We recently took an adventure trip to visit the remote island of Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara. I really wanted to witness the famous Pasola Festival, which is the name of a war game tournament played by two groups of selected Sumbanese men. They are riding their decorated horses and fling wooden spears (which are blunt nowadays) at each other. The festival generally takes place in February and/or March but is decided by the moon and therefore dates are usually only known closer to the date.
My husband, myself and our 2 boys (4 years & 6 years) flew from Jakarta to Kupang (West Timor) and then on to Waingapu in the east of Sumba. The east of Sumba to the west takes about a 4 – 5 hours drive. (Alternatively there is an airport in the west of Sumba – Tambolaka which you can fly to from Kupang.) As you are in more remote areas it is possible that airlines change their schedule at the last minute, even if you book your tickets beforehand! This happened to us which is why we had to fly into the east of the island. The main thing is we did make it for the Pasola festival the next day!
We stayed in Sumba for 4 days/3 nights. We decided to stay at the Newa Sumba Resort which has 8 bungalows set back from the beach. The resort is clean, offers good food and has a great manager who speaks perfect english. Her name is Susan and she helped me confirm the dates for the Pasola as well as arranging a car, driver and guide for us.
We visited the Pasola Festival which was interesting to watch, and for the locals just like watching a football or soccer game. Foreigners are seen at the Pasola Festivals but not children. Our children were quite an attraction and we had loads and loads of children and adults alike just staring at them and sometimes wanting to touch them. If you do decide on a trip there with your children and want to attend the Pasola Festival beware!
We also visited local villages with their sumbanese straw roofs, the beach side as well as just lazing one day by the beach after doing all the travel getting there and visiting the Pasola. The people in the villages are friendly and not as intimitading for the kids at the Pasola. Our kids enjoyed the adventure and seeing the Pasola.
On our way back we flew from Tambolaka to Kupang. We stayed one night in Kupang at the Kristal Hotel before flying back to Jakarta
Details:
Newa Sumba Resort, Website: http://www.newasumbaresort.com/
Manager: Susan, Mobile ph: 081339187077
Bonnie (our tour guide): 081337075108
The car cost Rp. 600,000 per day and for the guide Rp. 200,000 per day.
Words & photos by Simone Osborne