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Maros, Indonesia (Headquarters and Home Base No. 1)
Tagari, Balusu, North Toraja (Home Base No. 2)
Contact: Dalle
(WhatsApp and Call)
Day trip hiking in Mount Sesean
Mt. Sesean offers you a fascinating day trip hike with lush trails. When Jalan Jalan Toraja visited the mount in early March 2018, a light rain shower added challenge due to the slippery path.
It was nearly 10 am when we departed from Tagari that day. The clear blue sky hung above scattered bamboo forest gave a good sign that it would not be raining today. Soon our motorcycle dashed in smooth, winding roads connecting Tagari and Mount Sesean. We enjoyed the ride in rural areas of Toraja for around 1.5 hours due to mostly empty roads. But on some occasions, dogs appeared out of nowhere. Dogs are a common pet here and they roam streets like a king, so care must be taken not to hit them. We decided to slow down.
Our stomachs signed a signal before we could reach the destination. We decided to drop by a small eating place located in Tinimbayo, just 2 km before the entrance of a commonly used hiking path. The eatery serves coffee, warm noodle, boiled eggs, and surprisingly, beers! It also offers three clean and simple rooms should you want to spend a night there.
The eatery.
The view.
It's exceptionally clean inside!
Coffee with a bowl of noodle in the windy day.
Now, it's time to hike. The starting point is located just beside the main road. After walking 1 km from the entrance, we reached a small open field surrounded by 2 Buginese style houses, supposedly the last dwellings we would meet on the trail. There was an empty registration post nearby. Looking around, we saw some ladies sit below alang (rice barn). They were in charge of counting the number of hikers. Here we reported our intention to hike and paid Rp 15,000 (around 1 USD) per person for tickets. She took our contact number and wished us a safe journey. After passing the post, lush vegetation and quietness quickly surrounded us.
Entrance to the trail.
Registration.
Buginese style house that is popular in Toraja.
The first several hundred meters of the trail were full of bamboo trees. Cicada seemed to be particularly active during that time of the day. We hiked slowly while listening to cicadas' song and wind breeze that slid between bamboos' stem.
When reaching higher elevation, short and sturdy bushes replaced bamboo trees. We started to hear chirps of various birds but could not locate them. There were more and more big boulders on the trail.
The huge boulders that serve as a natural shelter
After nearly 2 hours of hiking, we finally reached a small plateau near the peak where we could document the below photos.
We were fortunate enough to have a clear view of the surrounding area. To spend 30 minutes at the peak and look down below at many small tongkonan (Toraja traditional houses) that scattered randomly was bliss. We wanted to stay longer. But then we saw a bird that suddenly perched very close to us and chirped happily. Local wisdom says rain will soon come when that happens. Heeding that, we packed up and left the plateau at once. Our little friend flew in the opposite direction and quickly vanished from sight.
It's already 4 pm, so we decided not to stop anywhere along the trail. After 10 minutes of walking, the fog started to descend, and the breeze sent the smell of wet ground to our nose. We marched slowly and quietly in the now slippery track, hoping that the fog did not cover our sight. After 1 hour, we reached back at the registration post. There, the same old lady covered in a sarong (because it's cold!) waved happily at us and shouted, "See you again!". She actually waited for us to come back safely before closing the post for the day.
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