Just back from one adventure and time to plan another. It seems I'll be in Makassar at the end of September (2nd time there) and so I want to take a few days to see Tana Toraja.

It seems that information on the place is rather thin on the web. TripAdvisor has a review of only one hotel, and other sites have little or nothing. Aside from the best place to stay, the other big question is how to arrange transport without signing on for a package tour.

The last mention of Tana Toraja here was more than a year ago, but does anyone have some experience to share?

Michael, It's been some time since I was in Toraja -- maybe 6 or 7 years -- but I can assure you that it's no problem to arrange independent transportation and tours. We asked our hotel in Toraja to arrange airport transfers from Makassar. I don't remember exactly but it seems that the drive was about 4-5 hours. I do remember that it was breathtakingly georgeous.

Same goes for sightseeing. There are lots of people who will take you around to the sites and ceremonies. We did learn, however, to make sure that our guide spoke the local language as not everyone in the area speaks Bahasa Indonesia. You really want to avoid the big tour groups as they can overwhelm the small, peaceful villages and the grave sites.

We were able to attend two funerals. They tend to go on for days and the slaughter aspect is rather brutal, so be prepared for a lot of sitting around waiting for something to happen and a lot of gore when it does. That said, I think this area is one of the most fascinating and beautiful in all of Asia and I look forward to hearing an update on what you find.

Michael, I'm envious that you're traveling around Indonesia! There is so much to do and see, and I've only scratched the surface with a mere 4 or 5 trips there... I look forward to your report.

I figured going through the hotel would be the best way to arrange the transport. That's what I did with the Mount Bromo trip and it worked out okay.

So the question is, which hotel? I'm leaning towards the Indra because it's in town. I hate being stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Kathie, I'm lucky that my 'day job' meshes with my writing career. The day job requires me to visit these places, the writing pays for the side trips.

I stayed at the Indra in 1992, and it was a very basic, but friendly and lovely place. Sort of a like a US 1950's motel with a little garden out front. Finding a good guide who will know where the funerals and housewarmings are should be easy, either through your hotel or by just asking around the relatively small town. BTW, it is about 8 hours from Rantepao to Makassar by way of Pare Pare.