Wae Rebo

The Traditional Village of Wae Rebo on

The island of Flores

Hello everyone! How are you? What's your plan for this summer holiday? I recommended you to go to my beautiful country. It’s Indonesia! The perfect country to spend your summer holiday! I’d like to tell you about my favorite place, and it can be the best destination for your holiday. 

Come visit Wae Rebo! The traditional village of Wae Rebo is located in the district of Manggarai on the island of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. This small and isolated village was recognized for its rebuilding of the traditional Mbaru Niang traditional house based on the spirit of community cooperation towards a sustainable tradition, while at the same time improving its village welfare. Wae Rebo is a small, very out of the way village.  

I love this place because this place is located some 1,100 meters above sea level, where the air is cool and the village completely surrounded by panoramic mountains and the dense Todo forest. I love the place which is not crowded and the air so clear! Absolutely the place that I hope to live for! This tropical forest is rich in vegetation, where you will find orchids, different types of ferns and hear the chirping of many songbirds. 

Founder of the village and, therefore, their main ancestor who built the village some 100 years ago, was a man called Empu Maro. Today, the inhabitants are his 18th generation descendent. He was a great man!

Wae Rebo’s main characteristics are their unique houses, which they call Mbaru Niang that are tall and conical in shape and are completely covered in lontar that from its rooftop down to the ground.  It appears that at one time such kind of houses were quite common to the region.  But today, it is only this village that continues to maintain the typical Manggarai traditional house, without which these unique houses would have been completely fazed out.

The house has five levels, each level designated for a specific purpose. The first level , cal led lutur or tent, are the living quarters of the extended family. The second level, called lobo, or attic, is set aside to store food and goods, the third level called lentar is to store seeds for the next harvest, the fourth level called lempa rae is reserved for food stocks in case of draught, and the fifth and top level, called hekang kode, which is held most sacred, is to place offerings for the ancestors.

One special ceremonial house is the community building where members of the entire clan gather for ceremonies and rituals. They are predominantly Catholic but still adhere to old beliefs. In this house are stored the sacred heirloom of drums and gongs.

With a small population of around 1,200 inhabitants only, the village comprises 7 houses, with half of these falling into disrepair. The staple diet of villagers is cassava and maize, but around the village they plant coffee, vanilla, and cinnamon which they sell in the market, located some 15 km. away from the village. Lately, however, Wae Rebo has grown in popularity as a tourist destination for international eco-tourism enthusiasts, and this has added to the economic welfare of the village.  The people of Wae Rebo warmly welcome visitors who wish to see their village and experience their simple traditional life.   

To get there, you can go by plane. But you must transit at Soekarno Hatta airport, then continue to to Labuan Bajo’s Komodo Airport on Trans Nusa airlines and Merpati. Trip to the village of Wae Rebo takes some 5 to 7 hours by car from Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Flores, hopping off point to the famous Komodo National Park. Alternatively, you may want to start your journey from the town of Ruteng, capital of the district of Manggarai, towards the village of Dintor, which takes around 4 hours. After this, the road goes uphill past ricefields until you reach Denge Sebu village.

In Denge, start the hike by taking the path between a local homestay and village SDK (elementary school). The hike will lead you across three rest spots. The first one is at Wae Lomba River, which is less than an hour from Denge. After another hour of trekking, you will find the second one, Pocoroko. This is an important place for villagers (and visitors) who want to make phone calls and send text messages from their mobile phones, as there is no mobile signal in Wae Rebo. From Pocoroko you will reach the third post, Nampe Bakok, which takes about 40 minutes. From here, enjoy the beautiful hill scenery before you reach Wae Rebo.

The village can only be reached by way of a three-hour hike (depending on your physical condition) from the lowlands. The hike is definitely worth the effort: the dense rain forest along the narrow path to Wae Rebo is one of a stunning biological diversity. Not only does it host interesting vegetation, including orchids, palms, and different ferns, but also an impressive population of singing birds. 

After you arrive, do not worry about a place to stay. If you wish to stay overnight, the villagers welcome visitors to their homes. Fun isn’t it? You even don't have to think about the cost of stay, it's free! Visitors are welcome to spend the night in the mbaru niang, and to socialize and dine with the Wae Rebo community. You will sleep on a tikar, a woven mat made out of pandanus leaf, in the mbaru niang, and get a taste of how life used to be when the extended families still lived their lives under one roof. 

When you there, you will not only see the authentic Manggaraian housing, but also get an opportunity to experience the daily life of the local people. You will see most of the people work in their gardens from early morning until dawn, busy with harvesting coffee and processing the beans. Even though weaving is not a major activity in Wae Rebo, you may encounter some women weaving traditional songket cloth. And the local people will give you songket cloth as souvenir and the best souvenir that actually will you get is the experience when you stay there, with local people which is so warm and beautiful scenery around the village. I promise, you will never regret going there. 

You can get more detailed information on Wae Rebo at http://www.florestourism.com