Wae Rebo

Wae Rebo sits at around twelve hundred metres in a bowl of forested ridges in western Flores, and it consists of seven mbaru niang - conical houses of five levels under a single thatched cone reaching almost to the ground, each holding several families, arranged in a circle round a ceremonial platform. There is no road: reaching it means driving to Denge and then about three hours on foot up a forest path. Restoration of the houses using traditional materials and methods, supported by an Indonesian architectural foundation, won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage award in 2012. Visitors are received formally - you wait at the edge until the village elder performs a welcome ceremony admitting you - stay overnight in a designated house, eat with the community, and the fee is set and shared.

History

Local legend says the villagers' ancestors came from Minangkabau, led by Empo Maro, who sailed from Sumatra to Labuan Bajo. The village was lived in for 19 generations and then abandoned, the present houses were built in 1920 when it was resettled, the local government began developing it for tourism in 1997, and in 2012 it received a UNESCO Asia-Pacific award for cultural heritage conservation (Wikipedia, Waerebo).

What to look for

• Seven conical houses - five-level mbaru niang under single thatched cones.
• A three-hour walk in - no road, the only access on foot from Denge.
• A formal welcome rite - waiting at the edge for the elder's ceremony before entering.
• An award-winning restoration - traditional rebuilding recognised by UNESCO in 2012.

When to go

May to September; the path is bad in rain. Two days.

What to expect

The walk is three hours up, steep and muddy, and the same back. Accommodation is a shared floor in a communal house. Photography is restricted until the welcome rite is complete.

Nearby

Ruteng is north-east; Labuan Bajo and Komodo are further west.

Key facts