October 2015
Our first trip to Sumba. We didn’t have much time to prepare and we were keen on trying to attend a traditional ceremony and spend a night in a traditional village, if possible in a traditional house. Apparently it was the right time of the year for funerals, which are often planned years in advance. So we searched online and asked some friends and eventually got in touch with some local guides as well as drivers. Eventually we found John, a driver-guide, and he turned out to be exactly what we had hoped for. He knew about a royal funeral taking place in East Sumba, near Waingapu. So we decided to fly there, visit the funeral and then slowly make out way overland to west Sumba, to the more travelled roads and visit some of the more popular traditional villages such as Anakalang, Prai Ijing, Tarung and Ratenggaro as well as some of Sumba’s natural splendour, such as the Lapopu waterfall and Weekuri lagoon.
The last 2 days and night we spend in a real traditional village, rarely visited by tourists. We spend the night in a traditional house, together with a local family. A fantastic end to our first visit to this great destination. It was not going to be my last, as next on my wish list was to attend the famous Pasola festival.
