Lemo
4.5
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4.5
69 reviews
Excellent
34
Very good
30
Average
4
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Raymond W
Townsville, Australia4,533 contributions
Aug 2011 • Couples
Tanah Toraja, the Land of the Torajas, is one of Southeast Asia's most unusual and compelling sights. The whole area is superbly scenic, with caves, volcanoes, forests and traditional villages spreading out in every direction. Its comparative inaccessibility means that it has been less spoilt by development than most similar areas, and while commercialization of Toraja culture has occurred (for instance all the best villages charge admission fees), this valley is genuinely different from the rest of Indonesia; the past is still alive and not just some tourist spectacle.
Tanah Toraja is at its most astonishingly different at Lemo. In this village, niches have been carved into the limestone cliff faces and hundreds of wooden dolls, symbolizing the dead, share down at arrivals. Here the ancestors are a visible presence and the dead seem as much a part of village life as the living. In the caves behind the village, wooden coffins have split open and human skeletons surround you on every side. This place seems a link to mankind's past when caves were a sacred place and religion was a more intimate and personal thing, I cannot recommend this place highly enough to people with a genuine interest in mythology, anthropology or early cultures.
Tanah Toraja is at its most astonishingly different at Lemo. In this village, niches have been carved into the limestone cliff faces and hundreds of wooden dolls, symbolizing the dead, share down at arrivals. Here the ancestors are a visible presence and the dead seem as much a part of village life as the living. In the caves behind the village, wooden coffins have split open and human skeletons surround you on every side. This place seems a link to mankind's past when caves were a sacred place and religion was a more intimate and personal thing, I cannot recommend this place highly enough to people with a genuine interest in mythology, anthropology or early cultures.
Written 13 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul Catteeuw
Kontich, Belgium114 contributions
Sept 2017 • Solo
This is the best place to see wonderful tautau. It is a splendid walk in lush natures, seeing all these magnificent wooden tautau. Do not however let them fool you. The oldest tautau do not have a face, having a similar face as the deceased is a fairly young tradition.
As long as you know that you can only enjoy the walk.
As long as you know that you can only enjoy the walk.
Written 16 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
scotworldtraveller
Scotland324 contributions
Mar 2015 • Friends
Lemo, where we were privileged to see graves cut into the front of a high limestone cliff, along with several groups of brightly dressed effigies sharing wooden balconies secured to the cliff face, replicas of the ancestors, gazing down at us from balconies added onto the cliff face. In both of the sites we visited, these painted wooden effigies, called Tau Tau (small people), take the place of the deceased and are set high on galleries and other prominent places to watch over the village and rice fields. The coffins, left behind when the corpse is inserted into the burial cave, are magnificently and ornately carved and often in the form of a pig, water buffalo, or ship. Everyone buried in this manner has to be a person of great importance; ordinary people do not receive the elaborate – and expensive - rituals involved in one of these funerals.
Written 30 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Abdul S
Adelaide, Australia52 contributions
Sept 2015
came hereon our last stop before head back to the hotels,its a small cliff with look like some kind of dolls represent some of the dead i guest in a dug out rock on the edge of the cliff you could take a snap just from the out side if you have a nice long zoom camera with out paying the entrance fee to me its no need to go in really.
Written 10 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kendra
Tallinn, Estonia54 contributions
Nov 2017
Lemo was very quiet burial site. IT was nice walk from parking place to the burial site. No quide needed. There were also few souvenir shops (and its very good, because in Sulawesi its rare and souvenirs are hard to find). I liked the views and the cliff. Visiting doesnt take much time, because you are not going anywhere inside.
Written 1 December 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
fr4nc1sc4
Jakarta, Indonesia443 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
The burial place in Lemo is quite small in size but really amazing.
I just wish that Unesco would inscribe the site (including all other sites across Tana Toraja) and give the World Heritage Status.
Enough said.
I just wish that Unesco would inscribe the site (including all other sites across Tana Toraja) and give the World Heritage Status.
Enough said.
Written 12 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BingahS
Jakarta, Indonesia105 contributions
July 2017 • Couples
A must visit site to see the few different graves in Tana Toraja. Quite impressive digging of the stone cliff for the graves...
Written 1 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bella C
Cape Town Central, South Africa457 contributions
June 2017 • Friends
We spent a whole day around Rantepao learning about the complex Torajan funeral & burial rites. Starting with the market for the sacrificial bullocks & pigs; an actual funeral & 3 different grave sites.
This grave site built into a cliff was very interesting as the Tau Tau (wooden effigies of the dead) were quite different from the modern seated version. These ones were standing with their arms outstretched which was very moving.
This site is still being used & you could see men excavating new graves high up on the cliff.
You could walk across the paddy field & go along a path close to the lower graves but our party just took photos & looked at the small shops selling interesting souvenirs.
This grave site built into a cliff was very interesting as the Tau Tau (wooden effigies of the dead) were quite different from the modern seated version. These ones were standing with their arms outstretched which was very moving.
This site is still being used & you could see men excavating new graves high up on the cliff.
You could walk across the paddy field & go along a path close to the lower graves but our party just took photos & looked at the small shops selling interesting souvenirs.
Written 8 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Apuspita
Jakarta, Indonesia44 contributions
Apr 2017 • Friends
Located near Makale, the visit to Lemo started with beautiful scenery while we reaching this place. It was not as big as I imagine, but it showed everything I want to see in Toraja: carved cliff with Tau-tau (human wooden statues representing the dead), paddy field between hills, lovely souvenir shops with Torajan fabrics and mini Tau-tau statues for sale. It's better to visit this place with a guide to learn more about the history of this burial cliff.
Written 5 June 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Boleslav
Colorado1,882 contributions
May 2016 • Couples
Lemo is one of the places where busloads of tourists are admiring its colorful tau tau- effigies- that are displayed on the balconies of two large rock faces.
It is the best to come here very early, around 8 in the morning to have the place for yourself, then you will be able to appreciate the delicate carvings of the little statues representing those relatives who passed away.
It is the best to come here very early, around 8 in the morning to have the place for yourself, then you will be able to appreciate the delicate carvings of the little statues representing those relatives who passed away.
Written 19 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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