Desa Takpala

Nusa Tenggara


About 13km east of central Kalabahi is the majestically preserved, mountain-top village of the Abui people, Alor's largest ethnic group. It's one of the more accessible and tourist-friendly villages, with locals happy to show you their multi-level houses with pyramid-shaped grass roofs designed to store food. A 50,000Rp donation is appropriate when signing the guestbook.

If you happen to visit at the same time as a larger group, the experience can feel a little contrived; visitors dress up in traditional garb and take photographs and a small handicraft market suddenly appears. On the plus side, only larger groups generally organise traditional lego lego dancing demonstrations due to the cost, so you might be able to piggyback off bigger numbers and join in. Christian from Cantik Homestay can organise the performance from 1,500,000Rp.


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