Cultural Tourism of West Sumba

Waitabar Village - West Sumba

Culture is the heritage that must be preserved because the culture is the image of the nation and is the nation's wealth can be an attraction and as a wealth of tourism. There are plenty of interesting cultural attractions, unique and still preserved by the people of West Sumba until now. Several tours of West Sumba, namely

The Story of Sumba’s Coffee

In the world of instant coffee or Starbucks‘s expansion,  i keep amaze of  how Sumba people still preserve traditional way to have a cup of coffee. Using firewoods, the dry coffee bean is roasted on iron wok for almost two hours. The secret of well made roasted Sumba coffee? A piece of cinnamon bark and a chunck of ginjer. Add those ingredients while you stir up the beans over and over again until the colour turns  black. Wait until it is cool for a while before it is ready to be ground.

Textiles with Tales to Tell

Sumba is one of the many islands in eastern Indonesia where the ancient art of tying, dying and weaving the complex ikat textiles is still practiced. The weavings’ motifs are rich in cultural lore and tradition. Many are still used as bride-wealth and in ceremonies for house raisings and funerals.

Although chemical dyes reached Indonesia over a century ago, the weavers in some isolated communities still use plant dyes. They are supported by Ubud-based Threads of Life, a certified Fair Trade business that helps traditional ikat-producing communities in Eastern Indonesia maintain their heritage of natural dyes. With its sister organization the NGO Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali, Threads of Life is active in remote communities on the islands of Flores, Lembata, East Sumba, Timor, Savu, Rai Jua, Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Bali.