Visit Ruteng, Flores Indonesia
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The administrative Capital of Manggarai Regency is a small town in the western end of Flores Island. Its is a higher elevations there so, compared to most of Flores, it is a bit cooler and gets a bit more rain as well. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic but you can still find the ancient Manggarai customs are a large part of the local life. Including traditional wedding, funerals, and the car dance is performed at many ceremonies as well still. Many tourist find the Ruteng is a good stop along the travels from Labuan Bajo headed east. It is about a 4-5 hours drive from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng, so this makes for a good place to get a hostel or hotel for many people. If you would like to schedule a Ruteng tour in your overland tour of Flores, please contact us and we can accommodate you.
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There are few tourist attractions around the town of Ruteng, but many guest also enjoy going to the small traditional markets as you will find very local culture here and different at the markets than you may find in tourist areas. One Popular attraction is the archaeological site called Liang Bua, which is a limestone cave which is located about 10 km north of Ruteng. The reason Liang Bua is an archaeological site is because in 2003, the discovery of a potentially new species of genus homo (home floresiensis) where found. So far this location is the only location in which remains such as these have been found and identified. These finding are only what is known now, but there is archaeological work in nearby places such as Soa Valley in the Ngada Regency
Some other attractions close by Ruteng are Cancar Lingko Village Spider Web Rice Fields. These rice fields are very unique in their pie like shape and their family culture for why there are designed that way and who the local families and village can benefit. Cancar Linkgo Spider Web Rice Fields are about a 45 minutes drive from Ruteng. Another spot for someone traveling to Ruteng that they might be interested to see is Lake Ranamese, which is a lake on top of the mountain. The lake is very unique in that it seems there is almost always a layer of fog around creating almost a haunting feeling when you visit there.
Another popular attraction is those that love bird watching. Flores is a wide variety of different species of birds and birds tours around the Ruteng area are a great thing to do to see a wide variety. Some of the birds only have local Indonesian names, but many guests have said they have seen many different one, including; Collared Kingfisher, Dollarbird, Blue Tailed Bee-eater, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, Dark Crowned White Eye, Purple Heron, Yellow Spectacled White Eye, Pacific Black Duck, Little Grebe, Spotted Kestrel, Golden Bellied Gerygone, Flame Breasted Sunbird, Oriental White Eye, Gray Headed Canary Flycatcher, Sunda Woodpecker, Black Fronted Flowerpecker, Little Pied Flycatcher, Flores Minivet, Wallacean Drongo, Cinereous Tit, Black Shouldered Kite, and Brown Capped Fantail.
If you would like to add Ruteng as part of your Flores Overland Tour, than contact us today and we can work with you to accommodate what you are looking for and getting the most out of your time in Flores Indonesia.
