Wae Rebo Trekking & Homestay

Medium Rating (Suitable for all)
The trek is 9 km in total: 4 hours up and 3 hours down

You can’t visit Flores without including the Wae Rebo trek and home stay as this trip epitomises everything that the incredible Island of Flores is all about. It is simply the best home stay experience in Asia!

It is not just the unique home stay that makes this trip a must do; but everything else that surrounds the trip including the build-up. First of all you have to stay in a home stay the night before in Dente. This home stay is pretty comfortable with clean beds, great food but the best thing is the stunning views that you go to bed to and wake up to. After breakfast, you drive the short distance (10 minutes) to the start of the Wae Rebo trail which is 9km in total from the bottom to the traditional village in the clouds. For the first 3 km the going is a gradual 15% gradient and you walk on large round rocks. Around about half way the trek changes and you start moving up through the forest and on muddy mountain paths. The gradient here steepens slightly and this 4km section is the hardest going. At various points on the walk you can stop for a rest and get wonderful views of the valley and the sea in the distance. The last 2km is the easiest going and relatively flat all the way to the village.

Have an authentic home stay in Wae Rebo
Rice Fields in Wae Rebo
Trek your way up to the village and be greeted by a breathtaking view

Village Tradition

400 metres from the village it is traditional to stop and clack the bamboo clacker thingy to make the village aware of your arrival. You then walk down to the wonderful traditional UNESCO village with their cone shaped traditional roofs. Once you enter the village you have to first stop at the chief’s hut where you go in and pay $5 to be blessed and welcomed to the village. After this you are then free to walk around and enjoy your new surroundings. You then get allocated a space in the visitors hut before sitting down to a basic lunch of rice and vegetables and tea or coffee. The hut is the most authentic home stay ever and you sleep with all the other visitors in a circle around the edge of the huge hut. Visitors then arrive throughout the afternoon and fill up the spaces and the hut can accommodate up to 30 people. You are given a pillow, mat and blanket. It is not the most comfortable and it gets very cold in the evening and the blanket is not warm enough. So, we suggest to our guests will have to bring with them a warm jacket, socks and a sleeping sack.

Food & Drink

You will eat 3 meals in the village, with the food being pretty basic. Lunch when you arrive which consists of a soup, rice, vegetables and chicken with of course chili sauce. Dinner is pretty similar to lunch and breakfast the following morning consists of an omelette and fried rice with tea or coffee. So if you are a slightly fussy eater then make sure you bring some snacks with you for the trip.

If you are looking for a rewarding and traditional experience then a trek up to the hilltop village of Wae Rebo, followed by a night in a traditional Manggarai house is hard to beat. You are greeted with breath-taking views and then an insight in to traditional local life than many rarely see. What makes this trek more special is that there are only about 3000 visitors per year with 60% of these being domestic Indonesian. Last year there were only 35 visitors from the UK.

What can you Experience?

Once in the village you are free to wander around and watch the local people go about their daily work from washing clothes, weaving to drying coffee and pounding rice. If you wish you can ask to help out or smiley sit back take photographs and soak up your magical surroundings. The atmosphere in the village is just right and the other tourists don’t spoil your experience at all in fact it emphasises everything as you all eat together and get to talk to people that are completely different.

Recommended Itineraries:
Fabulous Flores, Komodo Dragons & Hill Tribes of Flores

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