boiling it and cooked a nice meal of rice and chicken. It was really a unique and adventurous experience to camp in the jungle in a self made tent!! Absolute recommendation!
Afterwards I was invited to Petrus his home at lake poso to spent one night before driving further on to Ampana. Awesome experience made possible by a great guy. If you want to check the different trips you can contact Petrus directly. He has whatsapp (+62 853-4134-6483) and email (torajapetrussinawan@yahoo.co.id)
We hired a guide for the trip and my wife & I really enjoyed having Petrus Sinawan as our guide. He took us Lore Lindu, guided us to various Megalith. Its a nice hike to these places though. We HIGHLY recommend to get a guide otherwise its going to be VERY hard to find these Megaliths. We got to see the largest one, Palindo, as well. The trip from Tentena to Lore Lindu National Park is very scenic. The road goes through very high mountains and you get to see the lush green forest of the National Park. He even showed us a tree that is called "Rainbow tree" as well as some amazing wild flower. There are plenty of wildlife but hard to spot. If you don't have a guide, its going to be very hard to spot anything. Petrus spotted black macaque, Sulawesi Hornbills. We recommend that you should spend a night in Lore Lindu National Park to enjoy more of the wildlife and the megalith but since we were on a tight schedule we did the trip in one day.
Petrus Sinawan charged us IDR 1,650,000 ($124) which included car with driver, petrol, guide fees and lunch. Its better if you can communicate ahead so that you can book a guide. This is his contact number +62 853 4134 6483. He has Whatsapp, so its easier to communicate via message and phone call.
Dear visitor, thanks to your visit Bada Valley...Do hope it will be always in your memories...