People said that Sumba is a heaven ... and yes, it is.
If you are now planning a-long-weekend escape and you are thinking about Sumba to one of your options, I would say, you have to!
The ideal time to explore Sumba is at least one week: 3-4 days in East Sumba and the rest in West Sumba, or vice versa. However, since I only have 4 days to escape from my daily job, I will share my journey: 4 days 3 nights from East Sumba to West Sumba.
First of all, Getting there:
All flights to Sumba are from Bali or Kupang, and all are using small plane. It depends on you how to start your travel to Sumba, either from east or west, but please ensure you choose the right airport:
- To East Sumba: Waingapu - Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport (airlines flying from/to Bali: Wings Air and Nam Air)
- To West Sumba: Waikabubak - Tambolaka Airport (airlines flying from/to Bali: Garuda Indonesia, Nam Air, Wings Air
Both are beautiful on their ways, but personally I like East Sumba more. If you want to keep the best part for the last, so just start your trip from West Sumba!
Getting around:
The easy way to get around Sumba is by renting a car. It costs around IDR 800k per day (negotiable, can be less if you book more than one day) which can be cheaper as well when you share the cost with friends. Or, you can just rent a motorcycle. I will recommend you to rent a car. It is more efficient and safe, plus the driver can be your local tour guide!
The driver assigned to us was Mas Guntur. He is a local person and very nice. Even in the last day, he drove the car very fast to go to one of hills in West Sumba for catching up a very beautiful sunset, which was actually not part of our itinerary. It was one of the best sunset I have ever seen. Just contact me on Instagram if you want to book Mas Guntur as your driver. I will gladly share his contact to you.
Itinerary:
Day 1 - 2: East Sumba
I arrived at Waingapu around 12 pm. After having lunch, without any further, we started our journey. The best thing from East Sumba is its hills. It is like cotton candy but all of them are greens. On top of that, you will meet many local children who love playing with you. They are so cute and nice!
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| Bukit Raksasa Tidur |
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| Bukit Warinding |
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| Bukit Persaudaraan |
My driver said that if we are lucky enough, we can see milky way at Bukit Persaudaraan in the night. Unfortunately, we only had one night in East Sumba and we need to use it to prepare our social project for the next day.
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| Walakiri Beach |
My advice for you is: stay longer in East Sumba!
Day 1: Bukit Raksasa Tidur, Bukit Warinding, Bukit Persaudaraan (bukit = hills), Walakiri Beach
Day 2: We focused on our social project in the rural area of East Sumba then continue the road trip to West Sumba, but we still manage our time to visit Desa Adat Praijing.
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| Desa Adat Praijing |
Day 3 - 4: West Sumba
If East Sumba has hills, the best thing from West Sumba is its beaches!
There are plenty of beaches you can explore. My favorite beach in West Sumba is Weekuri Lake, it is very unique because we can see a lake and sea just side by side.
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| Mandorak Beach |
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| Weekuri, left is lake and right is sea |
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| Bwana Beach |
As mentioned, my best sunset in Sumba is in West Sumba, specifically in Bukit Lendongara. From the top of hill, we can see how the sun slowly hiding behind the horizon then disappear in the sea.
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| Bukit Lendongara |
Day 3: Mandorak Beach, Weekuri Lake, Bwana Beach, Bukit Lendongara
Day 4: Leaving Sumba
Stay at:
East Sumba: Padadita Beach (highly recommended, nice place, good food and have their own beach in the backyard)
West Sumba: Sumba Sejahtera (budget hotel, good to stay and near to airport)
Hopefully all of above itinerary can help you to plan your next trip to Sumba.
Maybe I will write another post which tell in detail for each place.
See you!
